Religious liberty threatened by both
Religious Right & secularism, prof says
___By Ken Camp
___Texas Baptist Communications
___AUSTIN--Just as the unlikely pairing of radical religion and radical Enlightenment were the principle sources from which religious liberty grew in America, the twin forces of the Religious Right and strong secularism are its greatest threats today, according to
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LES GRIFFIN, pastor of First Baptist Church of Crosbyton, talks with Speaker of the House Pete Laney, D-Hale Center, at a Legislator Breakfast in Austin, held as part of the Texas Baptist Christian Life Commission annual conference. (Photo by Ken Camp)
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historian Edwin Gaustad.
___Gaustad, professor emeritus of history at the University of California at Riverside, spoke on "Religious Liberty in the Drama of American History" at the statewide conference of the Texas Baptist Christian Life Commission Feb. 12 in Austin.
___The Protestant Reformation as a whole did not automatically result in religious liberty any more than the colonization of America did, he said.
___It was the "radical" religionists such as Baptists and Quakers and later "radical Enlightenment" proponents such as Thomas Jefferson and James Madison who birthed religious freedom in the New World, Gaustad maintained.
___The first influential radical, Roger Williams, was exiled from Massachusetts for holding "new and dangerous opinions," and he established Rhode Island as the first secular state, dedicated "to civil things only."
___Williams, who founded the first Baptist church in America before leaving the organized church to become a Seeker, created a haven not only for Baptists and other Separatists, but also for the Quakers with whom he deeply disagreed, Gaustad noted. In fact, at an advanced age, Williams once rode 30 miles just to debate Quaker teachings.
___"Roger Williams was not indifferent to the Quakers' theology," Gaustad said. "He opposed it. But he never lifted a finger of civil authority against them."
___That kind of heartfelt commitment to religious liberty for all and the advancement of personal religious beliefs is lost both on the modern-day Religious Right and secularists, he said.
___The Religious Right--like their Puritan forebears--want liberty only for themselves, he said. And strict secularists are indifferent to religion because they find it irrelevant.
___"There needs to be freedom of religion not because religion matters so little, but because it matters so much," he declared.
___Moving from the colonial settlement to the post-Revolutionary period, Gaustad pointed out that many framers of the Constitution were advocates of the radical Enlightment who valued reason above revelation.
___As a result, the Constitution of 1789 said "zilch" about religion, except for one restraining word about "no religious test" for public office, he noted.
___Asked later by a participant how he would respond to those who insist America was founded as a "Christian nation," Gaustad responded: "Read the Constitution. It is a secular document. It was intended to form a secular government, and that's what it did."
___Baptists soon formed an alliance with Madison and others to secure passage of a Bill of Rights that codified religious liberty as a natural right.
___Passage of the First Amendment led to the voluntary principle as a guiding force in American religious life, he said. Instead of relying upon government support, churches depended upon their own adherents.
___"With the Bill of Rights, the voluntary principle became the way of life for religion in America," Gaustad explained.
___But that principle and the separation of church and state have been "going downhill" in recent days, he lamented.
___Citing in particular "charitable choice" initiatives, Gaustad said he sees too many churches demonstrating a "readiness to become a department of the government."
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