It seems a bit inconsistent to me to have on one hand a gaggle of Baptist leaders, past and present, decrying on church-state separation grounds Gov. Abbott’s call for pastors to speak from the pulpit about school choice, and on the other hand a covey injecting themselves into the content of police officer training.
Let me hasten to say no government official at any level should be attempting to set the agenda for any church, association or convention. It’s none of his business.
I also hasten to say I trust the training programs of our law enforcement agencies. I trust them to properly train the men and women who will be administering the law. I trust them to weed out those who might go beyond training parameters. They will miss a few who will blacken the reputation of their fellow officers, but I trust the overwhelming majority to be officers of whom we can be proud.
While I am at it, I want to protest the action of the Baptist General Convention of Texas Executive Board in going into executive session during the discussion of the nomination of Julio Guarneri as the new BGCT executive director.
Baptists do their best business and get their best results when they do their business in the open. Executive sessions are the product of timid leaders and leave only questions in the minds of Baptists in the pews who are paying the bills. After all, those in the pews are the convention, not those who sit in executive offices or on any committee or board. If there are questions to be asked of any candidate or nominee for office, let them be aired in public.
Tell the truth and trust the people.
Toby Druin, retired Baptist Standard editor
Waxahachie, Texas
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