On Wednesday Night, September 16^th, we will be discussing “Religious Liberty.” Baptists in America have prided themselves on being champions for Religious Freedom. When the US Constitution was being written, Baptist Preacher John Leland was lobbying with (then) Virginia Representative James Madison to add an amendment that guaranteed the right of Religious Liberty. John Leland wrote “[The Religious] liberty I contend for is more than toleration… all should be equally free, Jews, Turks, Pagans and Christians.” On December 15, 1791, the Bill of Rights was ratified that included a 1^st Amendment to the US Constitution that reads “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…

The reason that Baptists were so adamant about Religious Liberty – comes from their experiences with “State Religion” in Europe. The State Religion was paid for with tax money, you became a “believer” the moment you became a citizen of that state (whether by Birth or Immigration), and a person’s “beliefs” were enforced by the state. None of the European State Religions were Baptist – therefore Baptists were considered “dissenters” and were persecuted by the State Church. Baptists did not believe that you were “Born” as a Christian – instead you were “Born Again” as a Christian. Baptist citizens had to pay taxes which supported the State Church and then they had to pay for the expenses of their own “dissenting” church. The State church enforced religious behavior such as morality, holidays, and rituals of worship based on the beliefs of the State Religion. Many of them required that you be a member of the State Church to be eligible to hold an office in the government.

Baptists believed that according to the Bible “God alone is Lord of the Conscience, and He has left it free from the doctrines and commandments of men which are contrary to His Word or not contained in it…  [there is] the right to free and unhindered access to God on the part of all men, and the right to form and propagate opinions in the sphere of religion without interference by the civil power” (Baptist Faith & Message) .

One of our great Southern Baptist Leaders, Hershel Hobbs (1907-1995), wrote a Study Course on “The Baptist Faith and Message” and summarized what he believed to be the Baptist historical understanding of Religious Liberty – “the right of every man to worship God as his conscience dictates. It means equality before the law, not only of all forms of Christian faith, but also of other religions. And one might add of no religion.”

While the idea of “Religious Freedom for All” – including Pagans, Turks (Muslims), and no religion at all (Atheists) sounds great in sermons – it is a doctrine that has come back to haunt Baptists in the 21^st Century. While these Baptist Preachers were preaching “Religious Freedom for All”, they were thinking Religious Freedom for Baptists who had historically been “picked on” by other Christian Denominations. I doubt that the founding fathers ever pictured a time when America would be a Secular Society where:

-Prayer and Bible reading would be removed from the School House.

-The 10 Commandments would be removed from the Court House.

-Creation would be replaced by Evolution in the School Curriculum.

-The “Turks” (Muslims) would be using their religious freedom & tax exemption to preach and fund Jihad against Israel & America in their Mosques.

-The Government legalized Abortion and then forced Christian owned businesses to provide healthcare insurance that paid for Abortion.

-Atheists in the government would legalize same sex marriage and then force Christians who hold public office to violate their conscience by issuing the marriage licenses -&- force Christian photographers & florists to provide wedding services against their conscience.

There is a debate now in academic circles about whether America was ever a “Christian Nation” – but it does not take much historical research to figure out that the Founders had a Christian worldview and a 10 Commandments understanding of morality. I wonder what our Baptist forefathers would think if they could see Religious Liberty in America NOW?

SO – What do you think? Would America be in any worse moral condition if we had established a Christian State Church in America that was Catholic, Anglican, or Protestant? Our Question for the Evening:

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