Carter, Clinton woo Baptists to new coalition

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Carter, Clinton woo Baptists to new coalition

By Ernie Suggs, John Blake, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, January 10, 2007

Former Presidents Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton announced in Atlanta on Tuesday the creation of a Baptist organization they said would counter what they say is a negative image of their faith.

The New Baptist Convenant was announced at the Carter Center by representatives of about 40 moderate Baptist groups that have distanced themselves from the conservative Southern Baptist Convention. Carter and Clinton -- both Baptists -- said the New Baptist Convenant will look for solutions to problems such as poverty and racism. Carter and Clinton said they want to counter concerns that Baptists have been "negative" and "exclusionary" and promised an inclusive organization willing to debate openly all issues.

But an official with the Southern Baptist Convention -- the largest Protestant denomination in the country -- countered that the two presidents have fallen out of step with their church and are angry most conservative Baptists do not support their politics.

Tuesday's announcement stems from a long-running battle between conservative and moderate Baptists.

In 2000, Carter left the Southern Baptist church after years of feeling "increasingly uncomfortable." At the time, he said the final straw was a denominational statement saying wives should submit to their husbands.

The new organization plans to hold its first convocation in Atlanta in January. Organizers hope to attract more than 20,000 Baptists.

"This is a historic event for the Baptists in this country and perhaps for Christianity," Carter said. "Our goal is to have a major demonstration of harmony and a common commitment to honor the goals of Jesus Christ. We want to be all-inclusive, and we call on all Baptists to share those goals and join us."

Clinton, who said he was just a cheerleader for the group, said Tuesday's announcement is part of an effort to bring Baptists together to fight poverty and to work on health care and environmental issues and eliminating religious and racial conflict.

"This is very important in the history of modern Christianity and how religion should relate to the larger society," Clinton said. "This is an attempt to bring people together and say, 'What would our Christian witness require of us in the 21st century?' "

About 80 moderate Baptists involved in the group met at the Carter Center this week as part of a retreat by the North American Baptist Fellowship, an organization that's part of the Baptist World Alliance and has about 20 million members, according to the NABF.

Notably absent from the Carter-Clinton press conference were leaders from the Southern Baptist Convention, which represents 16.4 million Baptists nationwide. The Southern Baptist Convention pulled out of the Baptist World Alliance in 2004.

Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, said he wasn't invited to Tuesday's gathering.

"I am puzzled as to why I wasn't invited," Land said. "For 18 years, I have been doing what they are trying to do, and my organization has as well."

Carter said he would welcome Southern Baptists.

"There are a number of folks here who are Southern Baptist," Carter said. "I don't want this to be the source of a fight. I'd be thrilled to have them come to this meeting."

But Land said the former presidents are "unfairly characterizing" what the Southern Baptist Convention stands for, and pointed to the presidents' liberal politics.

"Most Southern Baptists, 90 percent or more, are pro-life [when it comes to abortion]. Clearly Carter and Clinton are pro-choice," Land said. "This might be the 'Pro-choice Baptist Convention.' And whenever you disagree with Mr. Carter, you are narrow-minded."

Land said most Southern Baptists voted against both Clinton and Carter, and four out of five voters who identified themselves as Southern Baptists voted in 2000 for George W. Bush over Al Gore, a member of the denomination.

"I suspect that Mr. Carter and Mr. Clinton are upset about that," said Land.

Bill Underwood, president of Mercer University and the organizer of the meeting at the Carter Center, said politics has nothing to do with the creation of the organization.

"President Carter and President Clinton are not here in their capacity as statesmen, politicians or Democrats," Underwood said. "They are here in their capacity as Baptists."

The formation of the New Baptist Convenant springs in part from a 28-year denominational feud.

Moderate and conservative Baptists have for years clashed on issues such as the inerrancy of the Bible, the virgin birth of Jesus and women pastors.

Conservative Baptist leaders took control of the national convention in 1979 and gradually purged it of moderate leaders. The convention's conservative wing became the primary voice in the nation for Baptists, becoming a leading voice in opposition to same-sex marriage and abortion rights.

The Southern Baptist Convention withdrew from the Baptist World Alliance and in 2004 formally ended its relationship with Georgia's Mercer University. Convention leaders said both groups had become too liberal.

David W. Key, director of the Baptist Studies program at Emory's Candler School of Theology, says the convention thought withdrawing from the Baptist World Alliance would cause the group to collapse because it was the alliance's primary funder, but something else happened.

"All of these other Baptist entities suddenly began to see the possibilities of working together," Key said.

Conservative Baptist leaders said they were simply trying to combat the leftward drift of their denomination.

Underwood, of Mercer, said the new group simply represents Baptists who decided "to focus on ideas that bind us together -- like feeding the hungry and caring for the sick."

The New Baptist Convenant will include people of all races, classes, sexual orientations and political persuasions, Carter said.

Carter said the organization is "not trying to replace or work against anyone."

"There is a deep crisis and division among Christian believers who are separated from one another because of these ancillary issues," said Carter. "The main thrust of our efforts is to heal those wounds."

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