Spring 2000

Page B-1

Joe Lockhart, presidential press secretary, did just that on Dec. 16 when responding to a question about evangelism efforts by Southern Baptists. How is it that the disciples of so-called "tolerance" can act intolerantly with no sense of duplicity?

Would Lockhart make such an intolerant comment about any other religious group? No, only Christians are fair game, especially when they can be cast as the radical right.

No wonder many religious people oppose "hate crime laws." Lockhart’s comments reflect an obsession with "hate crime" enforcement without regard for its potential to silence religious expression and other speech disfavored by the political elite.

The Southern Baptists are acting in obedience to the Great Commission. Before ascending into heaven, Christ commanded his disciples to: "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age" (Matthew 28: 18-20).

Christ commanded Christians to go out into the world - to every person, religious and irreligious - and to share the Good News that God loves them and offers them forgiveness of their sins and eternal life through the death, burial and resurrection of his Son.

Jesus measures our obedience to Him by our love not only for Him, but for others (John 14:21). It is not love but hypocrisy for Christians to say that we love our fellow man, yet fail to share the Good News. If we neglect to obey the Great Commission, we cannot claim to love our neighbor as ourselves.

When Christians speak about faith in Christ, we speak because we believe everybody needs Jesus. Christians are neither better, holier nor worthier than anyone else. If we were truly intolerant and exclusionary, we wouldn’t invite others to join us. Our faith doesn’t afford us that luxury.

The desire to fulfill this God-given duty and privilege of witnessing for Christ, drove the Pilgrims to come to this country - to obey their Master without fear of being persecuted by government.

So important was religious freedom that it became the first liberty protected in the Bill of Rights. Yet Lockhart’s outrageous smear exemplifies concerns that belief-based crimes will eventually be used to silence disfavored speech and groups.

The federal hate-crime statute (U.S.C. Section 245), includes "intimidate" or "attempt to intimidate" as an element of the offense. Because speech can intimidate, it is not unreasonable to foresee prosecution of a Christian for quoting the words of Christ, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the father, but through me."

If an unbeliever feels intimidated as a result and files a complaint, the Christian could easily find himself on the wrong end of a federal felony prosecution.

But as Solomon said, "There is nothing new under the sun." It wouldn’t be the first time a politician incited public hatred of Christians by false accusation.

Nero said Christians were guilty of "hatred of mankind." After being rebuked for his insulting remarks, Lockhart has tried to assuage them by expressing his regrets. Are we to believe that he, like Nero, was just fiddling around?

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