
The original issue can be found at: http://www.baptistpress.com/issue-11/08/2005

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Trial concludes: Fed. judge now weighing Pennsylvania Intelligent Design case
by James Patterson
Date: November 08, 2005 - Tuesday

HARRISBURG, Pa. (BP)-–Prohibiting students from learning about Intelligent Design would cheapen their educational experience, a lawyer for the Dover Area School Board said in closing arguments at the conclusion of the first federal court case testing the constitutionality of the concept in public education.

Patrick Gillen, a lawyer with the Thomas More Law Center of Ann Arbor, Mich., which is defending the Pennsylvania district, maintained that despite the widely held acceptance of evolution as fact in the scientific community, Intelligent Design is based on irrefutable empirical evidence. Schools have a constitutional right to offer students alternative theories on questions about the designs of humanity, Gillen told federal Judge John E. Jones III.

Plaintiffs in the lawsuit contended that the Pennsylvania school district has no right to read a statement to ninth-grade biology students which emphasizes that Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution is “not a fact” and “Intelligent Design is an explanation of the origin of life that differs from Darwin’s view.” They argue that the four-paragraph statement approved by the school board in October 2004 is a veiled attempt to teach religion in public school.

Eleven parents, in suing the district, have been represented, pro bono, by the American Civil Liberties Union, Americans for Separation of Church and State and a Philadelphia law firm.

Jones, in reaching his verdict in Kitzmiller et al. v. Dover Area School District, will digest six weeks of testimony on complicated scientific material such as bacterial flagellum, blood clots and fossil formations. He has stated his intention to rule on the case by January, at the latest.

Both sides have said they will appeal if they lose, with the distinct possibility that the case may end up at the U.S. Supreme Court.

Intelligent Design posits that human life is so complex that it must have been designed by a higher intelligence but does not name a designer. When the Dover school board decided that students must be told about the existence of Intelligent Design along with other theories, some science teachers refused to implement the policy.

“The plaintiffs failed to prove that the predominant purpose of the curriculum change is to advance religion,” Gillen said in his summation. Just because some of the board members who supported Intelligent Design had religious beliefs does not imply a religious belief inherent in Intelligent Design, he added.

Gillen emphasized that the new policy does not discourage the teaching of evolution, which students are required to learn by state law. It only sought a modest change that would expose them to alternative information.

“Obviously, &#91;the plaintiffs&#93; are looking at the 1987 case of Edwards v. Aguilar, where the court in that case did look at the motivation of the primary legislative sponsors of the bill,” Richard Thompson, president and chief counsel at the Thomas More Law Center, told Baptist Press Nov. 8. “They are looking at that case, saying that ‘if we can show the religious motivation, then we’ll be able to destroy Intelligent Design just based on the motivations of the school board members.’”

The York Daily Record/Sunday News reported last year that one school board member made the following statement during a Dover school board meeting when the science curriculum was discussed: “Two thousand years ago, someone died on a cross. Can’t someone take a stand for him?” The plaintiffs contend this statement and others attributed to school board members indicate that they were motivated to change the policy by their religious beliefs.

“Its essential religious nature does not change whether it is called ‘creation science’ or ‘intelligent design’ or ‘sudden emergence theory,’” Eric Rothschild, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, declared in his closing arguments. Rothschild had contacted the American Civil Liberties Union and offered the assistance of his Philadelphia law firm, Pepper Hamilton, when he heard about the dispute in October 2004. He is a member of the legal advisory committee for the National Center for Science and Education, an organization that supports the teaching of evolution in the classroom.

“The board imposed its religious views on the Dover community and commandeered the religious education of children and the Constitution,” Rothschild charged.

Thompson, however, whose organization’s stated mission is “to protect Christians and their religious beliefs in the public square,” disagreed.

“Those comments by one board member cannot be attributable to other board members who did make religious statements, Thompson told Baptist Press. “In fact, one of the board members is a Quaker and she testified that evolution does not have any impact on her religious beliefs. You also had individuals who believed in creationism who voted against the new policy. This goes to the point we are making … that it is inappropriate, we believe, to merely look at motivation of board members. What they should be looking at is the policy, not the motivation of those who formed that policy.

