And DON'T bring the Clydesdale horses, either

First, let's start with this article at an NBC2 website:

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Religious beliefs trump hurricane relief
Danielle Pepe
Last updated on: 10/29/2005 5:06:13 PM

CLEWISTON — Hurricane victims who wanted water had some difficulty finding it at a relief station in Clewiston Friday. The volunteer group running a supply center doesn't like the company that donated the water, so they decided not to give it to those in line for help.

Twenty-two pallets of the canned water, distributed free by beer company Anheuser-Busch, bears the company's label – and members of the Southern Baptist Convention refused to hand it out to those in need.

Resident lined up for miles to receive food and water at the distribution point. But the water was left on the sidelines by the Alabama-based group.

"The pastor didn't want to hand out the Budweiser cans to people and that's his prerogative and I back him 100-percent," said SBC volunteer John Cook.

The SBC felt it was inappropriate to give the donation out, and they weren't happy when NBC2 wanted to know why.

"Why do you want to make that the issue? That's not the issue. The issue is that we're here trying to help people," Cook said.

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Here's what an SBC representative said in a blog comment:

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Volunteers working with the Alabama Baptist Disaster Relief Unit honored the request of the host pastor to set aside canned water with an Anheuser-Busch logo. At no time was anyone deprived of water. In fact, there was a huge surplus of bottled and canned water available at the Clewiston relief site. There was never any disruption in the supply of water being given out to members of the public who continued to receive food, water and other types of assistance from Alabama Baptist Disaster Relief workers.

It is an absolute falsehood to suggest -- as many irresponsible bloggers have -- that the Baptist volunteers withheld the basic needs of life from Floridians impacted by the hurricane. Contrary to misinterpretations of news reports, no one was denied access to water.

One may disagree with the strong stand that many Southern Baptists take against the consumption of alcohol. One may even regard such opposition to alcohol as offensive.
But it's impossible to say truthfully that this conviction caused any inconvenience or shortage for victims of Hurricane Wilma. The facts are exactly the opposite.
The fact is that virtually all of the Southern Baptist Disaster Relief volunteers serve selflessly -- taking time away from employment and family to minister in the name of Jesus Christ. Churches such as First Baptist Church, Clewiston, graciously serve as host sites -- providing a place where food, water and other necessities of life may be obtained by anyone in need -- without regard to religion or any other demographic consideration.

-- Keith Hinson, public relations associate
Alabama Baptist Convention State Board of Missions
Montgomery, Alabama

Posted by: Keith Hinson at November 1, 2005 06:12 PM

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My personal view, which I've expressed here and here, can be summarized as follows:

• Personally, I do not believe that Christians are commanded to alcohol abstinence (although drunkenness is to be avoided).


• That having been said, if someone chooses to abstain from alcohol, that's OK.


• Even if I did believe that abstinence from alcohol was commanded by God, and even if part of Anheuser Busch's motivation was to promote sales of its beer, I would hope that I would welcome a gift of water with a "thank you."

Related posts:

A dialogue between Keith Hinson and Dirty Greek regarding blogs spreading falsehoods.

Kyle Potter apparently hasn't been contacted by Keith Hinson yet. Nor has B. Willey.

But Hinson did reach Dr. Bruce Prescott. And Charley. And the blogger at a blog called the Boar's Head Tavern.

Which raises the question - what if the Southern Baptists felt that computers were unscriptural? (Which reminds me of the old joke - you can air anything on TV about Old Order Amish - they'll never see it.)

But the Baptists DO believe in computers, and they do believe in papers, but perhaps they don't believe that the media is always wonderful:

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Loyd Kindiger, who was in charge of the unit Oct. 28, told Florida Baptist Witness in Clewiston that NBC reporters “milling around” the edges of the cordoned-off relief site overheard a conversation between him and Bridges about the location of the Anheuser-Busch cans of water and seemed bent on construing the pastor’s request to distribute the A-B water elsewhere as inappropriate.

“We had plenty of water of our own and so it wasn’t even an issue to us,” Kindiger told the Witness, pointing to several large pallets holding cases of Crystal Geyser water next to where food was being distributed from a tent beside a drive-thru distribution point.

When the Anheuser-Busch truck arrived, the Red Cross officials allowed the water to be unloaded even though the area was not designated as a distribution site, Lee explained. Typically, water and ice are distributed together.

A Red Cross volunteer told the Witness Oct. 28 he believed the pastor’s request was reasonable and said he assured the NBC television crew earlier that day that the Southern Baptist volunteers had plenty of their own water, making it a non-issue....

“All that was said was that First Baptist Church (Clewiston) people would not be the ones handing it out,” [Pastor Tim] Bridges explained. “We didn’t refuse the water. Others were giving it out.

“We were handing out water (supplied by Southern Baptists) hand over fist,” Bridges said.

He noted that Wal-Mart across the street had water, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) was set up next to Wal-Mart with water to give away and the city’s civic center nearby was distributing ice and water. So, even if the water at First, Clewiston, had run out, people were still not going without water.

But the non-Anheuser-Busch water did not run out, [Vernon] Lee said. “I would have no problem giving the people the (Anheuser-Busch water) if they were thirsty, but they were not thirsty.” In fact, he said the original supply of water (including the Anheuser-Busch water) lasted through the morning of Nov. 2.

“There was water for them to take … and the opportunity to get (the Anheuser-Busch) water if they wanted it because it was made available,” Lee said, noting he thinks most people prefer bottled water to canned water anyway.

Both Lee and Bridges emphasized that no one went without water and it is unfortunate that the local media misunderstood the facts.

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So it's a big mush of mush. But I have some questions:

• Did anyone have problems distributing a water (Crystal Geyser) that potentially promotes New Age teachings?


• Did local police object to the activities of an organization called the "Red Cross"? Communism and Christianity are a dangerous mix.


• If the Ontario Mountain Village Association is unsuccessful in their attempt to deny Wal-Mart the ability to conduct business in northwest Ontario, California, and if Ontario is hit by the big one, will the Ontario Mountain Village Association seek to prevent people from obtaining relief supplies from Wal-Mart employees?


• Was the real problem the fact that the water was canned, and canned drinks are not mentioned in the Bible?


• If Ed MacMahon wanted to get married in a Southern Baptist Church, would he be allowed to do so?

From the Ontario Empoblog (Latest OVVA news here)