Gonzales touts religious freedom plan to SBC

NASHVILLE — Attorney General Alberto Gonzales chose the Feb. 20 Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) Executive Committee meeting to announce a new Justice Department focus on religious freedom. Gonzales told members of the SBC’s main governing board that the department was launching the First Freedom Project effort to fight religious discrimination in employment, housing, land use, education and other areas of the law. He said his department’s civil rights division will spearhead the effort. It will include educational efforts to inform officials, employers and everyday Americans about their religious-liberty rights under law. It also features a new Web site, www.firstfreedom.gov.

Gonzales sought out SBC leaders for the chance to make the announcement at the meeting. But some Christian leaders questioned the move, including Brent Walker, executive director of the Washington-based Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty. Walker said he appreciates the Bush administration’s focus on the First Amendment but that the administration "has often ignored the importance of a no-establishment principle."