Underwood's Response to Baptist Covenant Critics

Associated Baptist Press has published a story entitled "Politics Not Behind Plan to Unite Baptists, Underwood says." Here's a quote:

Clinton's involvement in the celebration is merely to provide a bigger platform to the effort to unite Baptists around a positive message, Underwood said.

"I think that when he described himself as a cheerleader, I think that's a good description," he said. "But I think beyond that you have two men who, as former presidents of the United States, have a platform that very few other people in the world have."

He continued: "I think that presidents Carter and Clinton have been very generous to share their platform with a wide array of Baptists and stand on that platform and declare the good news of Jesus Christ. And I think that's a cause for celebration."

Underwood was reponding to criticisms by Richard Land and Rick Scarborough who have tried to discredit the New Baptist Covenant by charicaturizing it is as a movement within the Democratic party rather than as a movement within the Kingdom of God.

Land and Scarborough were both leading organizers of efforts to take over the SBC. They were also leading organizers of efforts by the Religious Right to take over the GOP. The Religious Right has taken over the GOP. Land and Scarborough are both leading organizers of thinly disguised get-out-the-vote campaigns for Republican candidates. It is natural for Land and Scarborough to equate movements of Baptists with secular politics. They have been doing it for more than thirty years.

Carter has been working to unify Baptists for years. SBC leaders have often been participants in dialogue sessions with Carter discussing that goal in the past. Carter's desire for Baptist unity has nothing to do with secular politics.

Bill Clinton is a Baptist, a fact that SBC leaders readily acknowledged when they were calling for his church to exercise discipline over him for marital infidelity during his presidency.

Long before Clinton got involved, SBC leaders made it clear that they have no concern for Baptist unity. Instead, they incessantly deny the spiritual fidelity of any and all Baptists who do not share their goal of unifying the GOP around the "Christian Nationalist" political agenda of the Religious Right.

Clinton's presence at the Baptist Covenant meeting served to attract additional media attention to Carter's efforts on behalf of Baptist unity. Any time two former U.S. Presidents hold a press conference, it certainly attracts attention.

For the record, by my recollection, Hillary's name was not mentioned at the meeting. Clinton did offer to work on finding a prominent Baptist politician in the GOP to speak at the convocation next year. He seemed to think that that would not be a difficult task.