SBC Condemns The Declaration of Independence in translation

In an effort to achieve consistency with their condemnation of the NIV 2011, the men of the SBC and of its Committee of Resolutions met late into the evening of July 3rd, 2011.  Just before midnight, in an open meeting before all of the world, the Committee allowed more discussion on the banning of all gender neutralizing translations and paraphrases of Thomas Jefferson's original Declaration of Independence of the United States of America.

“This nearly is as big as it gets; next to God's Word, this is as big as it gets,” said Tom Underton of Yougoman Village Baptist Church in Monroe, La., who brought his emergency resolution to the floor after a resolutions committee declined to include it in their report. “This is the word of the Fathers, our Founders. The best-selling translations in the United States and around the world are now gender neutral.”

“As Southern Baptists, I don’t think we have the luxury of not speaking to this important issue either,” Underton said. “People are buying flags and fireworks and these translations unaware of what’s happening. We are the anchor of the patriotic evangelical world.”

The resolution expressed “profound disappointment” with various translators for their “inaccurate translation of Thomas Jefferson's inspired Declaration, which, of course, mentions God and men, all created equal and equally endowed.”

It asked LifeWay Christian Resources, the SBC publishing house, to refuse to sell these translations in its stores and encouraged pastors to make their congregations aware of concerns about them.

“We cannot commend the following to Southern Baptists or the larger Christian community,” the resolution concluded.

"The Declaration of Independence was never intended

for kids or
for women, or
for pinko commies or
for Southeast Asians in general or
for "Americans who cuss" even if they're as equal as any other man created or
for dummies of any kind for that matter.  We condemn the following:

--The Declaration of Independence Translated for Kids, 2000:  “We think that all people are created the same and that God wants every one of us to be free and happy.”

--Elizabeth Cady Stanton’s and colleagues’ Declaration of Sentiments, 1848:  “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men and women are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights;”

--Hồ Chí Minh’s Proclamation of Independence of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam, 1945:   “Hỡi đồng bào cả nước, Tất cả mọi người  [each and every one, all people] đều sinh ra có quyền bình đẳng. Tạo hoá cho họ những quyền không ai có thể xâm phạm được;”

--some unknown translator rendering the Declaration of Independence of the USA into Malaysian, 2002:  “Kita berpegang kepada kebenaran yang nyata ini, bahawa semua manusia [each and every one, all humankind] diciptakan sama tarafnya, bahawa mereka dikurniakan oleh Pencipta mereka hak-hak tertentu yang tidak boleh dipisahkan;”

--H. L. Mencken’s “The Declaration of Independence in American,” 1921:  “All we got to say on this proposition is this: first, you and me is as good as anybody else, and maybe a d*mn sight better; second, nobody ain’t got no right to take away none of our rights; third, every man has got a right to live, to come and go as he pleases, and to have a good time however he likes, so long as he don’t interfere with nobody else.”

--The Declaration of Independence for Dummies, Part I, 2003:  “We think it’s pretty obvious that God created every person equal, and he gave each person specific unchanging rights which should never be trampled upon.”

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