2004 Archives
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EDITORIAL: Our next president should restore civility to America_110104
Posted: 10/29/04
EDITORIAL:
Our next president should restore civility to AmericaThe past few weeks, have you sometimes felt battered and bruised when you clicked your TV set off? Did your ears feel assaulted as you left your business breakroom or lunchtime diner? Have you had a tension headache after Sunday school? Did your pulse pound when you read the letters to the editor in this newspaper?
You know what I'm talking about: Incivility anxiety. It's the ferocious unease millions of Americans have suffered because of this down-and-dirty political season.
If you've traveled in any of the so-called battleground states, you've seen this played out. TV ads have competed for voters, challenging them to choose George W. Bush or John Kerry. And from what we hear, most of those ads have taken the low road, mongering fear and suspicion for the sake of ballots. Although no one doubts where Texas' electoral college votes will go, we haven't been exempt from the mayhem. Thanks to re-gerrymandered congressional districts, we've heard incumbents verbally bludgeon one another for the opportunity to return to Washington and represent us in Congress.
Whether it's George W. Bush or John Kerry, our next president better give attention to restoring civility to America. It's a moral, spiritual, political and social problem that deserves his best efforts. 10/29/2004 - By John Rutledge
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Executive Board recommends changes in governance; rejects efforts to postpone_110104
Posted: 10/29/04
Wesley Shotwell of Azle, vice chairman of the BGCT Executive Board, responds to criticisms of proposed changes in governance. Charles Davenport of Tulia urges the Executive Board to send the governance proposal back to committee for one year. Executive Board recommends changes in
governance; rejects efforts to postponeBy Marv Knox
Editor
The most significant reorganization of the Baptist General Convention of Texas in five decades has cleared another hurdle.
10/29/2004 - By John Rutledge
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Texas Baptist Forum_110104
Posted: 10/29/04
Hostility toward religion
Perhaps the reason so many Americans believe that church-state separation has become “too severe” (Oct. 4) is that it has become an excuse for government-sponsored hostility toward religious expression, in spite of constitutional protections.
E-mail the editor at –Marv Knox
E-mail the editor at marvknox@baptiststandard.comThomas Jefferson's famous “wall” represented his own opinion in 1802. The Supreme Court did not use Jefferson's phrase in reference to the First Amendment until 1879, and it was not elevated to constitutional authority until 1947. Since then, it has been used as the basis for government-sponsored hostility toward religion, religious expression and religious practice.
I'm not advocating a return to the excesses of the 17th and 18th centuries, against which the framers of the Constitution wrote the First Amendment. I just want an end to the overt hostility that our governments at all levels frequently demonstrate toward what has become the unwanted stepchild of civil rights–freedom of religion.
10/29/2004 - By John Rutledge
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Speakers sound alarm Respond to needs of changing world_110104
Posted: 10/29/04
Jerry Dailey, pastor of Macedonia Baptist Church in San Antonio, emphasizes the vital importance of cooperation and diversity in missions. (Russ Dilday Photo) Speakers sound alarm: Respond to needs of changing world
By Marv Knox
Editor
SAN ANTONIO–Christians need to ask, “So what?” to determine how they should love and engage the world, Albert Reyes told participants at the We Love Missions Conference in San Antonio.
10/29/2004 - By John Rutledge
