Never thought about this before, but it is rather ironic.  (from EthicsDaily.com

“Southern Baptists have regularly invited sitting Republican presidents to speak at their annual convention. They did not extend invitations to the last two Democrats, however, Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton, who, ironically, both worshipped in Southern Baptist churches.“

Of course,  those two presidents came from a Southern Baptist background that grew and flourished in its abilities to tolerate and benefit from theological diversity.   A while back,  the smug president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary wrote an article on how Bill Clinton is an example of the “results” of the “former” Southern Baptist climate;  that his moral failings were the result of the “liberal” Baptist upbringings.  I was disgusted now,  and still am,  when I think of that blanket condemnation of generations of loving,  caring Christians who choose not to spew hatred and intolerance.  Even those who agree with many of the more theologically conservative viewpoints have been opposed to the “we have the answers,  and THE right Biblical perspective” attitudes of many present day SBC leaders.  They also abhor the unChristian treatment dished out by Mission Board executives who have been on a campaign of “cleaning house” for more than a decade.  There’s a world of difference in being theologically conservative and beng so with the extra “requirements” added that there’s room only for a very narrowly prescribed set of interpretative approaches to the Bible (one,  which,  conveneiently enough,  fits the agenda and the tactics of the present leadership)