Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty
Encyclopedia
The Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty (BJC) is an education and advocacy association in the United States
with a number of Baptist
denominations. It states that it seeks to promote religious liberty
for all and to uphold the principle of church-state separation
. It has, for example, joined with other religious organizations in opposing government-sponsored displays of the Ten Commandments
.
The BJC strives to avoid language of speaking "for" Baptists or "representing" Baptists. It is the firm belief of BJC staffers that, in the words of a former Executive Director of the organization, "You don't speak for Baptists. You only speak to Baptists."
One of the most effective educating tools in recent years was "Religion in the Public Schools: A Joint Statement of Current Law." Drafted and endorsed by a number of leading organizations spanning the political spectrum, from the National Association of Evangelicals
and the Christian Legal Society
to the American Civil Liberties Union
and the National Council of Churches
, the document was a resource for parents, students, teachers, and administrators throughout the United States. In fact, this document was later condensed and mailed to schools across the country by President Bill Clinton
because of its accuracy and reliability. The Baptist Joint Committee was a member of the drafting committee for this document.
In addition to education, the Baptist Joint Committee participates in legislative activities geared towards advocating for the passage or defeat of various bills within the U.S. Congress. Most of these activities revolve around speaking directly to members of Congress concerning legislation, but occasionally the general counsel or executive director will be called upon to testify before Congress. Brent Walker, the current Executive Director, has testified before Congress on a number of occasions, most notably being on October 25, 1995 on the issue of the Religious Equality Amendment. Speaking before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Dr. Walker said, "The best government can do is to get out of religion's way; the worst it can do is to get behind and push. The present constitutional language requires the former; the proposed amendments would allow the latter. Persons of faith who treasure religious liberty don't need or want an amendment."
In addition to receiving support from Baptist organizations, the BJC also receives support from individuals who identify with the cause of religious liberty and church-state separation.
(SBC) created the Committee on Public Relations. The committee had the following charge:
This "first incarnation" of the Baptist Joint Committee (BJC) was soon joined by a similar body chartered by the Northern Baptist Convention (NBC) on May 25, 1937. Soon after, the Conventions began discussing the possibility of a joint venture, and both committees often worked jointly on issues of mutual concern. The NBC in 1937 and 1939 summarily passed resolutions promoting the combination of the committees, but the SBC resisted formal operational cooperation until 1941, when a resolution was finally passed that supported organizational merger. With the adoption of a precisely similar resolution from the NBC's Committee on Public Relations, the Joint Conference Committee on Public Relations was officially created.
The resolutions of both the SBC and the NBC included provisions for joint endeavor with the Committee on Public Relations of the National Baptist Convention, USA and the National Baptist Convention of America, and the reports to the SBC and NBC indicate that these two major black Baptist conventions were included in the cooperation surrounding the combination.
Dawson's leadership led to a number of significant changes within the organization. One of the first was the introduction of the Report from the Capital, a periodical containing news and opinions of interest to politically-minded Baptists. The first issue appeared in October, 1946, and the Baptist Joint Committee has published the Report ever since as a primary source for its opinions and views on church-state issues.
In addition to publishing the Report, the organization gained office space through the generous support of the Baptist World Alliance
and the District of Columbia Baptist Association. Dawson also expanded the organization's base of support to include the Seventh Day Baptists, and the North American Baptist General Conference
. Overtures were made to the various organizations of General Baptists, although such efforts were largely unsuccessful.
One of the final changes wrought by Dawson's tenure was the preparation of the BJC's first constitution. This constitution was one of the factors which led to the narrowing focus of the Baptist Joint Committee on issues related primarily to church-state separation. The constitution stated:
elected Adrian Rogers
to the convention presidency.
The relationship with the Convention got rockier throughout the 1980s. Prior to these years, resolutions had passed the annual meetings regularly expressing near-unanimous support to the BJC and its stands. But as the eighties brought charges of liberalism among the BJC staff on a variety of issues, James Dunn, who assumed his duties as Executive Director in 1980 at the beginning of the controversy, responded:
Throughout the controversy, significant leadership among the conservative faction were attacking Dunn repeatedly. an example comes from Paige Patterson: "[Dunn] hobnobs with the liberal establishment in the house and Senate.... That doesn't make us very happy either." In that same year, the convention defeated a motion to cut off funding for the BJC at their Kansas City meeting.