“In this case, the purpose of the policy was merely to make students aware of an alternative theory to the theory of evolution,” Thompson said. “The policy also has a clear secular purpose, which holds that students should be made aware that evolution is not a fact: It’s a theory, that there are gaps in that theory and an alternative theory is Intelligent Design.

“I think that anyone who sat through that trial that objectively listened to the testimony of Michael Behe, this microbiology professor out of Lehigh University, and associate professor Scott Minnich” has to have been convinced about the truthfulness of Intelligent Design, Thompson noted.

Minnich was the last witness to take the stand before closing arguments began. He echoed Behe’s earlier testimony that he had discovered scientific evidence of Intelligent Design, including “irreducibly complex” organisms such as the bacterial flagellum. Behe is believed to have originated the term “irreducibly complex,” which describes organisms that would not function if any part of them was removed.

“We infer design when we see parts that appear to be arranged for a purpose,” Minnich testified. Although Intelligent Design can be compatible with some people’s religious views, the opponents of Intelligent Design try to link it with creationism to discredit it, he said.

Both Behe and Minnich are extremely credible in their fields of study, Thompson maintained. Minnich has a doctorate from Princeton University, was awarded a $1.9 million grant from the National Institutes of Health and was one of the scientists that the United States sent to Iraq to hunt for signs that the regime had tried to develop weapons of mass destruction.

“Basically, both of these scientists stated that, looking at the empirical data, it is clear that complex biological systems could not have occurred by Darwin’s theory of natural selection acting on random mutations,” Thompson said. “And basically, their argument was they inferred design when they saw parts that appeared to be arranged for a purpose. They specifically mentioned the bacterial flagellum, which has 40 different parts. The flagellum does not have any value to the biological system, to the human body, until all of those parts are together at one time. So Darwin’s theory that these parts slowly developed over billions of years as a slight modification improved the system has no logical bearing on what they see.”
--30--



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Congressmen urge Bush to protect chaplains’ religious liberty
by Tom Strode
Date: November 08, 2005 - Tuesday

WASHINGTON (BP)--Members of Congress are calling on President Bush to preserve the religious freedom of chaplains in the armed services.

Senators and representatives, led by Rep. Walter Jones, R.-N.C., wrote the president asking him to issue an executive order protecting the “right of military chaplains to pray according to their faith.” The 71 representatives and two senators said in the letter they had learned in all the military branches “it is becoming increasingly difficult for Christian chaplains to use the name of Jesus when praying.”

The lawmakers focused most of their attention on guidelines recently proposed for Air Force chaplains, describing them as restrictive and suppressive. They also expressed concern that the guidelines, if adopted, might be implemented in the other branches of the armed services.

Six days after Jones sent his letter, Sen. Sam Brownback, R.-Kan., wrote Bush Oct. 31 requesting he review the Air Force’s interim guidelines and seek to make sure all military directives for chaplains “truly protect free exercise of religion.”

Jones and his colleagues told the president, “The current demand in the guidelines for so-called ‘non-sectarian’ prayers is merely a euphemism declaring that prayers will be acceptable only so long as they censor Christian beliefs.

“While some military members may find certain prayers to be offensive and wrongly claim that they are not non-pluralistic, we believe these restrictions raise constitutional issues involving the establishment, free exercise &#91;of religion&#93; and free speech clauses of the First Amendment,” the members of Congress said in the letter. “Officially inhibiting or defining what chaplains can and cannot say in effect establishes an official religion and burdens our military’s chaplains’ right of free speech.”

Brownback echoed Jones and the others in expressing concern about a provision in the proposed guidelines apparently limiting Air Force members’ discussions on religious faith to peers. Another section seems to restrict “how, when and where” chaplains and other Air Force members may pray publicly, he said.

“These regulations against chaplains’ activities particularly raise warning signals because chaplains have a responsibility to care for the spiritual well-being of the entire Air Force,” Brownback wrote in his letter to Bush. “Dictating how they pray and approach religious discussion not only hampers this task, but is also government interference in the conduct of religious exercise of clergy.”

The Air Force’s interim, or proposed, guidelines include the following provisions:

-- Public prayer, outside of worship services, “should not usually be included in official settings,” such as staff meetings and sporting events.

