Open House at the new Baptist Joint Committee on Religious LibertyWritten by Don Byrd

Last year on Giving Tuesday, I signed up to support the Baptist Joint Committee with automatic monthly giving. I want to explain why I felt so strongly about the need to contribute to this great organization. 

When church-state disputes are portrayed in the media, I see a familiar caricature all too often framing the debate. On one side are atheists or humanists seeking to enforce principles of church-state separation. On the other side are God-fearing Christians who oppose separation as a loss for religion, and an affront to faith. How hollow is that discussion? And where does it leave me, a Christian who is offended when government takes up the mantle of faith? A Baptist who believes that soul freedom requires the same religious liberty for all?

In short, I support the Baptist Joint Committee because they get me. They get my faith. They get why I can believe in spreading the message of Christ without believing we should use the powers of the state to do it. They understand that allowing me to impose my faith on others is not a victory for religious freedom.

Our political and cultural climate thrives on caricature and two-dimensional demographic associations. How often have I had to assure someone, in conversation about a religious liberty issue, that “I’m not that kind of Baptist.” The BJC cuts through those divides and knows how to be heard on a national scale, in a way that I can only hope to achieve on a personal level. It is vitally important to me that I can point to an organization that is in sync with my faith, and that is as effective, as earnest, and as principled as the BJC. I can say, when it comes to religious liberty, “I’m this kind of Baptist.”

I also want to explain why I’m sure not stopping now, and why I encourage you to join me in standing with the BJC on Giving Tuesday this year. There are two reasons, really.

First, there has never been a more urgent need for the voice of the BJC on Capitol Hill. I don’t want to beat around the bush: religious minorities in the U.S. are fearful, maybe moreso than in generations. They are fearful that they will be subject to discrimination, harassment, bullying, even violence, solely because of their faith. The rise in anti-Muslim and anti-Semitic rhetoric we have seen during the last couple of years should alarm everyone who believes in true religious liberty for all. Has it ever been more important in our lifetimes for people of faith to stand arm-in-arm with our brothers and sisters of other religions in condemning such rhetoric? Has there ever been a greater need for Christians to speak in clear opposition to any policy proposal that would treat anyone differently because of their religious beliefs?

Second, thanks to the leadership of the Rev. Brent Walker, who retires at the end of this year, the BJC has never been better prepared to take the lead in addressing those very serious religious liberty challenges we now face. Brent has been a tireless and effective champion of religious liberty for all. His thoughtful voice of reason and perspective of faith on those issues have been heard from the halls of Congress and the White House to the chambers of the U.S. Supreme Court. And he has proclaimed the BJC’s religious liberty message during worship services and prayer meetings in churches all across the country.

Brent’s steady hand of leadership has been felt not only at the BJC, but also among the many religious liberty advocates – of all faiths and no faith – that the BJC has partnered with to further our God-given rights of conscience. Those coalitions often look to the BJC, as an advocate for both religious freedom and for church-state separation, to lead.

Our Baptist heritage of religious freedom and the separation of church and state, Brent once wrote, means that “we believe in free souls…free churches…and a free state.” That belief has been on full display during his tenure.  I can think of no better way to thank Brent for his 27 years with the BJC than by starting a monthly donation, re-upping a monthly donation, or increasing a monthly donation.