Reflections

Religious liberty is an international issue

By J. Brent Walker

May 2008

In April, I had the pleasure of speaking at an international religious liberty conference in beautiful Buenos Aires sponsored by the Argentine Council for Religious Liberty (“CALIR”) and hosted by the Catholic University of Argentina. Here’s a quick report of the highlights.

It was a significant occasion. For the first time ever in an overwhelmingly Catholic country, a Baptist — Raul Scialabba — was elected president of CALIR. This was quite an accomplishment and a tribute to Dr. Scialabba in a country where Baptists comprise less than one percent of the population.

The conference was attended mostly by Argentine students, professors, pastors, political leaders and legislative staffers. On my plenary panel, charged with addressing the ambitious topic of “The Challenges of Religious Liberty,” were Dr. Silvio Ferrari from Milan and Dr. Isidoro Martin-Sanchez from Madrid.

I spoke about the challenges in the United States in particular. In a nutshell, I described two overarching challenges: first, the need to take seriously both religion clauses in the First Amendment and how to deal with the tension between them, and, second, the importance of affirming the relevance of religion to politics without disparaging the spirit of the no religious test clause in Article VI of the Constitution. (To read my full text, visit www.BJConline.org).

I was struck by two things while participating in the conference.

First, I was amazed at how much Argentines and those from other countries know about church-state relations in our country — certainly a lot more than most in the U.S. know about the state of religious liberty throughout the rest of the world. Generally speaking, our friends from other countries understand — even if they do not fully embrace — the United States’ commitment to the principles of no establishment and free exercise. In Argentina, for example, the Catholic Church is clearly privileged in almost every way, including the use of public monies, while other Christians and religious traditions simply enjoy tax exemption if they register with the government. But most foreign observers are savvy enough to understand that the United States’ version of church-state separation is of a more friendly variety than that found in other parts of the world such as France, where the separation principle takes on a more hostile tone. They also are incredibly interested in and up-to-date on the presidential election primaries and the extent to which religious issues pervade the public debate. During the Q&A session, I was asked about the present influence of the religious right in American politics and Sen. Barack Obama’s views on religious liberty and church and state. The participants tended to be intrigued by how openly religion is discussed in the public square and in the campaign in a country so committed to the separation of church and state.

I was also struck by how it feels to be a member of a minority religious tradition (in the context of the overall Argentine society) and how little most of the rest of the world knows about Baptists. Baptists, taken together, are the largest Protestant denomination in the U.S. In much of our country, Baptists are in the overwhelming majority and dominate the culture. Not so elsewhere around the world. As mentioned, less than one percent in Argentina are Baptist. They are also perplexed by how Jimmy Carter and Pat Robertson, for example, and millions in between can call themselves Baptists and surprised to learn about Baptists’ historic commitment to church-state separation.

Dr. Scialabba invited four Baptists to speak. In addition to myself, these included Denton Lotz, General Secretary Emeritus of the Baptist World Alliance, Gustavo Grancharoff, an Argentine lawyer and activist, and Arnoldo Canclini, a longtime Baptist leader in Argentina. I think we all gave the attendees a good dose of Baptist history and heritage and explained why believers called Baptists are so committed to church-state separation.

The message that we Baptists speakers delivered to that august assembly can be summarized by Denton Lotz’s “Ten Theses to Promote Religious Liberty,” boiled down to five:

1. Religious liberty is the ground of all freedom.

Where religious freedom is denied, all other freedoms are threatened.

2. Separation of church and state strengthens religious freedom for all.

3. Religion must be free to be prophetic. When church and state merge, that prophetic critique of the state is compromised.

4. The state has the right to restrict religious practice only under limited circumstances, such as where it must prevent harm to innocent third parties.

5. Religious freedom must include the right to change one’s religion and the right to share one’s faith.

These are valuable truths for all of us to hear and keep in mind — for Baptists as much as others.

Oh, by the way, the steaks are delicious, the hospitality gracious and the peso cheap. All good reasons for you to visit Buenos Aires, too!