Baptist News Global
Sections
  • News
  • Analysis
  • Opinion
  • Curated
  • Storytelling
    • Faith & Justice >
      • Charleston: Metanoia with Bill Stanfield
      • Charlotte: QC Family Tree with Greg and Helms Jarrell
      • Little Rock: Judge Wendell Griffen
      • North Carolina: Conetoe
    • Welcoming the Stranger >
      • Lost Boys of Sudan: St. John’s Baptist Charlotte
      • Awakening to Immigrant Justice: Myers Park Baptist Church
      • Hospitality on the corner: Gaston Christian Center
    • Signature Ministries >
      • Jake Hall: Gospel Gothic, Music and Radio
    • Singing Our Faith >
      • Hymns for a Lifetime: Ken Wilson and Knollwood Baptist Church
      • Norfolk Street Choir
    • Resilient Rural America >
      • Alabama: Perry County
      • Texas: Hidalgo County
      • Arkansas Delta
      • Southeast Kentucky
  • More
    • Contact
    • About
    • Donate
    • Associated Baptist Press Foundation
    • Planned Giving
    • Letters to the Editor
    • Advertising
    • Ministry Jobs and More
    • Transitions
    • Subscribe
    • Submissions and Permissions
Donate Subscribe
Search Search this site

In North Georgia, signs of the times?

OpinionLibby Grammer Garrett  |  October 6, 2009

By Libby Grammer Garrett

Everywhere I have gone this week, from the doctor’s office to Facebook, I find myself inextricably entangled in turbulent conversations about my high-school alma mater’s cheerleaders, their inspirational football-game banners citing passages like, “I can do all things through Christ, who strengthens me,” and the unfortunate reactions of many Christians when the school system decided to ban the signs.

From the start, religious leaders (including, sadly, some Baptists) have led the rallying cry against what they perceive as the government’s intrusion into the religious affairs of Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe High School. This has prompted students and parents alike to rally in droves to “fight the man.”

What disturbs me most is not the Christian messages on the signs (they were there the two years I played for and led the marching band) but the anger that so many of our fellow Christians have demonstrated in their actions in response to what amounts to rather reasonable legal reckoning by the school board. Their anger is directed at a system they think is seeking to destroy their faith, the person who called the superintendent to raise questions about the legality of the signs, and practitioners of other faiths (who they say get “special treatment” in schools, such as Muslim students who get special rooms to pray or Jewish students who get special excused days off).

Meanwhile, they say, Christians are “martyred” for being the majority.

But of what, exactly, does this martyrdom of Christianity consist? Has the faith died in the public sphere just because the government’s schools are limited in their promotion of one faith over another?

I think not. From the start, the true martyrs of the Baptist faith in particular have supported separating religion and government from each other’s control. When the dissenters from Massachusetts Bay Colony, led by Roger Williams, escaped their persecution under the Puritans, they founded Rhode Island — a state dedicated not to mere religious tolerance, but to full religious freedom. Colonial Baptists such as John Leland continued this rich heritage, influencing the nation’s founding fathers to craft an amendment to protecting the church and the state from each other.

So why have so many Baptists moved away from our heritage in situations like the one in Fort Oglethorpe, Ga.?

I believe the answer is fear. Fear motivates the Christian majority in my little hometown — fear of being overrun by those who think differently from Southern conservatives, fear of losing their traditions and heritage and fear of losing their majority hold on society.

Cheerleaders at Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe High School have been using Bible verses to motivate players for several years.

It is unfortunate to see so many of my well-meaning sisters and brothers in Christ fighting among themselves, and fighting nonbelievers, against a law that only protects us all from persecution and coercion in matters of conscience. This attitude encourages hatred and scorn for those who disagree, and teaches our students to continue a legacy of bickering — all for the sake of preserving a “tradition” whose vintage is actually rather recent.

Students, parents, church leaders and lay leaders need to refocus not on the one thing our students cannot do in their school — that is, proselytizing by official school representatives at football games — but on what students can do to make an impact for the cause of Christ in their schools and communities. Many organizations are available to students to share the gospel message. Students may join local chapters of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, “Y”-clubs or other student-led Christian groups at local public schools. There, they can serve others while continuing to share Christ with their peers without any intervention by the school to dictate what they can or cannot say.

Focusing on improving relationships with other faiths will bear many fruits for the Kingdom. Mutual understanding is key to opening doors to share our faith in Christ with others, and freedom to do so without interference from government entities is mandatory to avoid reverting to Old World systems of religious control over our public institutions and public control over religious institutions.

Without a change in perspective, these arguments over cheerleading signs will continue to be indicative of the “signs of the times” — the era in which the Religious Right leads crusades against all others, demonizing well-meaning people (including other Christians) and making a mockery of the command to love our neighbor as ourselves. I hope and pray we can move past this anger-spawned rallying into well-meaning conversation with others about our faith that avoids the debasing rhetoric so apparent in the current dispute.

