July 1, 2002
EDITORIAL:
Baptists should champion liberty for all Americans
___Thank God for freedom.
___When Americans celebrate Independence Day this week, the fireworks will explode brighter and louder, the watermelon and homemade ice cream will taste sweeter, the grilled hotdogs will look plumper and the baseball will be played better than in recent years.
___The images of Sept. 11 seared visions of terrorism into our minds' eyes. The fallout of grief, anger and insecurity still descends across the land. But a residue of patriotism and gratitude also blankets the nation. In four tragic flashes, we witnessed the vile consequences of hatred unleashed. But the light of those flashes also illumined facts we collectively took for granted--the blessing of living in a free land, the inestimable value of love and friendship and community, the beauty of faith and courage and sacrifice.
___Tragically, the terrorism of Sept. 11 sprang from a toxic mutation of an ancient religion. Almost as quickly as the Twin Towers fell, bookstores sold out of copies of the Koran and books about Islam. As we could have expected, the religious trappings of 9/11 terror--as well as the emotional crisis that ensued--prompted Americans to reconsider their own faith. Worshippers packed churches and synagogues in the weeks following the tragedy. That fervor has diminished somewhat, but as we celebrate Independence Day, we would do well to reconsider the "first freedom" and give thanks for religious liberty.
___Americans commonly claim this nation was settled by pioneers who came to these shores for religious liberty. That statement is at once true and false. The early colonists came for their religious liberty, but they weren't so concerned about granting those rights and freedoms to others.
___We commend the courage of the Pilgrims, English Puritans who sought to "purify" the Church of England and finally took their leave to live and worship on this continent. But once they were the majority, they cared little whether others had freedom to worship God according to the dictates of their consciences. They banished Roger Williams, founder of the first Baptist church in America, in Providence, R.I., for declaring the government had no right to dictate how a person should worship.
___We thrill at the patriotic spirit of the Virginians, such champions of democracy. And yet the Anglicans in early Virginia succeeded in imposing a tax to support their church and laws requiring ministers to register with the government. Freedom-loving Baptist pastors languished in their prisons for refusing to register and so were arrested for preaching "illegally."
___Fortunately, a Baptist pastor in Virginia, John Leland, collaborated with James Madison to ensure religious liberty in the Bill of Rights. Thanks to Leland, the First Amendment declares in part, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." Those 16 words have cultivated a vitality of faith and religious expression unprecedented in world history. Of course, we lament the moral decline we see in our society, and yet it is uniquely grounded in common values compared to most other societies dominated by "Christian" culture.
___After Sept. 11, some among us would trade a measure of freedom for security, as if they were commodities that could be weighed and balanced. Of course, like the Puritans, they seem more willing to trade the liberties of others, such as Muslims, than their own. That tendency is a shortcoming of majorities, and Baptists are part of a majority faith in America today. We would do well to remember what it was like for our forebears, who as minorities championed the rights of all minorities.
___We should champion religious liberty for at least two reasons. First, because that is God's way. Baptists historically have understood from Scripture that God gave all people freedom both to love and accept or hate and reject God. To be authentic, a loving and faithful relationship with God must be freely engaged, without coercion. Second, and more selfishly, we should champion religious liberty because the tides of history eventually turn. Majorities become minorities. Our children or their children may one day live in a land where they are not a religious majority. The rights we deny others today may be denied them tomorrow.
___Today's temptations to diminish religious liberty come disguised as apparent benefits: State-posting of religious documents in public places. State-sanctioned prayers in public schools. State-supported financing for religious causes. History teaches us that any time government intervenes, the power and vibrancy of religion eventually erodes. If one faith is propped up, other faiths are knocked down. Moreover, if faith is propped up, its own vibrancy erodes. Consider the churches of Western Europe. In countries such as England, Sweden, Norway and Denmark, where government helps fund the church, the faith life of the people is anemic; less than 15 percent of citizens attend church in any week, compared with more than 40 percent of Americans.
___Thank God for freedom. Pioneers came here seeking their own religious freedom. God led them to grant it to all, and God blessed America. May we not diminish that blessing by appropriating freedom only to ourselves and denying it to others.
The Baptist Standard
___ —Marv Knox
E-mail the editor at marvknox@baptiststandard.com
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