Baptist Joint Committee Supporting Bodies Church-State Matters: Alliance of Baptists Fighting for Religious Liberty in Our Nation’s Capital American Baptist Churches USA For nearly two decades, J. Brent Walker has fought to defend Baptist General Association of Virginia and extend religious liberty for all and uphold the wall of separa- Baptist General Convention of tion between church and state in our nation’s capital. Missouri Baptist General Convention of Texas In his new book, he articulates a cogent Baptist understanding Baptist State Convention of North of the importance of the First Amendment’s religion clauses in Carolina protecting our God-given religious liberty. This collection of Converge Worldwide essays, speeches, sermons and congressional testimony provides a Cooperative Baptist Fellowship living history of the modern era the life of the Baptist Joint National Baptist Convention of Committee, now in its eighth decade. America The book is available through Mercer University Press at National Baptist Convention U.S.A. Inc. www.MUPress.org, Amazon.com and most other online retailers. National Missionary Baptist Convention What others are saying... North American Baptist Conference “No topic is as old for Baptists as religious liberty. No topic is as new for Baptists as reli- Progressive National Baptist Convention Inc. gious liberty. It was relevant at the beginning and every step along the way. Brent Walker has Religious Liberty Council done Baptists yet another service by compiling many of his articles, speeches and testimonies Seventh Day Baptist General between covers in Church-State Matters. The collection is valuable for the general reader as Conference well as for ministers and teachers who need illustrations on the subject. It should be on every from the Capital Baptist's bookshelf.“ REPORT —Fred Anderson, executive director of The Center for Baptist Heritage & Studies “At a time when strident voices seek to monopolize public debate and hold themselves out as J. Brent Walker the only truly authentic ‘Christian’ voice, I can only say amen to Brent Walker. Brent reminds Executive Director us that when religious groups speak to power, they should insist that government uphold the Jeff Huett constitutional guarantees for all Americans. Church-State Matters is a powerful credo that Editor will speak to many Americans.” —Rev. Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Phallan Davis Church and State Associate Editor Report from the Capital (ISSN-0346- “This book is a superb compilation of great stuff. Interesting facts, illuminating history, and insight- 0661) is published 10 times each year by ful analysis (with which I happen to agree) all rolled into one. This is a great contribution to the coun- the Baptist Joint Committee. For sub- try’s constitutional and religious trove.” scription information, please contact the — Oliver “Buzz” Thomas, executive director of the Niswonger Foundation and Baptist Joint Committee. former Baptist Joint Committee General Counsel Non-profit Organization U.S. Postage PAID Riverdale, MD Permit No. 5061 200 Maryland Ave., N.E. Washington, D.C. 20002-5797 Return Service Requested Phone: 202.544.4226 Fax: 202.544.2094 E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.BJConline.org REPORTfrom theCapital Florida Supreme Court rejects challenge to religious funding ban The Florida Supreme Court ruled Sept. 3 tect the vitality and independence of reli- that a state commission acted improperly in gious entities. placing two constitutional amendments “The religious freedom we enjoy depends harmful to religious liberty on on strong legal protections for the November ballot. A lower the institutional separation of court had upheld the initiatives religion and government,” in an Aug. 4 decision. Hollman said. “With this rul- Taken together, these consti- ing, the Court has rejected an Newsletter of the tutional amendments (Nos. 7 attempt to blur the line Baptist Joint Committee and 9) would have deleted between church and state and Florida’s “No-Aid” provision has protected the religious lib- Vol.63 No.8 from its constitution and erty of all Floridians.” added language that would Not everyone hailed the severely weaken the strong Court’s decision. Supporters of religious liberty protection that Floridians the initiatives assert that the constitutional enjoy. In essence, the proposals would allow restrictions were fueled by the anti-Catholic public funding of private schools, including sentiment prevalent in the late 19th century. September 2008 religious schools. These proposed amend- The Florida Catholic Conference and ments were to appear on the general election Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of ballot this November by order of the Florida Miami were among the religious organiza- Taxation and Budget Reform Commission, a tions that intervened in the suit. 25-member body appointed by the governor, In an interview with the Religion News the speaker of the Florida House of Service, Gary McCaleb, senior counsel for Representatives, and the Florida Senate the Alliance