-- Short, “non-sectarian” prayers may be part of “non-routine” ceremonies, including changes of command and promotions.

-- On matters of sharing their faith, members need in official settings “to be sensitive to the potential that personal expressions may appear to be official expressions,” especially around subordinates.

-- Individuals are not limited by the guidelines from “voluntary, peer to peer discussions.”

-- Chaplains “must be as sensitive to those who do not welcome offerings of faith, as they are generous in sharing their faith with those who do.”

-- Chaplains also “should respect professional settings where mandatory participation may make expressions of religious faith inappropriate.”

The interim guidelines do not include a statement on evangelism included in the Code of Ethics issued only in January by the Air Force Chaplain Service. That document said of a chaplain, “I will not actively proselytize from other religious bodies. However, I retain the right to instruct and/or evangelize those who are not affiliated.”

The Air Force withdrew that code Aug. 10 and issued the interim guidelines Aug. 29.

The Air Force expects to issue a new code after it completes its work on the interim guidelines, Capt. David Small, an Air Force spokesman, told Baptist Press. Input on the guidelines has been solicited from Congress, as well as people and organizations outside the government, he said. Focus groups within the Air Force also have provided comments on the guidelines, Small said.

“We appreciate the comments we’ve received and are being very diligent in giving them serious consideration,” Small said.

The withdrawal of the Code of Ethics in August had nothing to do with an early October lawsuit filed against the Air Force, since it occurred nearly two months prior, Small said.

Mikey Weinstein, a 1977 graduate of the Air Force Academy, filed suit Oct. 6 in federal court in New Mexico, asking for the following policy to be instituted: “No member of the USAF, including a chaplain, is permitted to evangelize, proselytize or in any related way attempt to involuntarily convert, pressure, exhort or persuade a fellow member of the USAF to accept their own religious beliefs while on duty.”

The Alliance Defense Fund filed a motion Nov. 7 to intervene in the suit to protect the interests of two Air Force officers, Maj. James Glass, a chaplain, and Capt. Karl Palmberg, an F-16 pilot. “After over five years of service and over 500 F-16 flying hours both overseas and at home, I consider my constitutional right to discuss my faith without censorship or fear of retribution as valuable to the military and the future of our nation as the aircraft, bombs and bullets I am trained to employ,” Palmberg said in a written release.

The Air Force’s withdrawal of its Code of Ethics related to chaplains followed highly publicized charges by academy cadets of being pressured by evangelical Christians among the staff, faculty and student body.

The Air Force’s interim guidelines may be accessed online at http://www.af.mil/library/guidelines.pdf.
--30--


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Former president, legal counsel of Ariz. foundation on trial
by Staff
Date: November 08, 2005 - Tuesday

PHOENIX (BP)--Nearly a decade after financial irregularities first surfaced, the Baptist Foundation of Arizona’s former president and legal counsel are on trial for fraud and theft.

However, the trial of former BFA President William Crotts and legal counsel Thomas Grabinski that began in late September may last through next March, according to news reports.

Crotts and Grabinski are charged with three counts of fraud, 27 counts of theft and two counts of illegally conducting an enterprise in connection with the foundation’s 1999 collapse. The BFA’s board of directors terminated their employment in August of that year, a month after the state’s corporation commission accused the foundation of violating the Arizona Securities Act.

Facing obligations of $590 million to nearly 13,000 investors, the foundation filed for bankruptcy in November 1999, the largest Chapter 11 filing by a nonprofit organization in U.S. history. Directors later formed a new corporation to sell off assets, repay debts and cease operations.

In addition, the accounting firm of Arthur Andersen completed a $217 million payment as part of its settlement with former BFA investors in May 2002.

It was the second-largest settlement ever paid by a “Big Five” accounting firm to settle litigation not associated with the savings and loan crisis.

The foundation’s problems go back to April 1996, when then-BFA attorney L. Kyle Trausch resigned, warning officials they had placed themselves in a position of civil and criminal liability.

However, it wasn’t until Aug. 7, 1999, that the foundation sent a letter to all investors revealing it had placed a temporary freeze on accepting new investments or redeeming old ones. Three days later the state ordered the foundation to stop violating Arizona’s securities act.