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • More
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Telegram (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)

OPINION: Views expressed in Baptist News Global columns and commentaries are solely those of the authors.
Tags:Commentaries
More by
Libby Grammer Garrett
  • Get BNG headlines in your inbox

  • Featured

    • First they came for them, then they came for us

      Opinion

    • U.S. immigration policies are harming persecuted Christians, evangelical leaders warn

      News

    • Hispanic students report highest levels of discrimination in some educational institutions

      News

    • Idolatry is alive and well today

      Opinion


    Curated

    • As psychedelic-assisted therapy grows, so does interest from a new group: chaplains

      As psychedelic-assisted therapy grows, so does interest from a new group: chaplains

    • Victims march to Rome to demand ‘zero tolerance’ on church abuse

      Victims march to Rome to demand ‘zero tolerance’ on church abuse

    • AI Has No Place in the Pulpit

      AI Has No Place in the Pulpit

    • This Christian text you’ve never heard of, The Shepherd of Hermas, barely mentions Jesus − but it was a favorite of early Christians far and wide

      This Christian text you’ve never heard of, The Shepherd of Hermas, barely mentions Jesus − but it was a favorite of early Christians far and wide

    Read Next:

    SoConCon links Focus on the Family with secular politics of Heritage Foundation and Koch groups

    NewsSteve Rabey

    More Articles

    • All
    • News
    • Opinion
    • Curated
    • First Fresh Expressions United Methodist gathering won’t go to Florida

      NewsCynthia Astle

    • 50 years later, Celebrate Life still is the wind we soar on

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • Christian legal group Alliance Defending Freedom allegedly ‘manufactured’ wedding cases to battle gay rights

      NewsSteve Rabey

    • Never say never: The Now and Forever Windows at the National Cathedral

      OpinionGreg Garrett, Senior Columnist

    • LBJ’s Great Society hurt Blacks more than slavery, Tim Scott declares

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • For the Bible tells me so: The Bible and the Civil Rights movement

      OpinionKaitlyn Schiess

    • Candidates seek to increase LGBTQ representation in public office

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • Templeton Foundation funds first-of-its-kind research into the religious ‘nones’

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • Listen to the woman: Cassidy Hutchinson

      OpinionJulia Goldie Day

    • Cats and dogs at Bubba-Doo’s

      OpinionCharles Qualls

    • Hispanic students report highest levels of discrimination in some educational institutions

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • Idolatry is alive and well today

      OpinionNapoleon Harris

    • Conspiracy theories link Jesus, JFK and Trump

      NewsSteve Rabey

    • First they came for them, then they came for us

      OpinionBill Leonard, Senior Columnist

    • Ministry jobs and more

      NewsBarbara Francis

    • U.S. immigration policies are harming persecuted Christians, evangelical leaders warn

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • The importance of remembering the March on Washington in 2023

      AnalysisJeremiah Bullock

    • Don’t call it burn-out

      OpinionTodd Thomason

    • SoConCon links Focus on the Family with secular politics of Heritage Foundation and Koch groups

      NewsSteve Rabey

    • Together for Hope names Appalachia director

      NewsBNG staff

    • Why potluck and Wednesday night dinners are important

      OpinionMaina Mwaura

    • Remembering BNG columnist Terry Austin

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • Are Americans ‘spiritual’ or ‘religious’ or both or neither?

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • Chi Alpha campus ministry leaders indicted in Texas

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • Why the Haitian shoe seller can’t sell shoes

      AnalysisCynthia Vacca Davis

    • First Fresh Expressions United Methodist gathering won’t go to Florida

      NewsCynthia Astle

    • 50 years later, Celebrate Life still is the wind we soar on

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • Christian legal group Alliance Defending Freedom allegedly ‘manufactured’ wedding cases to battle gay rights

      NewsSteve Rabey

    • LBJ’s Great Society hurt Blacks more than slavery, Tim Scott declares

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • Candidates seek to increase LGBTQ representation in public office

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • Templeton Foundation funds first-of-its-kind research into the religious ‘nones’

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • Hispanic students report highest levels of discrimination in some educational institutions

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • Conspiracy theories link Jesus, JFK and Trump

      NewsSteve Rabey

    • Ministry jobs and more

      NewsBarbara Francis

    • U.S. immigration policies are harming persecuted Christians, evangelical leaders warn

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • SoConCon links Focus on the Family with secular politics of Heritage Foundation and Koch groups

      NewsSteve Rabey

    • Together for Hope names Appalachia director

      NewsBNG staff

    • Remembering BNG columnist Terry Austin

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • Are Americans ‘spiritual’ or ‘religious’ or both or neither?

