As the death toll tops 200,000 in Darfur, Alabama Baptists and national evangelical leaders are calling for President Bush and the American public to stop the genocide in the region of western Sudan.
Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, was among 24 evangelical leaders who placed full-page ads in U.S. newspapers Oct. 18 pushing for government intervention.
The leaders requested an immediate session with the president to discuss economic sanctions and deployment of U.N. peacekeeping forces to stop the ethnic cleansing in western Sudan.
Since African rebels fought against the Sudanese government in 2003, extreme government repression by its military and a murderous Arab militia have left more than 200,000 people dead in Darfur and more than 2.5 million displaced, according to relief groups.
Along with radio ads, the print ads ran in the Washington Post, Washington Times, New York Times and USA Today, plus selected local dailies. The 24 evangelical leaders who signed the ad represent more than 50 million constituents nationwide.
And with leaders from both conservative and progressive organizations on board, the call could mark a tipping point in ongoing efforts to intervene in Darfur.
When Washington “feels the heat” from so many varied constituents, it will “see the light,” Land said. “What we’re seeing is concern, concern, talk, talk, but no action, action. And people are dying. I believe the president does care deeply about this. I see this [request] as helping to strengthen the president’s hand. To enable the president to do what is in his heart to do.”
Other members of the group called Evangelicals for Darfur said the ads demonstrate that modern evangelicals care about more than just domestic issues. Rich Cizik, vice president for governmental affairs at the National Association of Evangelicals, said evangelicals are the new internationalists. As such, they are in the best position to voice outrage at the atrocities in Darfur.
A resolution recently submitted to the Alabama Baptist State Convention resolutions committee for consideration at its annual meeting Nov. 14–15 at Hunter Street Baptist Church, Hoover, will call for Alabama Baptists to join these other evangelicals in voicing a need for action in Darfur.
John Killian, pastor of Maytown Baptist Church in Bessemer Baptist Association, submitted the resolution, saying that Land’s example encourages Southern Baptists to be concerned for the “massive murder, starvation and torture of the people of Darfur.”
“A generation of German Christians lived with regret at not speaking out on Hitler’s Holocaust,” Killian said. “I would hope that this generation will not be silent when a modern-day holocaust is taking place in Darfur.”
For more information about the effort, visit www.evangelicalsforDarfur.org. (ABP, TAB)
Share with others: