By Greg Warner
There is an “intense hunger” among Christians worldwide-and among people of all faiths-to work for justice and oppose terrorism, despite serious differences of faith, Jimmy Carter said July 30.
“There is an intense hunger among Christians around the world for a healing of the differences that now separate us from one another,” Carter, United States president from 1977 to 1981, told reporters gathered for the Baptist World Centenary Congress.
Those Christians “are looking for a single voice, a common understanding and friendship, and [want] to put aside the divisions that plague our faith,” said Carter, a keynote speaker for the BWA congress.
The 80-year-old Carter, a lifelong Baptist and Bible teacher, said misunderstanding about the role between Islam and terrorism has increased division in the world.
“I think now there is a general feeling, particularly in my country and maybe now in more recent days here in the United Kingdom, that a person who is a Muslim may be less committed to peace and justice and truth and humility and benevolence and generosity than we [Christians] are,” he said. “That arrogant attitude, to derogate others because of their faith, is a mistake.”
Carter pointed out one of the most deadly terrorist attacks on American soil was committed by a radicalized American Christian, Timothy McVeigh, who killed 168 people with a bomb at the federal building in Oklahoma City, Okla., in 1995.
“I think the main impediment is not knowing each other, not understanding each other, not recognizing that basic truth … that every religion emphasizes truth and justice and benevolence and compassion and generosity and love. We are just divided now because of the tiny number of terrorists among us.”
Carter, a member of Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains, Ga., said the worldwide hunger for healing offers a historic opportunity to the Baptist World Alliance.
“I really see an opportunity at this moment for the Baptist World Alliance to become much greater a factor in Christian life than it has been in the past,” Carter volunteered. “I think this is a time for almost explosive growth [in BWA].”
On other topics:
• Carter said the war in Iraq is a mistake. “I thought then, and I think now, that the invasion of Iraq was unnecessary and unjust. And I think the premises under which it was launched were false. Whether deliberately or not, I don't know.” He said governments and individuals “should always be truthful” about their actions and motivations.
• The United States should close down the Guantanamo Bay detention center for international terror suspects and Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, both sites where American soldiers have mistreated prisoners. “What has gone on … is a disgrace to the United States of America” and only increases the danger of terror worldwide, he said. “Guantanamo does not represent the will of the American people or the basic elements that have made our country a great democracy and a proponent of freedom,” Carter said.
• The United States “is the stingiest nation of all,” he said, based on per capita income and benevolent giving. “For every 100 dollars in income our nation receives, we give only 16 cents … for benevolent aid.” Meanwhile, the gap between the rich and poor grows wider, he said. Alleviating poverty is a duty in both the religious and secular realms, he added,.
• Totalitarian governments pose the greatest risk to religious liberty worldwide, he said. And the Baptist World Alliance can play a role in advancing religious freedom in those countries.
Associated Baptist Press
Greg Warner is executive editor of ABP.