Editor's note: The following are excerpts from articles by Laurie Goodstein, printed in the New York Times. The SBC is in danger of being linked with a political party. The SBC leadership appears determined to steer the convention in this direction.
The "good soldier" strategy, of compromising with moderates in the (Republican) party and settling for incremental gains, was a failure, in the view of many religious conservatives, and they are calling for a new militancy.
"The go-along, get-along strategy is dead," said Richard Land, president of the Ethics and religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention. "No more engagement. We want a wedding ring, we want a ceremony, we want a consummation of the marriage."
From another article in the New York Times on the same subject:
At a closed-door convention of conservative leaders in Arizona last week, James Dobson; who heads the multimedia ministry Focus on the Family, warned that if the Republican Congress continued to "betray" conservative evangelical voters, he would abandon the Republican Party and "do everything I can to takes as many people with me as possible."
In his speech, Dr. Dobson said that he might take a leave of absence from Focus on the Family so he can devote himself to political advocacy while preserving his group's non-profit assignation. He said he intended to sound the same overtly political message in a speech before the Southern Baptist Convention's annual meeting in June.