WASHINGTON (ABP) — Prominent conservative Christian leaders — including the current and former presidents of the Southern Baptist Convention — wrote Congress and other world leaders Sept. 21 calling for urgent action to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.
As Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad arrived in New York for a scheduled Sept. 23 address the United Nations and leaders from the Group of 20 rich and developing nations prepared for a Sept., 24-25 summit in Pittsburgh, leaders from Catholic, Protestant and evangelical groups representing 28 million American Christians urged a total arms embargo against Iran and a cut-off of exports of refined petroleum products. The actions would send a message to what the letter called "the world's leading state sponsor of terror."
Lead signatories included Pat Robertson, president of the Christian Broadcasting Network; Charles Colson, chairman of Prison Fellowship Ministries; and Richard Land, president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention.
Others signing the letter included current SBC President Johnny Hunt, pastor of First Baptist Church in Woodstock, Ga. Former SBC presidents adding their signatures included Jack Graham, pastor of Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano, Texas, and James Merritt, senior pastor at Cross Pointe Church in Duluth, Ga.
Other prominent signers included Ronnie Floyd, senior pastor of First Baptist Church of Springdale, Ark., and chairman of a Great Commission Task Force studying SBC structure.
Bob Reccord, former president of the SBC North American Mission Board and now president of Total Life Impact Ministries, signed the letter. So did Paul Pressler, a retired judge from Texas and one of the architects of the "conservative resurgence" movement that gained control of the nation's largest non-Catholic faith group in the 1980s.
Citing Iran's funding of Hezbollah and Hamas in Lebanon and Gaza and statements in which Ahmadinejad has denied the Holocaust and threatened to remove Israel from the world map, the letter said allowing Iran to obtain nuclear weapons "is something that neither the United States nor the community of civilized nations can allow."
"A nuclear-armed Iran is almost certain to initiate an arms race with other Middle Eastern and Arab nations who have reason to fear the religious, political and military ambitions of Iran's extremist leaders," the letter said. "As the world's leading state sponsor of international terror, we must assume Iran will sell or give a nuclear weapons to extremist groups that are declared and demonstrated enemies to America and her allies."
Ahmadinejad, Iran's president since 2005, has recently drawn criticism for allegations of voter fraud and post-election violence since his recent re-election. He also has repeatedly used harsh rhetoric denouncing the United States and Israel and recently repeated his denial of the Holocaust.
Talks are scheduled Oct. 1 between powers seeking concessions on Iran's nuclear program. The United States and allies fear Iran's uranium-enrichment program is concealing Ahmadinejad's desire to build nuclear weapons. He has rejected U.N. sanctions and insists that Iran's nuclear plan is legal.
On Sept. 22 the Iranian president warned anyone considering attacking Iran over its nuclear capabilities that "we will cut off his hands."
Bob Allen is senior writer for Associated Baptist Press.