In 1986, relations seemed to improve when a special study committee formed by the Executive Committee to study a motion to cut off funding recommended maintaining ties with the BJC. An exhaustive report by Dr. Hugh Wamble of Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary
also delivered a positive recommendation, and the Convention allocated a record budget donation to the BJC in that year. In return, the SBC share of board members in the BJC was increased to 18 from 15, giving them one-third of the seats on the Committee. These members were authorized to function as a separate "Public Affairs Committee" (PAC), and proceeded to pass a number of resolutions on matters they knew could not be supported by the BJC, such as the Bork
nomination.
The PAC then requested to conduct a two-day evaluation of the staff. Instead, the BJC executive committee, composed of other denominational representatives and the PAC, voted to conduct a thorough evaluation that would serve the interests of all represented denominations, the PAC requested a number of documents related to staff expenses and compensation. The BJC complied on a number of requests, but refused to provide access to confidential staff correspondence and individual expense accounts. After these meetings and losing these critical votes, the PAC voted separately to cut ties with the BJC.
Although the PAC protested that they merely were trying to exercise accountability, C.J. Malloy Jr., of the Progressive National Baptist Convention
, had this to say about the PAC effort:
In 1988, at the fall meeting of the SBC Executive Committee, the group recommended in a 42 to 27 vote that a competing Religious Liberty Commission be established in Washington. James Dunn, who was not invited to the hearing, called the process "shabby, unfair, unethical, and improper," He asserted that the BJC would not compromise their principles for what he termed "a mess of politically-tainted pottage."
In 1989, a motion failed by 6,034 to 5,198 to give $350,000 of the BJC's funding to the Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary
. At the same meeting, there was a tense exchange between James Dunn and the PAC chairman, Samuel T. Currin. Currin charged the BJC as soliciting $100,000 to $200,000 in funding outside their constitution. Dunn replied: "There are those whose mentality is so conspiratorial, so dark and manipulatively political that they cannot imagine the groundswell of support that has come to the Baptist Joint Committee simply because our funding was cut in San Antonio last year.... They didn't ask if they could, if they should, if we would take it. But I am just like anybody who has an agency responsibility—I haven't sent a single check back. But I have not been soliciting funds." In the same space, Dunn indicated that the Committee could be provided with a list of their new contributors arranged by category, but they would not name individual donors to prevent them from being added to the SBC leadership's "hit list.
In 1990, the SBC reduced the BJC budget to $50,000, an 87% decrease over its previous levels of funding. A year later, at the 1991 annual meeting, all funding to the BJC was abolished in an amendment from Fred Minix of Virginia.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
with a number of Baptist
Baptist
Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...
denominations. It states that it seeks to promote religious liberty
Freedom of religion
Freedom of religion is a principle that supports the freedom of an individual or community, in public or private, to manifest religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship, and observance; the concept is generally recognized also to include the freedom to change religion or not to follow any...
for all and to uphold the principle of church-state separation
Separation of church and state
The concept of the separation of church and state refers to the distance in the relationship between organized religion and the nation state....
. It has, for example, joined with other religious organizations in opposing government-sponsored displays of the Ten Commandments
Ten Commandments
The Ten Commandments, also known as the Decalogue , are a set of biblical principles relating to ethics and worship, which play a fundamental role in Judaism and most forms of Christianity. They include instructions to worship only God and to keep the Sabbath, and prohibitions against idolatry,...
.
Mission
The BJC defines itself in the following terms: "The mission of the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty is to defend and extend God-given religious liberty for all, furthering the Baptist heritage that champions the principle that religion must be freely exercised, neither advanced nor inhibited by government."The BJC strives to avoid language of speaking "for" Baptists or "representing" Baptists. It is the firm belief of BJC staffers that, in the words of a former Executive Director of the organization, "You don't speak for Baptists. You only speak to Baptists."
