Messengers to the 2000 meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention adopted 10 resolutions, including a groundbreaking one in support of capital punishment.
Several of the resolutions focused on liberty. These included: the right to proclaim the gospel of Christ in the United States; religious freedom in China and Sudan; the elimination of sex trafficking in women and children; and the right of the Boy Scouts of America to determine its own leadership and membership in the face of pressure to include homosexuals.
Except for the resolution on capital punishment, the committee’s recommendations met with no opposition or almost none. Even the measure on the death penalty was approved overwhelmingly.
That resolution affirms the use of capital punishment “by civil magistrates as a legitimate form of punishment for those guilty of murder or treasonous acts that result in death.” The death penalty should be used only when there is “clear and overwhelming evidence of guilt,” the resolution states. It also calls for “vigilance, justice and equity in the criminal justice system,” with capital punishment “applied as justly and as fairly as possible without undue delay, without reference to the race, class or status of the guilty.”
-A resolution expressing gratitude to God for the Cooperative Program, the giving plan of the convention, on its 75th anniversary and encouraging churches to consider increasing by one percent their budgetary percentage of giving to Southern Baptists’ plan for funding missions.
-A call for a recommitment to personal evangelism, affirming the right to proclaim Jesus in a pluralistic society.
-Support for the work of the congressionally established Commission on International Religious Freedom, urging the federal government to influence the regimes in China and Sudan to halt religious persecutions.
-A condemnation of the recently revealed trade in unborn baby parts for research purposes and asking public officials to act to stop it.
-Support for legislation to halt international trafficking of women and children for sexual purposes.
-Affirmation of the right of the Boy Scouts to determine its leadership and membership. The New Jersey Supreme Court has ruled the Boy Scouts must allow homosexuals to be troop leaders. The case has been appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, which is expected to release a decision in late June.
-Encouragement to the federal government to protect the family and national sovereignty amid the rise of New Age globalism.
-Support for the traditional method of calendar dating with the designations B.C. and A.D. instead of the revised B.C.E. (before common era) and C.E. (common era).
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