In speaking for his amendment, Pinckney told messengers there is an abundance of evidence “government schools are becoming more and more anti-Christian,” though he acknowledged “many differences from one public school to another.” He commended Christians teaching and working in public schools.
I wonder how many people would, in like manner, wish to commend those Christians who worked in the death camps of Auschwitz, bringing “light and salt” to the inmates and guards alike? I don’t care at all about intentions, it’s the reality of the actions and predictable results that matter. Pinckney had the right idea with his resolution; why throw the sell-outs a bone?
In response, Calvin Wittman, Resolutions Committee chairman, expressed opposition, telling messengers the convention had passed 11 resolutions on education in the last 19 years, pronouncing its support for public, private and home schooling. In a statement issued later, Wittman said, “Southern Baptists have spoken to this issue sufficiently, and it does not need to be readdressed.”
Wittman sounds like a leftist radical: “We won, therefore the matter has been settled and should never be brought up again. If we lose, however, that only means that the world/nation/organization is not yet ready and we will be back next year with the same proposition.” And, of course, he skips over the fact that the resolution was killed in committee, not addressed by the convention.
After Pinckney’s resolution was defeated, messengers approved the resolution on secularization with few opposing votes. The measure called for Southern Baptists to “cry out in desperation to God” and seek His forgiveness “for our part in the cultural decline that is taking place on our watch.” It also urged them to hold government officials accountable “for their personal conduct and the legislation” they support.
It figures. They’re pleased to “cry out in desperation”, but the thought of actually doing anything themselves to challenge the single greatest engine of societal secularization is unthinkable. Well, the SBC leadership may be weak sisters on this one issue, but I have confidence that this will change over time, as the government schools continue to devolve towards overt paganism. At least the SBC leadership is not in direct opposition to the Bible and Jesus Christ’s teachings as are some of their counterparts in other denominations.