By Editor Bob Terry
Baptists read with disbelief when an elderly couple in Turkmenistan was arrested and fined the equivalent of three months wages for allowing fellow believers to gather in their home for Bible reading and prayer. We prayed for God’s intervention when a shipment of Bibles to Uzbekistan was seized by the government. We wrote letters demanding the release from prison of believers in Iran whose only “crime” was preaching Jesus Christ.
As Christian believers we get irritated, and sometimes irate, when brothers and sisters in the Lord are so grossly mistreated as news stories report.
Do we become as irritated or irate when the mistreatment is applied to someone of a different religion? Are we as concerned when the religious liberty of “the heretic, Turk, Jew or whatsoever” is violated?
‘Between God and themselves’
Early Baptists were the first to claim religious liberty as a right not only for themselves but for all people. Thomas Helwys wrote in 1612, “For men’s religion to God is between God and themselves. The king shall not answer for it. Neither may the king be judge between God and man. Let them be heretics, Turks, Jews or whatsoever — it appertains not to the earthly power to punish them in the least measure. This is made evident to our Lord the King by the Scriptures.”
For this affront to King James (of the King James Bible), Helwys was imprisoned and later died in London’s Newgate Prison.
As a minority religious group early Baptists in England and America believed and died for the fact that religious liberty was a God-given right to all people. That conviction is reflected in the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Article 18 reads, “Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance.”
Unfortunately many would-be champions of religious freedom only speak or act when their rights or the rights of a member of their religion is violated. So Baptists lobby to free a Christian pastor from prison in Iran but say nothing about the execution of numerous Bahá’í leaders. Persecution of that religious group seldom even make our news.
All in jeopardy
We protest fines for Christians engaged in private worship but are silent when Muslims and Jews experience similar persecution.
Somehow we seem to have forgotten the truth that when government is free to pick whose rights it will violate then no one is free and all are in jeopardy.
The controversy in France over the beach attire called “burkinis” is a recent illustration. A widely circulated news photo shows three policemen surrounding a Muslim woman on a beach forcing her to take off some of her clothes in order to remain on the beach. A second photo shows two Roman Catholic nuns wearing traditional long habits wading in ankle-deep ocean water.
Nothing was said to the nuns about taking off clothing to remain on the beach even though their bodies were almost as equally covered as the woman in the burkini.
Not according to popularity
Religious liberty is not supposed to depend on how populous or powerful one’s religious group is. Religious liberty is supposed to be recognized as a God-given right to all.
Interestingly the French courts quickly overturned the burkini ban on French beaches. However, the majority of the beaches continued the ban as a demonstration of the nation’s commitment to secularism.
Evidently skimpy swimwear meets the definition of secular but modest swimwear does not. How do you think that definition harmonizes with the apostle Paul’s instruction in 1 Timothy 2:9 that women should dress modestly?
Alabama now has its own case of religious liberty and acceptable dress (see “‘Devastated’ by removing headscarf” on page 10 of the Sept. 8 issue). Yvonne Allen, of Tuskegee, was forced to remove her head covering when she renewed her driver’s license. She wears the head covering as a symbol of her submission to God. State law allows head coverings for Muslim women and Seik men but because Allen is a Christian, she was forced to remove her head covering.
A lawsuit has been filed asserting Allen’s religious liberty was violated. It will be interesting to see the outcome of that case.
The United States has other ongoing struggles over religious liberty. In some major cities the Salvation Army has lost contracts for social services because it holds certain religiously based beliefs about family. In some states Christian-run child care agencies have been stripped of government contracts because of religious teachings about marriage.
The struggle of some bakers and florists who do not want to use their artistry for homosexual weddings is well documented. The government has driven some out of business through heavy fines and the threat of jail.
Issue on the edges
How these cases will end is unclear. Courts, like baseball umpires, have little trouble deciding issues that are “right down the middle” of the law. It is the issues on the edges that determine the scope of any law. Where does the religious liberty of an individual end and the general welfare of the public begin?
Still if Baptists claim religious liberty for themselves, we must be willing to enter the fray in behalf of others. That is the teaching of our faith for we believe all are given religious liberty by God. That is the direction of our Christian life for the Bible teaches to do for others what you would have them do for you. That is the way of Christian advocacy where we work with others for truth and justice in the public square.
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