Ethics & Religious Liberties Commission

[SolaSaint]

This is an arm of the SBC at the national and some local levels or associations, I believe it is called Christian Life Commission now, could be wrong here?

Can anyone enlighten me about this commission and what it accomplishes or attempts to accomplish? Thanks

Did Dr. Land used to be the national director?

 

[Revmitchell]

http://erlc.com/


Yes

 

[Baptist Believer]

This is an arm of the SBC at the national and some local levels or associations, I believe it is called Christian Life Commission now, could be wrong here?

Previously, the SBC supported the Baptist Joint Committee On Public Affairs (BJCPA), a lobbying organization supported by numerous Baptist groups, which is now named the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty.

In, I believe, 1990, the Southern Baptist Convention defunded the BJCPA because a number of "conservative" Southern Baptists were opposed to the separation of church and state that the BJCPA promoted. Many SBC leaders were upset that the BJCPA opposed a school prayer amendment, among other legislation that the BJCPA and Baptist groups in general had historically opposed. Added to the concerns which prompted the defunding were concerns that the BJCPA's narrow focus on religious liberty was not covering every area where "conservative" Southern Baptists wanted to fight the culture wars, such as abortion, feminism, homosexuality, etc.

Thus, the Christian Life Commission (now the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission) was created with Richard Land as the head in 1988 to first augment, and then eventually replace, the BJCPA in Washington as a lobbying organization for the SBC.

The stated vision of the ERLC is "an American society that affirms and practices Judeo-Christian values rooted in biblical authority. The stated mission of the ERLC is to awaken, inform, energize, equip, and mobilize Christians to be the catalysts for the Biblically-based transformation of their families, churches, communities, and the nation."

Richard Land resigned amid some plagiarism scandals and other issues and Russ Moore is now leading the group. Moore's leadership will apparently take a different track than Land's since Moore doesn't seem interested in fighting the culture wars but rather working in a more subtle (IMO, more effective) way to influence society.

 

[Jerome]

Thus, the Christian Life Commission (now the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission) was created with Richard Land as the head in 1988 to first augment, and then eventually replace, the BJCPA in Washington as a lobbying organization for the SBC.

No, the SBC's 'Christian Life Commission' was created mid-century; it was the successor to the SBC's Committees on Civic Righteousness, Social Service, Temperance, etc.

From the 1908 Annual of the Southern Baptist Convention:

The report of the Committee on Civic Righteousness, which was read at the mass-meeting on Sunday and discussed at that time, was adopted, as follows:
We are rejoiced to observe that the spirit of law, of temperance, of righteousness, is becoming a conquering spirit. The politicians today are in increasing numbers consulting with the religious people of the community rather than with the saloon aggregation. . . .Civic Righteousness and the Kingdom of God are bound up in each other. We are learning anew that Christ's commission to his followers is not primarily to increase the census of heaven, but to make down here a righteous society in which Christ's will shall be done, his kingdom come.

 

[Baptist Believer]

No, the SBC's 'Christian Life Commission' was created mid-century; it was the successor to the SBC's Committees on Civic Righteousness, Social Service, Temperance, etc.

I stand corrected.

Thanks.

I was misled on this point. I first heard of the SBC's Christian Life Commission when some of the "Conservative Resurgence" leadership was trying to convince a group of us that defunding the BJCPA was the right thing to do since it was a "duplication of effort." I should have known better than to take their history at face value.

In Texas, we had a very vocal Christian Life Commission and a group called TANE (Texas Alcohol and Narcotics Education) team that visited our church once a year to try to convince teenagers not to drink alcohol or take drugs. They used flagrant manipulation to get teenagers to walk the aisles at the invitation and make a public pledge not to let alcohol touch their lips or take drugs. Every year the same bunch would go forward, make their tearful pledge and be back at it the next week. Those of us who didn't go forward were eyed with suspicion even through most of us didn't drink or do drugs. We didn't cave to peer pressure, whether it was coming from the pulpit or from other teens.

In my opinion, the TANE program was a complete waste of resources and did more damage than good.

Sorry about the rant.

 

[Jerome]

Mid-Continent University history department chair Stephen Douglas Wilson:

http://www.bpnews.net/BPnews.asp?ID=40443

From the Social Service Commission to the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission

In the 1913 Southern Baptist Convention, Southern Baptists saw the need for addressing various social concerns and causes in a more systematic fashion than had been done in the past. A committee was authorized and appointed as the Social Service Commission (SSC). In 1914 this committee gave its first full report to the convention. For a number of years, the committee remained as a standing committee of the convention, but it eventually became a convention entity and was renamed the Christian Life Commission (CLC) in 1953. . .

http://www.conservapedia.com/Southern_Baptist_Convention

Religious leaders in the South were theologically conservative, but most denominations supported the Social Gospel. The Southern Baptists strongly supported some of the main Social Gospel campaigns, especially against liquor and saloons and sexual slavery. The spirit of today's campaigns against abortion very closely resemble the language and rhetoric and organizing techniques of the prohibition campaigns. The Southern churches were also active opponents of prostitution, obscenity and gambling, and they aligned with like minded politicians like Alben Barkley of Kentucky (who later became Truman's vice president). Most of the state Baptist conventions had "Christian Life Commissions" that echoed the Social Gospel (they were especially active in Alabama and Virginia).