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • Chi Alpha campus ministry leaders indicted in Texas

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • This week’s BNG webinar: Amy Butler

      NewsBNG staff

    • A former victim of Boko Haram terrorism finds love in America; meanwhile, others remain in captivity 

      NewsAnthony Akaeze

    • Falwell accuses Liberty University of financial and sexual irregularities in legal filing

      NewsSteve Rabey

    • Samford students mark one-year anniversary with another silent protest for LGBTQ inclusion

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • Most Americans see immigration as a good thing, but Republicans disagree

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • United Methodist court exonerates suspended Latina bishop on four charges

      NewsCynthia Astle

    • Kate Campbell is glad to be back in the room where it happens

      NewsMaina Mwaura

    • In South Africa, fire deaths shine a light on immigrant churches in ‘hijacked’ slum buildings”

      NewsRay Mwareya

    • Finding a pastor today is nothing like it was 30 years ago, consultants caution

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • SBC expels Oklahoma church over pastor’s racial impersonations

      NewsMaina Mwaura

    • Never say never: The Now and Forever Windows at the National Cathedral

      OpinionGreg Garrett, Senior Columnist

    • For the Bible tells me so: The Bible and the Civil Rights movement

      OpinionKaitlyn Schiess

    • Listen to the woman: Cassidy Hutchinson

      OpinionJulia Goldie Day

    • Cats and dogs at Bubba-Doo’s

      OpinionCharles Qualls

    • Idolatry is alive and well today

      OpinionNapoleon Harris

    • First they came for them, then they came for us

      OpinionBill Leonard, Senior Columnist

    • Don’t call it burn-out

      OpinionTodd Thomason

    • Why potluck and Wednesday night dinners are important

      OpinionMaina Mwaura

    • American idols: Andrew Whitehead on American faith and Christian nationalism

      OpinionGreg Garrett, Senior Columnist

    • Creating inner peace

      OpinionPhawnda Moore

    • ‘Nobody wants to be an addict’

      OpinionTambi Brown Swiney

    • Men and congregational singing: The rest of the story

      OpinionCharlie Fuller

    • Things Christians need to know, for our own sake, about Yom Kippur, Judaism’s Day of Atonement

      OpinionKen Sehested

    • The real religious crisis in America

      OpinionMartin Thielen

    • Fear of dancing and the courage to be serious

      OpinionGreg Jarrell

    • Ken and Angela Paxton do a little sidestep — while quoting Bible verses

      OpinionRodney Kennedy

    • This is why people are leaving the church

      OpinionJulia Goldie Day

    • Criticism of Andy Stanley is rooted in father wounds

      OpinionRick Pidcock

    • What do we mean by ‘affirming’?

      OpinionRobert P. Sellers

    • How long before a revolution?

      OpinionJamar A. Boyd II

    • On death

      OpinionGlen Schmucker

    • Al Mohler vs. Andy Stanley: What’s really going on?

      OpinionMark Wingfield

    • More religion in public schools raises concerns about religious liberty

      OpinionBryan Kelley

    • In biblical truth-telling, we need to mind the gap between clergy and laity

      OpinionMark Wingfield

    • A ‘sad day’ for America?

      OpinionRodney Kennedy

    • As psychedelic-assisted therapy grows, so does interest from a new group: chaplains

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Victims march to Rome to demand ‘zero tolerance’ on church abuse

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • AI Has No Place in the Pulpit

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • This Christian text you’ve never heard of, The Shepherd of Hermas, barely mentions Jesus − but it was a favorite of early Christians far and wide

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Greek court: Orthodox students cannot be exempted from religion classes

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Why separating fact from fiction is critical in teaching US slavery

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Everything is political, oh my! Why churches should build better capacity for political dialogue

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Pastors Wonder About Church Members Who Never Came Back Post-Pandemic

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Meeting between Jewish leaders and Benjamin Netanyahu broaches judicial overhaul — and gets personal

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • West Side Story: Diverse NY Church Represents 5 Continents

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • National Cathedral windows shift from themes of Confederacy to racial justice

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Culture War Is Not Spiritual Warfare

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • AI won’t be replacing your priest, minister, rabbi or imam any time soon

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Who is Siggy Flicker, the ‘Real Housewife’ behind Trump’s Rosh Hashanah message condemning ‘liberal Jews’?

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Ideological rifts among U.S. bishops are in the spotlight ahead of momentous Vatican meeting

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Two mainland China bishops to attend big Vatican meeting after tensions

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Nazi Germany had admirers among American religious leaders – and white supremacy fueled their support

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • How Japanese American Pastors Prepared Their Flocks For Internment

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Belly dancers, terrorists or taxi drivers: Arab American comedians spoof stereotypes

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Freedom struggles of China’s Christian rights lawyers

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • ‘Holy Food’ explores American history and religion through food

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Connecting With the Good News Generation

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • What’s the news impact of the intense racism investigation at Wheaton College?

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Who was Hardeep Singh Nijjar, the Sikh activist whose killing has divided Canada and India?

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Riding a wave of converts, one group aims to fuse Orthodoxy with Southern values

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    Conversations that Matter.

    © 2023 Baptist News Global. All rights reserved.

    Want to share a story? We hope you will! Read our republishing, terms of use and privacy policies here.

    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Instagram
    • LinkedIn
    • RSS