Although former BFA treasurer Donald Deardoff and two other officers pleaded guilty in May 2001 and agreed to cooperate in prosecutions of others, Crotts and Grabinski proceeded to trial.

By the time it ends, the state will have spent more than $1.6 million on the trial, just for experts, accountants and outside attorneys, according to a report in The Arizona Republic.

“We’ve been stretched to the utmost to be competitive in court with some very sophisticated trial procedures,” Attorney General Terry Goddard told the newspaper. “I think you’ll find on both sides: This is one of the most exhaustively researched cases.”

It is also a case that Crotts and Grabinski’s attorney plan to press to the limit, the Republic reported. During opening statements in September, they told the jury that neither defendant appeared to personally profit from the alleged fraud.

“If you … follow the money, the people who benefited most were the accountants, the professionals and the people who bought &#91;the foundation’s&#93; property,” Crotts’ attorney, Michael Piccaretta, said.

The Republic reported that Grabinski’s attorney, Daryl Williams, blamed the crisis on six disgruntled employees who tried to persuade Crotts that he should do business differently. When Crotts refused, Williams said they took their complaints to a reporter from the Phoenix New Times, the newspaper that first broke the story.

“They continue to tell it with missionary zeal, looking for converts,” Williams was quoted as saying. “Mr. Grabinksi did not get one penny. He lost his life savings. He was a victim, too, of the close-down of BFA.”

Former BFA investors remained unconvinced. The Republic noted that retirees Earnest and Betty Campbell, for example, have recovered only a third of the $650,000 they had invested with the foundation.

“We want the truth to come out so we can have closure,” Betty Campbell told the newspaper.

The Baptist Foundation of Arizona was founded in 1948 to raise money for Southern Baptist causes. The foundation and its subsidiaries and affiliates marketed securities throughout the United States as retirement vehicles for investors and served as a custodian for tax-deferred Individual Retirement Accounts. At the time BFA filed for bankruptcy in November 1999, it had total liabilities of approximately $650 million and listed assets of approximately $290 million.

The BFA was a separate corporate subsidiary of the Arizona Southern Baptist Convention, and as such, BFA officers and directors were empowered to make all of the subsidiary’s operational decisions. As is usually the case with subsidiaries, all of the foundation’s financial reports, audited by Arthur Anderson, were sent to its parent corporation, the ASBC, which had itself invested, losing $1.2 million in the foundation’s collapse. The ASBC waived its claim to its loss in the bankruptcy in order to increase the recovery of losses by other investors.

The ASBC, though having no formal legal relationship with the Southern Baptist Convention, is a voluntary affiliate, being supportive of the national convention’s purposes and works.

As recounted by The Wall Street Journal in 2002, many of the foundation's investors were elderly churchgoers "attracted by the foundation's offer of above-market returns on promissory notes and other investment products, and by its mission of using earnings for good works, such as building churches and nursing homes for the poor.” The Journal recounted that the suits against Andersen “alleged that the foundation had become a Ponzi scheme, needing to raise tens of millions of dollars to pay the high returns it had promised to earlier investors."
--30--




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Adrian Rogers undergoing medical treatment
by Staff
Date: November 08, 2005 - Tuesday

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (BP)--Adrian Rogers, former president of the Southern Baptist Convention, has been hospitalized for double pneumonia.

“He was admitted last Thursday and is responding to the antibiotic treatments,” Bill Skelton, executive vice president of Rogers' Love Worth Finding radio and TV ministry, told Baptist Press Nov. 8. “As of this morning, he was resting comfortably, and prior to this incident he was responding well to the chemotherapy.”

Rogers, 74, who retired earlier this year as pastor of Bellevue Baptist Church in Cordova, Tenn., has been undergoing treatment for colon cancer the last several months, following surgery May 16. 

Skelton directed those seeking updates on Rogers’ condition to check the Love Worth Finding Ministry Web site, www.LWF.org. He also thanked Rogers’ friends and well-wishers for their concern and encouraged them to continue to intercede spiritually.

