Southern Baptists Seek Laws Making 'Will Of Christ' Supreme

The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), the nation's largest Protestant denomination whose leadership is a bulwark of far-right fundamentalism, is ratcheting up its political operations.

The Christian Index, Georgia's state Baptist newspaper, recently carried an interesting and unusually frank report on the SBC's lobbying outpost in Washington, D.C., just four blocks from the Capitol.

"It is in this environment," says the newspaper, "that Southern Baptists have a significant presence through the ministry of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC). Richard Land, president of the ERLC, visits Washington often from his primary office in Nashville and is wielding an ever-increasing influence in his efforts to make the will of Christ supreme in public affairs."

Apparently the "will of Christ" just happens to dovetail with the policy goals of the far right. According to the ERLC Web site, the unit takes stands on legislation and pushes for the confirmation of Bush court appointees. The issues tackled run the usual Religious Right gamut -- opposing legal abortion, gay rights, hate-crimes laws and stem-cell research and supporting "court-stripping" legislation and other efforts to make it harder to pursue church-state separation claims in federal court.

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