The SBC Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission Endorses H. R. 2357

Honorable Walter Jones
United States House of Representatives
Washington, D.C. 20515

Dear Congressman Jones:

Thank you for your leadership in introducing H. R. 2357, the “Houses of Worship Political Speech Protection Act.” This bill is critical to the free exercise of religion in the United States.

H. R. 2357 is consistent with the Constitutional principle that the church should be separate from the state. The government should not have the power to define what the church believes or practices in principle or in effect. With the unbridled discretion given to the Internal Revenue Service to selectively target those it wishes to silence or threaten, this principle is not currently being protected.

Your bill will restore the proper balance by providing a “substantiality” test similar to that already applied in the area of legislation or lobbying.

The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission believes that while the government should not restrict the activities of the church to define its mission, the church should restrict its own activities consistent with its mission. We believe that the church should speak to the current issues of the day consistent with its own doctrine and teachings. Nothing in the law or practice of government should hinder this freedom. However, we do not believe it is wise, prudent or appropriate for Baptist churches to endorse candidates.

Because not all churches hold the particular constraints of Baptist doctrine and history, we do not expect others to apply this particular bill in the same way. However, consistent with Baptist and Constitutional principles, we believe every church should be free to be the church in the way their own doctrine dictates.

Once again, thank you for your leadership.

Letter written by Richard D. Land
President, The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission (SBC)

Note: TBC applauds Land for asking churches not to endorse candidates and for not endorsing H.R. 2931 at this point.

June 2002