“Dr. Rogers’ family and the staff of Love Worth Finding greatly appreciate the many kind expressions for Dr. Rogers’ quick and full recovery,” he said. “We covet your prayers on his behalf.”
--30--



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Minister, amid Katrina’s upheaval, attests to God’s sufficiency
by Keith Manuel
Date: November 08, 2005 - Tuesday

PASCAGOULA, Miss. (BP)--Bob Storie has been ministering in Jackson County, Miss., for decades. He has seen an ebb and flow of challenges, both as the son of a local Baptist pastor and one who has been a pastor himself as well as a port chaplain for 18 years and, currently, the chaplain at Singing River Hospital in Pascagoula. Nothing, however, has equaled the upheaval of Hurricane Katrina -– personally or professionally.

Storie’s 91-year-old mother-in-law, Ezmer Miller, had been extremely sick since May and was unable to travel when the warnings were issued about Katrina’s looming onslaught of the Gulf Coast. In Hurricane Georges in 1998, Storie lost a home that was only five feet above sea level, so when his new home was built more than 18 feet above sea level -– and the area was not in the federal flood plane -- he felt his family would be safe. He had even dropped his flood insurance last year. 

But during the morning hours of Katrina’s onslaught, the water rose quickly toward his split-level home. “When we realized it was going to come in the house, I told Maudie &#91;his wife&#93; to get her mother up in the kitchen. By the time &#91;Maudie&#93; got her there, the water had broken in the back door,” Storie recounted. He and his son-in-law “barely got it nailed shut before the water got over my head on the back porch. We paddled and waded back through the middle part of the house. …

“We floated Mrs. Miller out in a rocking chair. We got her blanketed up. She was wet and quivering. It was quite an experience for her and us” and for their pet poodle, which swam to the 91-year-old mother-in-law’s lap and remained there throughout the ordeal.

After a grandson called 911, firefighters came to help them get out of the neighborhood. “The firemen came and parked up on the corner.... Maudie and I waded out and the firemen carried &#91;Miller&#93; out in a wheelchair in chest-deep water.”

Miller spent the next few weeks in the hospital and a nursing care facility. Because of her previous illness, however, she never recovered. She died on Oct. 13 and was buried in Evergreen Cemetery at the end of their street on the bayou.

Storie said God has provided for his family’s needs in the days since the storm. Baptist disaster relief teams from various parts of the country have helped remove and replace the sheetrock that sustained damage. “We prayed, ‘Lord, when it comes time to replace the air conditioning unit, please let us have the resources available to do that.’ The resources were there and we had it replaced. It helped get the house dry and kept us cool at the same time,” Storie said.

Storie has remained on call at the hospital, splitting his time between ministering to people who sustained even greater losses than he did and tackling the repairs needed at his home.

In listening to people tell their stories, he has counseled, “God doesn’t put on us more than we are able to bear. God is the only one who can bring something good into a person’s life out of a tragedy like this. God’s grace is sufficient and He answers our needs out of His abundance and based on His abilities and not out of our abilities.”

One verse that Storie said has sustained him, and which he often shares with others, is Ephesians 3:20: “&#91;God&#93; is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think.”
--30—-
Keith Manuel is senior pastor of Calvary Baptist Church in New Orleans.


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New application inserts Bible verses into documents
by Staff
Date: November 08, 2005 - Tuesday

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--Many a seminary student has burned the midnight oil writing lengthy theological papers referencing Bible verses with hard-to-spell historical figures such as Melchizedik and ancient locations such as Gederothaim.

EZWord, a new tool from the e-business department of LifeWay Christian Resources is designed to, among other things, help alleviate some of the small inaccuracies that can occur when even the most meticulous person tries to hold a Bible open and type complicated text into a document at the same time.

Developed by WORDSearch in cooperation with LifeWay, EZword allows users to quickly view and insert biblical texts in a computer program even if only the verse reference is given.

“EZword’s biggest benefit is convenience,” said Gary McClure, marketing manager in LifeWay’s e-business department. “Users can hover over any Scripture reference with a computer cursor and EZword will instantly present the biblical text. It can also automatically insert Scripture passages into e-mails, documents and presentations with only a simple keystroke.”

EZword works in numerous PC programs including e-mail, Web browsers and word processors. Once downloaded, it functions automatically so users do not have to open the application in order to use it.

