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Just so you are aware, the Southern Baptist Convention has very deep tentacles embedded in the fabric of our country. I would not call them community churches. They are hotbeds of intolerance and bigotry. Long was a member of an SBC church which promoted far right leaning beliefs, politically, socially and personally.

Congregations. 47,530 (2019)

Members. 14,525,579 (2019)

Weekly attendance = 5,250,230[1]

A look at the list of politicians who are SBC is informative, it will give you a sense of how and why our politics of intolerance is thriving. The body that supports the abuse you cite is very powerful and influential in every aspect of ALL of OUR lives, not just the lives of adherents. It has derailed and continues to derail the entire nation.

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/18/us/robert-aaron-long-atlanta-spa-shooting.html

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Baptist_Convention

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Southern_Baptist_Convention_affiliated_people

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and there are thousands of smaller sects, equally or more fundamentalist in nature throughout. This rabid fundamentalism (misogyny, xenophobia, homophobia, racism, etc) poisons beyond the SBC.

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Excellent point. And he wasn't just a member of the church, his father was the church's preacher.

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exactly! The GOP long ago hijacked vulnerable denominations as they looked for a cult vulnerable base https://www.salon.com/2015/05/13/wingnuts_have_weaponized_jesus_how_the_religious_right_hijacked_christianity/ (just one of many)

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That's it - the GOP weaponized Jesus.

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The church poisons the mind, heart and soul.

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