So today I learned about why people hate Baptists. We're rebels. Two months before the Declaration of Independence was signed Rhode Island succeeded from England. Rhode Island at the time was predominately Baptist. They felt the need for religion freedom. Because they rebelled first the English sent a large occupation force, but they found heavy resistance. In fact the resistance was so bad that the English left and decided it wasn't worth the trouble.
In fact there's a story about a church there that saw an English ship outside it's window and saw it was stuck and the sailors were leaving. They paused Sunday morning services went out on boats, took the two sailors left behind on guard and put them on shore. After they burned the ship. If I had to guess it was probably the Gaspee Affair. After they burned the ship they continued Sunday service.
Today in America we would not have religious freedom if Baptists did not have support it. You wouldn't have separation of church and state without their support to people like Patrick Henry, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. Why? Episcopalians (Another name for the Church of England) at the time were huge in Virginia, Massachusetts, Connecticut. They wanted the church run by the state. Baptists believed that freedom of religion would be better and that the state should have no authority over them but God. Because of Baptists we don't need licenses to preach. The state doesn't deserve to have authority over who can and cannot preach. In fact Patrick Henry defended 3 Baptist preachers who were arrested because they did not have licenses. They were found innocent.
Even British Baptists supported the American Baptists saying that Religious Freedom was more important than financial gain to the English.
General Cornwallis put a large bounty on a man named Richard Furman because he feared him. Cornwallis is quoted as having said "feared the prayers of that godly youth(Furman) more than the armies of Sumter and Marion." President James Monroe remembered this later and had Furman preach to congress and government leaders.
Even today people still hate Baptists. We're not mainstream. While churches leave the KJV Bible we still have it. while they listen to all the other music, we still have the old stuff. While the Pastor is wearing jeans and a t-shirt, we still wear suits.
Also I had a joke.
There is one thing God and I only disagree on, and that is the meat offering in the Old Testament. He allows cakes as an offering, and I'm a pie guy.