Multiple translations are available, but the standard EZword application provides text in both the King James and Holman Christian Standard Bible versions. In addition to providing text from these two translations, EZword offers supplemental information and context in bullet points and footnotes.

“EZword is particularly useful for anyone who uses a computer and accesses Scripture,” McClure said. “We've had many types of ministry leaders test the application with very favorable results. It's also quite handy for teachers and students; those in Christian education think it's very practical.”

EZword is not a subscription service but can be downloaded directly from the website for $9.95. No extra software is necessary.
--30—
For more information on EZword and to view a demonstration of the program, visit www.ezword.com.




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FIRST-PERSON: Another appalling ruling
by Alan Branch
Date: November 08, 2005 - Tuesday

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (BP)--The judge who believes “one nation under God” should not be in the Pledge of Allegiance now says that parents should not be able to set the agenda for their children’s sex education.  

On Nov. 2, Justice Stephen Reinhardt of the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals delivered an opinion in which he wrote among other things, “There is no fundamental right of parents to be the exclusive provider of information regarding sexual matters to their children.”

The case, Fields v. Palmdale School District, revolves around a psychological assessment questionnaire administered to first, third and fifth graders at Mesquite Elementary in Palmdale, Calif. The questionnaire was ostensibly administered to determine the effects of early childhood trauma on children. Prior to administering the questionnaire, a parental consent letter was sent to parents. While the consent letter acknowledged that some of the questions may make the children feel uncomfortable, what parents were not told is that their first, third and fifth graders would be asked sexually explicit questions. The questions included references to “touching my private parts too much,” “thinking about having sex,” “thinking about touching other people’s private parts,” “thinking about sex when I don’t want to.” The parents in this case only learned the full nature of the questionnaire from the children themselves. 

One is left to wonder just exactly how the average first or third grader who has not even experienced puberty was supposed to answer such questions.  While counselors and therapists may indeed have an appropriate need to probe into the traumatic experiences of wounded children in order to help them find healing, the substance of the questions in this survey and the manner in which it was implemented constitutes a form of trauma in and of itself.  

Justice Reinhardt dismisses parental concerns as prudish and antiquated.  As a self-identified liberal, Reinhardt has also supported physician-assisted suicide and homosexual activism. He may be most well known for arguing forcefully that references to God should be eliminated from the Pledge of Allegiance. His court is also the most frequently overturned appeals court in the U.S., and he one of the most overturned judges. In this case, Reinhardt says parents have no constitutional right “to prevent a public school from providing its students with whatever information it wishes to provide, sexual or otherwise, when and as the school determines that it is appropriate to do so.”  

Several problems emerge from Reinhardt’s opinion. First of all, he encourages an adversarial relationship between public schools and parents. Whether or not Reinhardt’s opinion is overturned, a wise public school administration cultivates an atmosphere of cooperation with parents while affirming the best in a community’s core values. Reinhardt’s approach is totalitarian and produces distrust, and ultimately, fewer students in public schools. Beyond this, Reinhardt says education is not “merely about teaching the basics of reading, writing, and arithmetic.” He goes on to stress that education serves “higher civic and social” functions. Yet, what is a higher function than teaching children the basic skills needed in order for them to learn? Reinhardt’s approach, in fact, distracts from the core function of a public school and substitutes the fluff of liberal ideology in place of real learning. A more sober approach emphasizes the acquisition of core learning skills as a primary goal while celebrating our common values such as hard work, honesty and patriotism.  

Reinhardt’s opinion does serve to show the absolute inconsistency inherent in theories of jurisprudence based on radical notions of autonomy. Reinhardt celebrates Roe v. Wade (abortion on demand) and Lawrence v. Texas ("gay rights"). He affirms the autonomy of people to abort a child or practice sodomy. Yet, he denies the autonomy of parents to determine the time and nature of sexual messages to their children.  This demonstrates that leftist appeals to “autonomy” are not really about affirming the ability of people to choose for themselves. Instead, “autonomy” is really about eliminating all social taboos. To achieve the goal of a society free from moral constraints, Reinhardt argues that small children must be forced to answer sexually explicit questions.  Forcing children to endure sexually explicit questionnaires without parental consent is the antithesis of autonomy! Reinhardt’s opinion gives warrant to the belief that leftist elites only want autonomy for themselves. Others must be compelled to accept their worldview, by force of law if necessary. 