Issues
The BJC restricts its activities to a small number of issues relating to religious liberty and the separation of church and state: church electioneering, civil religion, free exercise, government funding, political discourse, public prayer, and religious displays. On all of these issues, the organization supports a balanced approach that broadly interprets both the free exercise and no establishment clauses of the First Amendment.Advocacy
To promote its positions on these issues, the organization uses the strategies of education, legislation, and litigation. They publish a wide array of materials relating to church-state separation, from self-published historical pamphlets to significant coalition statements.One of the most effective educating tools in recent years was "Religion in the Public Schools: A Joint Statement of Current Law." Drafted and endorsed by a number of leading organizations spanning the political spectrum, from the National Association of Evangelicals
National Association of Evangelicals
The National Association of Evangelicals is a fellowship of member denominations, churches, organizations, and individuals. Its goal is to honor God by connecting and representing evangelicals in the United States. Today it works in four main areas: Church & Faith Partners, Government Relations,...
and the Christian Legal Society
Christian Legal Society
The Christian Legal Society is a non-profit, non-denominational organization of Christian lawyers, judges, law professors, and law students whose members profess to follow the "commandment of Jesus" to "do justice with the love of God."...
to the American Civil Liberties Union
American Civil Liberties Union
The American Civil Liberties Union is a U.S. non-profit organization whose stated mission is "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States." It works through litigation, legislation, and...
and the National Council of Churches
National Council of Churches
The National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA is an ecumenical partnership of 37 Christian faith groups in the United States. Its member denominations, churches, conventions, and archdioceses include Mainline Protestant, Orthodox, African American, Evangelical, and historic peace...
, the document was a resource for parents, students, teachers, and administrators throughout the United States. In fact, this document was later condensed and mailed to schools across the country by President Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
because of its accuracy and reliability. The Baptist Joint Committee was a member of the drafting committee for this document.
In addition to education, the Baptist Joint Committee participates in legislative activities geared towards advocating for the passage or defeat of various bills within the U.S. Congress. Most of these activities revolve around speaking directly to members of Congress concerning legislation, but occasionally the general counsel or executive director will be called upon to testify before Congress. Brent Walker, the current Executive Director, has testified before Congress on a number of occasions, most notably being on October 25, 1995 on the issue of the Religious Equality Amendment. Speaking before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Dr. Walker said, "The best government can do is to get out of religion's way; the worst it can do is to get behind and push. The present constitutional language requires the former; the proposed amendments would allow the latter. Persons of faith who treasure religious liberty don't need or want an amendment."
Membership and organization
Serving fourteen Baptist bodies, the BJC is a non-profit 501(c)(3) education and advocacy organization that has worked for nearly seventy years promoting religious liberty for all and upholding the principle of church-state separation. It is supported by the following Baptist organizations:- Alliance of BaptistsAlliance of BaptistsThe Alliance of Baptists is a fellowship of Baptist churches and individuals in the United States. In its theology and social stances, the Alliance is characterized as a progressive or liberal Christian fellowship...
- American Baptist Churches USAAmerican Baptist Churches USAThe American Baptist Churches USA is a Baptist Christian denomination within the United States. The denomination maintains headquarters in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania. The organization is usually considered mainline, although varying theological and mission emphases may be found among its...
- Baptist General Association of VirginiaBaptist General Association of VirginiaThe Baptist General Association of Virginia is an umbrella organization of Baptist churches founded in 1823. The BGAV has been characterized as a moderate association...
- Baptist General ConferenceBaptist General ConferenceThe Baptist General Conference is a national evangelical Baptist body with roots in Pietism in Sweden and inroads among evangelical Scandinavian-Americans, particularly in the American Upper Midwest. From its beginning among Scandinavian immigrants, the BGC has grown to a nationwide association...
- Baptist General Convention of TexasBaptist General Convention of TexasThe Baptist General Convention of Texas is the oldest surviving Baptist convention in the state of Texas. The churches cooperating with the Baptist General Convention of Texas partner nationally and internationally with both the Southern Baptist Convention and the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship,...
- Baptist State Convention of North Carolina
- Cooperative Baptist FellowshipCooperative Baptist FellowshipThe Cooperative Baptist Fellowship is a Christian fellowship of Baptist churches formed in 1991. Theologically moderate, the CBF withdrew from the Southern Baptist Convention over philosophical and theological differences, such as the SBC prohibition of women serving as pastors. The Cooperative...
- National Baptist Convention of America
- National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc.National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc.The National Baptist Convention, USA, Inc. is the largest predominantly African-American Christian denomination in the United States and is the world's second largest Baptist denomination...