Defense Fund, which provided INSIDE: President. financial assistance for the case, called the The role of the Commission, which meets state’s current policy “obnoxious.” once every 20 years, is “to recommend statu- “Floridians should have had the right to Reflections . .3 tory and constitutional changes dealing with vote on the matter, and obviously it’s very taxation and the state budgetary process,” sad when advocacy groups step in and Churches & politics4 and it typically confines itself to such budget silence citizens from voting,” McCaleb said. and taxation matters that are legitimately Many states have strong religious liberty within its jurisdiction. provisions (protecting both free exercise and Hollman Report . .6 By directing that Amendments 7 and 9 no establishment principles) that provide appear on the ballot, the Commission more explicit protections than in the First News . .7 exceeded its authority because these two Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. For amendments had, at best, only a tangential example, numerous state constitutions, connection to “taxation and the state budget- including Florida’s, have “No-Aid” provi- ary process,” and in reality were a Trojan sions that prohibit the expenditure of public horse vehicle for radically weakening the funds in aid of or to support religious insti- separation of church and state in Florida. tutions, including parochial schools. These Several Florida citizens filed a lawsuit mak- “No-Aid” provisions, and other state consti- ing this argument in June, and on Sept. 3 the tutional provisions that bar funding of reli- Florida Supreme Court ruled in their favor. gious institutions, are part of the broad, K. Hollyn Hollman, general counsel for multi-faceted legal tradition in this country the Baptist Joint Committee, said the Court’s that protects religious freedom. decision keeps in place safeguards that pro- — Staff Election & religion ‘08 Is voting a Christian rite or right? Jason Ford, 29, of Murfreesboro, Tenn., will be spend- Marty’s assertion, arguing that politics — and life — is a ing Election Day at home this year. compromise between the lesser of two evils, or as he puts A self-identified evangelical Christian, Ford cast his it, “the better of two less-than-perfects.” vote for President Bush in 2004, but says he and his wife Asked about the ethics of voting, former Arkansas gov- plan to stay away from the polls Nov. 4, ernor and Republican presidential candi- rather than vote for Sen. John McCain. date Mike Huckabee quoted the Gospel “I’m not going to be able to vote for any- of Matthew: “Render unto God the things one who doesn’t take a 100-percent stand that are God’s, and render unto Caesar against abortion,” said Ford, “so right now the things that are Caesar’s.” I’m in a dilemma.” “Part of being a citizen in a society like Ford is concerned by McCain’s support ours, where we have the privilege of vot- for embryonic stem cell research, as well as ing, is the responsibility to exercise that by reports that the Arizona senator may privilege,” Huckabee said. “To not do so choose a running mate who supports abor- is to sort of forgo that part of what it tion rights, such as Sen. Joe Lieberman of means to be in a free society, and I think Connecticut. [Note: McCain has since it would be unfortunate.” selected Gov. Sarah Palin of Alaska as his running mate.] Still, dissenters say there are reasons for staying home. “If he’s OK with that, then I’m not,” Ford said. Todd Whitmore, a professor of theology at the Ford is not alone. Lou Engle, founder of the evangelical University of Notre Dame and a contributor to the new youth movement, TheCall, says he may sit out the election book, Electing Not To Vote, argues that while Christians are if McCain selects a pro-choice running mate. Meanwhile, obligated to participate in civil society, the electoral sys- Focus on the Family founder James Dobson, a leading tem has been reconfigured to the point where voting is conservative Christian voice, publicly vowed never to sup- not always an appropriate or efficient means of participa- port McCain in February. He softened his stance recently. tion. But while some remain less than enthusiastic about “If you don’t allow for situations like (abstaining), then their options this fall, conscientious abstention raises you basically make the earthly political order into a kind another ethical question: Do Christians have an obligation of God. The earthly political order is a good,” Whitmore to vote? said, “but it’s not the ultimate good.” Of the multitude of Christian denominations in the The motive behind not voting can be as significant as United States, few have a history of deliberate non-voting. the act itself. A supporter of Sen. Hillary Clinton would Jehovah’s Witnesses, who demand full separation of not be justified in staying home rather than supporting church and state, may be the largest and most prominent Obama, according to Whitmore, because that would be “a example, along with some Anabaptist sects, such as the kind of political blackmail” rather than a moral stand.