Finally, Reinhardt’s opinion shows no sensitivity to children. One would think that a federal judge would want to protect young children from sexually suggestive messages. Yet, Reinhardt is adamant that the timing of such messages is solely the discretion of the school and parents cannot prevent schools from doing so. In this way he is not only inconsistent in his application of law, he is indifferent to the children protected by the Constitution.
--30--  
Alan Branch is vice president for student development at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Kansas City, Mo.


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FIRST-PERSON: Making evangelism good news again
by Alvin L. Reid
Date: November 08, 2005 - Tuesday

WAKE FOREST, N.C. (BP)--On July 17, 13 pastors from Providence Baptist Church in Raleigh, N.C., baptized 117 people at Beaver Dam at Falls Lake, which is near Raleigh. Every person baptized was, as is the custom at Providence, interviewed previously by a deacon to be sure about their Christian testimony.

Some 700 church members, and numerous others, gathered at the beach that day to view the service. Why did they do this when they had a perfectly good baptismal pool in the church building? In the words of my colleague David Nelson, a member of Providence, “The point &#91;was&#93; to show those outside the body what God is doing to redeem the lives of sinners.”

When is the last time you attended an outdoor baptism? Have you ever? My parents were baptized outside because there was no place inside to be baptized.  

Sometimes doing without can be a good thing. My family and I have been a member of Faith Baptist Church for over 10 years. Our church has been in existence for over 15 years, but we have only had our own building for less than half our existence. That means for years we not only had no building, we also had no baptismal pool.  

But we did have a place for baptisms. Falls Lake, a large reservoir near our church, became a place the congregation gathered two or three times in warm weather to baptize as few as a handful to as many as more than 30 each time.  There were times we borrowed other church’s facilities, but our folks, just like the church family at Providence, love the lake!

More and more lately I hear of outdoor baptisms. Several churches in the Raleigh area use Falls Lake now. From the massive celebrations at the outdoor baptismal pool Rick Warren has at Saddleback (OK -- it is not fair to be in Southern California where you can do that year around), to smaller churches here in North Carolina, more churches seem to be recovering the practice of baptizing outside.

Whether this is due to a lack of facilities or choice, this is a good thing. We Baptists understand that the ordinance of baptism does not save. At the same time, we also recognize the vital place baptism has in the Christian life, given to us by the Lord Himself in the Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20). Baptism identifies the believer publicly with the Lord’s death and resurrection. It testifies to the saving work wrought by the Spirit. I would argue that the best place for baptisms would be anywhere the testimony of new followers of Jesus could be displayed before the world.

In the Jesus Movement of the late 1960s and 1970s ocean baptisms were commonplace. Pastor Chuck Smith of Calvary Chapel in Costa Mesa, Calif., baptized hundreds in the Pacific Ocean. At the same time the First Baptist Church of West Palm Beach, Fla., and others baptized scores of youthful converts in the Atlantic. From the time of the early church when there were no church buildings, and therefore obviously no baptismal pools, until now, outdoor baptisms offer the church a chance to participate in a timeless rite in a way a little more like the first believers in Acts.

Perhaps it is time for all churches to consider times to baptize new believers outdoors, with the gathered church, as a witness to the community. Too many unchurched people have little idea what we are about these days. Why not show them?

The service at Falls Lake demonstrated clearly the love of God in redeeming people. Note the breakdown of those baptized:

-- Four special needs people from a remarkable ministry that has developed over the past few years at Providence Baptist Church.

-- 42 youth.

-- 14 children.

-- Eight college students.

-- 49 adults.

At least one entire family, all of whom confessed Christ, was baptized that day. Sounds a lot like Paul and the jailor’s family in Acts 16! Could it be that we can still follow more of the New Testament practice, like observing baptism out in the culture, to the glory of God? Why not begin to think of places you could have similar services for the church, those baptized, and for those in the community? 

As you plan your church calendar for 2006, why not schedule an outdoor baptism -- or several, as well?

--30--
Alvin Reid holds the Bailey Smith Chair of Evangelism at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, N.C. 