- National Missionary Baptist Convention of AmericaNational Missionary Baptist Convention of AmericaThe National Missionary Baptist Convention of America is an African-American Baptist convention which combined the efforts of Missionary Baptist churches and organizations throughout the country with the goal of unity for capable and efficient ministry. The NMBCA also seeks to propagate Baptist...
- North American Baptist ConferenceNorth American Baptist ConferenceNorth American Baptist Conference - initially an association of Baptists in the United States and Canada of German ethnic heritage.The roots of the NABC go back to 1839, when Konrad Anton Fleischmann began work in New Jersey and Pennsylvania with German immigrants. Fleischmann was a Swiss...
- Progressive National Baptist ConventionProgressive National Baptist ConventionThe Progressive National Baptist Convention, Incorporated is a convention of African-American Baptists emphasizing civil rights and social justice....
- Religious Liberty Council
- Seventh Day Baptist General Conference
In addition to receiving support from Baptist organizations, the BJC also receives support from individuals who identify with the cause of religious liberty and church-state separation.
Early committees on public relations
Baptist involvement in public affairs began formally on Saturday, May 16, 1936, when the Southern Baptist ConventionSouthern Baptist Convention
The Southern Baptist Convention is a United States-based Christian denomination. It is the world's largest Baptist denomination and the largest Protestant body in the United States, with over 16 million members...
(SBC) created the Committee on Public Relations. The committee had the following charge:
- "... as situations arise, in which agencies of this Convention are compelled to confer, to negotiate, to demand just rights that are being threatened or to have other inescapable dealings with the American or other Governments, this Committee shall function, when so requested by any existing board or agency of this body, as the representative of Southern Baptists and shall report in detail to the Southern Baptist Convention the results of such conferences and negotiations."
This "first incarnation" of the Baptist Joint Committee (BJC) was soon joined by a similar body chartered by the Northern Baptist Convention (NBC) on May 25, 1937. Soon after, the Conventions began discussing the possibility of a joint venture, and both committees often worked jointly on issues of mutual concern. The NBC in 1937 and 1939 summarily passed resolutions promoting the combination of the committees, but the SBC resisted formal operational cooperation until 1941, when a resolution was finally passed that supported organizational merger. With the adoption of a precisely similar resolution from the NBC's Committee on Public Relations, the Joint Conference Committee on Public Relations was officially created.
The resolutions of both the SBC and the NBC included provisions for joint endeavor with the Committee on Public Relations of the National Baptist Convention, USA and the National Baptist Convention of America, and the reports to the SBC and NBC indicate that these two major black Baptist conventions were included in the cooperation surrounding the combination.
Changes in 1946
In 1946 the committee established offices in Washington, D.C., and became the Baptist Joint Committee on Public Affairs. Joseph Martin Dawson was elected the organization's first full-time Executive Director, a position he held until his retirement at age seventy-five on October 13, 1953.Dawson's leadership led to a number of significant changes within the organization. One of the first was the introduction of the Report from the Capital, a periodical containing news and opinions of interest to politically-minded Baptists. The first issue appeared in October, 1946, and the Baptist Joint Committee has published the Report ever since as a primary source for its opinions and views on church-state issues.
In addition to publishing the Report, the organization gained office space through the generous support of the Baptist World Alliance
Baptist World Alliance
The Baptist World Alliance is a worldwide alliance of Baptist churches and organizations, formed in 1905 at Exeter Hall in London during the first Baptist World Congress.-History:...
and the District of Columbia Baptist Association. Dawson also expanded the organization's base of support to include the Seventh Day Baptists, and the North American Baptist General Conference
Baptist General Conference
The Baptist General Conference is a national evangelical Baptist body with roots in Pietism in Sweden and inroads among evangelical Scandinavian-Americans, particularly in the American Upper Midwest. From its beginning among Scandinavian immigrants, the BGC has grown to a nationwide association...
. Overtures were made to the various organizations of General Baptists, although such efforts were largely unsuccessful.
One of the final changes wrought by Dawson's tenure was the preparation of the BJC's first constitution. This constitution was one of the factors which led to the narrowing focus of the Baptist Joint Committee on issues related primarily to church-state separation. The constitution stated:
Southern Baptist controversy
In 1979, an alleged takeover occurred when the Southern Baptist ConventionSouthern Baptist Convention
The Southern Baptist Convention is a United States-based Christian denomination. It is the world's largest Baptist denomination and the largest Protestant body in the United States, with over 16 million members...
elected Adrian Rogers
Adrian Rogers
Adrian Pierce Rogers served three terms as president of the Southern Baptist Convention , a Southern Baptist pastor, and a conservative author....
to the convention presidency.
