The Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission has endorsed John Ashcroft as attorney general in a letter to members of the U.S. Senate.
ERLC President Richard Land urged confirmation of Ashcroft in a Jan. 15 letter to each of the 100 senators.
The endorsement came on the eve of the start of confirmation hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
The Baptist Joint Committee on Public Affairs (BJC), however, expressed doubts about Ashcroft’s ability to work on behalf of Americans of all religions when he possesses such well-known evangelical Christian convictions.
BJC executive director Brent Walker questioned whether Ashcroft is “up to the job.”
Welton Gaddy, executive director of The Interfaith Alliance, also has “grave concerns” about Ashcroft’s capability in a “position in which he would be charged with upholding and fully enforcing the constitutional rights and liberties of faith groups that he clearly judges to be wrong and in need of correction.”
Walker and Gaddy were joined by Jewish, Muslim, Sikh and Jain/Hindu leaders who questioned Ashcroft’s ability to serve as the attorney general for all citizens. (BP)
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