There must be a time warp in Fort Worth, Texas.  Believe it or not, The Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary will begin offering a homemaking program.  It’s open to women only.  This seminary is one of the largest in the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC).  The Associated Press reports, “Coursework will include seven hours of nutrition and meal preparation, seven hours of textile design and ‘clothing construction,’ three hours of general homemaking, three hours on ‘the value of a child,’ and three hours on the ‘biblical model for the home and family.’”  Read more.  AP reports, “Seminary President Paige Patterson, a former president of the Southern Baptist Convention, which has its executive committee headquarters in Nashville, said wives of seminary students asked for the homemaking courses. The program was approved by seminary trustees. ‘We are moving against the tide in order to establish family and gender roles as described in God’s word for the home and the family,’ Patterson said at the denomination’s annual meeting in June. ‘If we do not do something to salvage the future of the home, both our denomination and our nation will be destroyed.’”

This isn’t the first time the Southern Baptist church has misinterpreted scripture.  The SBC has a long history of using the Bible to justify slavery, segregation, sexism, and homophobia.  In fact, the SBC was created following a disagreement between southern and northern Baptists over the Home Mission Society, the predominant Baptist organization of that era.  The split occurred because many in the South opposed the Society’s refusal to appoint missionaries who owned slaves.  The Home Mission Society refused to change its policy, so the pro-slavery forces started the SBC. In 1995, the SBC finally apologized for its position on slavery.  Only 130 years late.The SBC also used the Bible to justify segregation. It’s no surprise the denomination is now using the Bible to justify discrimination against gay people and women.