Torch, Spring/Summer 2012

T he Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission calls people of faith to take a stand on the moral, social, public policy, religious freedom, and human rights issues Christians face in this culture and around the world. When Southern Baptists have reached consensus on an issue, we make certain that the United States legislative, executive, and judicial branches of government, as well the United Nations (U.N.), are aware of our concerns on that particular issue. We give testimony before Congress, meet with the president and the president’s staff to share our concerns, and file briefs before the Supreme Court. We have nongovernmental organization status at the U.N., and we use it to speak up for those who are suffering for their faith around the world. Beginning around 1999, we began talking to members of the Southern Baptist Convention and other people of faith about looking at immigration through a biblical lens. We believed the current ways of A Resolution for Just Immigration Reform by Richard Land, D.Phil. In 2011, the Southern Baptist Convention passed an immigration resolution that upholds both biblical compassion and the rule of law. 12 TORCH | Spring-Summer 2012 CHAD JACKSON | CEDARVILLE UNIVERSITY