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MAINSTREAM MESSENGER Vol. 4, No. 2 June 2001 Editor: Bruce PrescottOklahoma State Government Discriminating Against Religious MinoritiesBy Dr. Bruce Prescott Baptists are presenting a fairly united front in opposition to the government’s Faith Based Initiatives. We comprise around 20% of our state’s population. We could easily benefit from taking government money and we certainly have the political clout to demand large sums, but we refuse to compromise our integrity or the credibility of our gospel. We stay true to our legacy as champions of religious liberty for all people because we honor the memory and share the convictions of our American ancestors who, as members of a then religious minority, were oppressed by a state funded religious majority. Historical records amply demonstrate that Baptists refused to ratify the U.S. Constitution until the first amendment was added to guarantee full civil rights for religious minorities. When the amended Constitution was adopted, John Leland, a leading Baptist preacher, rejoiced that persons of minority faith — be they “Pagan, Turk, Jew or Christian” — would even have equal right to hold public office. Baptists celebrate the separation of church and state. It allows us to obey our Lord’s command to give to Caesar that which is Caesar’s and to God what is God’s. Our history helps explain why we are opposed to government liaison offices that favor one form of religion over another. We are appalled to discover recent stipulations that government contractors need only do work that is acceptable to 75% of the religious population of Oklahoma. We are disturbed when we learn that Interfaith Ministries, such as Tulsa Metropolitan Ministries, have been recently excluded from bidding on key contracts. It reminds us of what Baptists in the 1770’s said when they were arrested for refusing to pay taxes to support churches: To do so “implies an acknowledgement that the civil power has a right to set one religious sect above another.” Our history also helps explain why many Baptists were offended by the government’s recent Faithlinks conferences. We were very distressed to see that people of all faiths had to endure three sermons before they could learn how government funds for social services were going to be distributed. It reminded us of Roger Williams who was banished from colonial Massachusetts for declaring that the state “cannot without a spiritual rape force the consciences of all to one worship.” Baptists have no desire to return to the old colonial system that privileged religious majorities and disenfranchised religious minorities. We are alarmed to see evidence that this is where Oklahoma state government would lead us. We also fear that our government’s welfare policy has gone from giving the poor a “hand out,” to giving them a “hand up,” to a “final solution” which is to “hand them over” to the church. The state should not be permitted to relinquish its responsibility to provide adequate material and economic assistance to all its neediest citizens — regardless of their religious affiliation. Also, the state’s taxpayer dollars need to be separated from the mission of the church.
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