jefferson faceWritten by Don Byrd

Writing for The Baptist Standard, Editor Marv Knox uses the upcoming occasion of Human Rights Day to remind fellow Baptists about our historical tradition of standing up for the religious liberty of all. At a time when so many around the world experience true religious persecution for their beliefs, he argues, Baptists should understand above all the importance of standing with the persecuted.

Here is an excerpt:

Baptists did not seek liberty for ourselves alone; we did not hoard freedom. Thomas Helwys, one of Baptists’ founders, died in a London prison after penning a tract advocating religious liberty for all people and earning the wrath of King James. A generation later, Baptist Roger Williams founded Rhode Island Colony in America to preserve religious liberty for people of all faiths and of no faith. More than a century after that, John Leland, a Baptist pastor, helped secure guarantees for religious freedom in the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

Today, Baptists join Muslims, Jews, Hindus, Yazidis, Baha’is and adherents of other faiths who suffer and die for their religious beliefs. 

Read the whole thing.