The relationship with the Convention got rockier throughout the 1980s. Prior to these years, resolutions had passed the annual meetings regularly expressing near-unanimous support to the BJC and its stands. But as the eighties brought charges of liberalism among the BJC staff on a variety of issues, James Dunn, who assumed his duties as Executive Director in 1980 at the beginning of the controversy, responded:
Throughout the controversy, significant leadership among the conservative faction were attacking Dunn repeatedly. an example comes from Paige Patterson: "[Dunn] hobnobs with the liberal establishment in the house and Senate.... That doesn't make us very happy either." In that same year, the convention defeated a motion to cut off funding for the BJC at their Kansas City meeting.
In 1986, relations seemed to improve when a special study committee formed by the Executive Committee to study a motion to cut off funding recommended maintaining ties with the BJC. An exhaustive report by Dr. Hugh Wamble of Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary
Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary
Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary is one of six official seminaries of the Southern Baptist Convention. It is located in Kansas City, Missouri. Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary also houses an undergraduate college, Midwestern Baptist College, SBC. Although the seminary focuses...
also delivered a positive recommendation, and the Convention allocated a record budget donation to the BJC in that year. In return, the SBC share of board members in the BJC was increased to 18 from 15, giving them one-third of the seats on the Committee. These members were authorized to function as a separate "Public Affairs Committee" (PAC), and proceeded to pass a number of resolutions on matters they knew could not be supported by the BJC, such as the Bork
Robert Bork
Robert Heron Bork is an American legal scholar who has advocated the judicial philosophy of originalism. Bork formerly served as Solicitor General, Acting Attorney General, and judge for the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit...
nomination.
The PAC then requested to conduct a two-day evaluation of the staff. Instead, the BJC executive committee, composed of other denominational representatives and the PAC, voted to conduct a thorough evaluation that would serve the interests of all represented denominations, the PAC requested a number of documents related to staff expenses and compensation. The BJC complied on a number of requests, but refused to provide access to confidential staff correspondence and individual expense accounts. After these meetings and losing these critical votes, the PAC voted separately to cut ties with the BJC.
Although the PAC protested that they merely were trying to exercise accountability, C.J. Malloy Jr., of the Progressive National Baptist Convention
Progressive National Baptist Convention
The Progressive National Baptist Convention, Incorporated is a convention of African-American Baptists emphasizing civil rights and social justice....
, had this to say about the PAC effort:
In 1988, at the fall meeting of the SBC Executive Committee, the group recommended in a 42 to 27 vote that a competing Religious Liberty Commission be established in Washington. James Dunn, who was not invited to the hearing, called the process "shabby, unfair, unethical, and improper," He asserted that the BJC would not compromise their principles for what he termed "a mess of politically-tainted pottage."
In 1989, a motion failed by 6,034 to 5,198 to give $350,000 of the BJC's funding to the Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary
Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary
Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary is a seminary of the Southern Baptist Convention , created to meet a need in the SBC's East Coast region. It was voted into existence on May 19, 1950 at the SBC annual meeting and began offering classes in the fall of 1951 on the original campus of Wake...
. At the same meeting, there was a tense exchange between James Dunn and the PAC chairman, Samuel T. Currin. Currin charged the BJC as soliciting $100,000 to $200,000 in funding outside their constitution. Dunn replied: "There are those whose mentality is so conspiratorial, so dark and manipulatively political that they cannot imagine the groundswell of support that has come to the Baptist Joint Committee simply because our funding was cut in San Antonio last year.... They didn't ask if they could, if they should, if we would take it. But I am just like anybody who has an agency responsibility—I haven't sent a single check back. But I have not been soliciting funds." In the same space, Dunn indicated that the Committee could be provided with a list of their new contributors arranged by category, but they would not name individual donors to prevent them from being added to the SBC leadership's "hit list.
In 1990, the SBC reduced the BJC budget to $50,000, an 87% decrease over its previous levels of funding. A year later, at the 1991 annual meeting, all funding to the BJC was abolished in an amendment from Fred Minix of Virginia.