By Robert Marus
Published March 2, 2006 by Associated Baptist Press
http://www.abpnews.com/867.article
RICHMOND, Va. (ABP) — Speaking Feb. 24 in the birthplace of the First Amendment’s religion clauses, a Baptist minister who is a professional opponent of the Religious Right warned Baptists to be equally vigilant.
Welton Gaddy, president of the Washington-based Interfaith Alliance and preaching pastor at Northminster Baptist Church in Monroe, La., told about 100 people gathered for a Mainstream Baptist Network meeting that he is looking for some “real Baptists” to stand up for religious liberty.
“In recent years, the joy I find in the work that I do has been tempered significantly by a growing sense that something is wrong — something is bad wrong in this nation,” Gaddy said, speaking in Richmond, Va. “Politicians have latched on to religion as a key ingredient in their strategies to win elections, to pass controversial pieces of legislation, and to garner support for questionable public policies. Reciprocally, religious leaders have formed alliances with more-than-willing politicians in an effort to use the government — its agencies, laws, policies and money — to seek preferential treatment for their particular religious institutions and the advancement of narrow sectarian agendas.”
Gaddy cited a litany of examples of what he considers threats to religious freedom and church-state separation. They included government money being given directly to churches for social services; increasingly polarizing religious rhetoric in political campaigns; government agencies spying on American Muslims, Quakers and other religious groups because they espouse beliefs that differ from the executive branch; and a sitting Supreme Court justice who has stated he doesn’t believe the First Amendment’s religion clauses apply to the states.
Baptists hold the key to overcoming such perils, Gaddy said. Continue reading ‘Gaddy warns Mainstream Baptists to be vigilant on religious liberty’
