Have Louisiana Baptists lost whatever influence we may have had with the Louisiana
legislative and governing processes?
Louisiana Baptists should be able to impact these processes. In terms of “bragging”
numbers, we have some 608,000 members. Remember, Baptists only count church
members who have reached the age of accountability, have made a profession of
faith and have been baptized, whereas denominations such as Roman Catholics
count those who from birth have been baptized.
Have Louisiana Baptists lost whatever influence we may have had with the Louisiana
legislative and governing processes?
Louisiana Baptists should be able to impact these processes. In terms of “bragging”
numbers, we have some 608,000 members. Remember, Baptists only count church
members who have reached the age of accountability, have made a profession of
faith and have been baptized, whereas denominations such as Roman Catholics
count those who from birth have been baptized.
While we may not be able to find all of the 608,000 baptized members during
a given week, by the time the total number of Southern Baptists includes the
children of church members, we surely could find about 500,000. This would mean
at least one in nine Louisianians are affiliated with a Louisiana Baptist church.
Certainly these are “loose figures,” but they are adequate for this
consideration.
There are very few bodies in the state that account for one in nine residents.
One would imagine that politicians would be very concerned about a group representing
this kind of constituency.
Granted, all Louisiana Baptists would not see things the same way on all issues,
but certainly, we would be as unified in opinions about moral and social issues
as other groups would be on issues that should concern them.
But in the last decade, it would seem Baptists have had almost no impact on
laws that have been made in the state. The most obvious issue is gambling, but
there are others.
Fortunately, there is a core group of Louisiana Baptists who are elected members
of both state legislative houses who work tirelessly in behalf of moral and
ethical issues. They are joined by other morally- and ethically-minded senators
and representatives.
But as far as affecting the process overall, Louisiana Baptists are less and
less effective. Those who care about the moral and ethical climate in our state
would be well served to ask, “Why?”
Have legislators overall decided they can ignore Louisiana Baptists for other
constituencies that have demonstrated their ability to “stay hitched”
on issues? Have they discovered that while Southern Baptist leaders and spokespersons
say one thing, Southern Baptists-at-large do not have the same commitments?
It may be possible that Southern Baptists have simply given up and given in
to forces working at cross purposes. “Whats the use?” many may
ask. If this is true, lawmakers do not hear from home and they assume there
is no strong feeling by Baptists one way or the other on various issues.
Or, as one observer said, it may be that the controversy of the last dozen
years among Louisiana Baptists in the state has sapped the energies and attention
of Louisiana Baptists, and they do not put forth the same unified effort on
the legislative front they did years ago.
Whatever the reason(s), it is a shame. Between Louisiana Baptists 500,000,
and Roman Catholics 1.5 million, plus various other Baptist groups and
numerous other denominations, why are we seemingly so weak in our efforts to
effect good in our legislative process?
In the early days of our country, Baptists were a tiny minority, but they had
a big impact on the formation of our nation. They had a zeal and a determination
that would not be denied. They believed their future and the future of the nation
was at stake. They believed with all their hearts they were on a godly mission,
and they operated on what they believed was spiritual power.
The direction of Louisiana could be different if Louisiana Baptists would recapture
their conviction that, as changed people, we are to change the world. We may
have the numerical power, but we apparently lack the spiritual power and moral
conviction necessary to do the job.