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)
  • Click to share on Skype (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

    • The state murder of Tyre Nichols

      Opinion

    • Armie Hammer links his sexual excesses as an adult to his abuse by a youth pastor when he was 13

      News

    • Three images to remember Tyre Nichols

      Opinion

    • U.N. World Harmony Week is only seven days but must last all year, speakers say

      News


    Curated

    • Salman Rushdie Says He’s Grateful, ‘Can’t Regret’ His Life After Stabbing

      Salman Rushdie Says He’s Grateful, ‘Can’t Regret’ His Life After Stabbing

    • Why Chinese Immigrant Pastors Avoid Preaching on the News

      Why Chinese Immigrant Pastors Avoid Preaching on the News

    • Joe Rogan: ‘The idea that Jewish people are not into money is ridiculous’

      Joe Rogan: ‘The idea that Jewish people are not into money is ridiculous’

    • California senator announces bill to protect religious practices of incarcerated individuals

      California senator announces bill to protect religious practices of incarcerated individuals

    Read Next:

    PC(USA) committee lambasted for choosing a ‘text of terror’ for ordination exam

    NewsMark Wingfield

    More Articles

    • All
    • News
    • Opinion
    • Curated
    • Dr. Fortune’s vision of educational equality

      OpinionPhawnda Moore

    • What happens when a UMC exit vote fails in a congregation?

      NewsCynthia Astle

    • Amid quantum leaps of change, we’re experiencing enlightenment despair

      OpinionStephanie Nash

    • Spurred on by conservatives’ fears, Tennessee turns down federal funds to fight HIV/AIDS

      AnalysisKristen Thomason

    • Tom Brady may be the NFL’s “GOAT,” but he’s a lousy theologian

      OpinionMarv Knox

    • “What’s the one book I should read on anti-racism?’

      OpinionSusan M. Shaw, Senior Columnist

    • Study finds racial and ethnic identity plays a role in mental health of Gen Z

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • How a medical emergency during worship showed love in action

      OpinionZach W. Lambert

    • U.N. World Harmony Week is only seven days but must last all year, speakers say

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • The historical significance of ETBU acquiring B.H. Carroll Institute

      AnalysisMark Wingfield

    • Three images to remember Tyre Nichols

      OpinionJulia Goldie Day

    • Ministry jobs and more

      NewsBarbara Francis

    • The state murder of Tyre Nichols

      OpinionLisa Sharon Harper and David Gushee

    • Armie Hammer links his sexual excesses as an adult to his abuse by a youth pastor when he was 13

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • ‘I remember repeating to myself: “I have the right to be here.”’

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • Lyell asks Alabama court to dismiss Sills lawsuit for lack of jurisdiction

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • PC(USA) committee lambasted for choosing a ‘text of terror’ for ordination exam

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • BCMD executive director, also a NAMB vice president, resigns due to ‘moral failure’

      NewsMaina Mwaura

    • Title 42, congregations and the sojourner

      OpinionSean Powell

    • SBC Executive Committee member once again criticized for sexually crude social media posts

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • The truth about police brutality

      OpinionJames Ellis III

    • In Ukraine: ‘We cannot just preach like we did before the war’

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • TikTok trends and three questions you and your church should ask this year about rest

      AnalysisLaura Ellis

    • Two churches ‘under inquiry’ by SBC Credentials Committee for platforming Johnny Hunt

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • Biblical orthodoxy 2023: Sign or get ‘churched’

      OpinionBill Leonard, Senior Columnist

    • What happens when a UMC exit vote fails in a congregation?

      NewsCynthia Astle

    • Study finds racial and ethnic identity plays a role in mental health of Gen Z

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • U.N. World Harmony Week is only seven days but must last all year, speakers say

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • Ministry jobs and more

      NewsBarbara Francis

    • Armie Hammer links his sexual excesses as an adult to his abuse by a youth pastor when he was 13

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • ‘I remember repeating to myself: “I have the right to be here.”’

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • Lyell asks Alabama court to dismiss Sills lawsuit for lack of jurisdiction

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • PC(USA) committee lambasted for choosing a ‘text of terror’ for ordination exam

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • BCMD executive director, also a NAMB vice president, resigns due to ‘moral failure’

      NewsMaina Mwaura

    • SBC Executive Committee member once again criticized for sexually crude social media posts

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • In Ukraine: ‘We cannot just preach like we did before the war’

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • Two churches ‘under inquiry’ by SBC Credentials Committee for platforming Johnny Hunt

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • Zimbabwean pastors flee ministry to join more lucrative care work in the UK

      NewsRay Mwareya

    • Biden administration urged to remove Cuba from list of state sponsors of terrorism

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • Transitions for the week of 2-3-23

      NewsBarbara Francis

    • ‘Can you imagine looting the religious artifacts that help strengthen the Christian faith from the Vatican?’

      NewsAnthony Akaeze

    • Panelists discuss how the Hamline University controversy could have been handled better in a diverse culture

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • Pope Francis arrives in Africa on a two-nation tour seeking peace amid decades of conflict

      NewsAnthony Akaeze

    • Museum of the Bible to host Wednesday morning event to pray for God’s judgment on America, and breakfast is not included

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • National Prayer Breakfast gets new sponsorship but still looks like government-sponsored religion, BJC leaders say

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • Ministry jobs and more

      NewsBarbara Francis

    • Zimbabwe Theological Seminary names new principal

      NewsBNG staff

    • What happens when church and state merge? Look to Nazi Germany for answers

      NewsJeff Brumley

    • Southwestern Seminary student arrested for alleged ‘felony sexual assault’

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • Trial date set for Patterson and Southwestern versus Jane Roe

      NewsMark Wingfield

    • Dr. Fortune’s vision of educational equality

      OpinionPhawnda Moore

    • Amid quantum leaps of change, we’re experiencing enlightenment despair

      OpinionStephanie Nash

    • Tom Brady may be the NFL’s “GOAT,” but he’s a lousy theologian

      OpinionMarv Knox

    • “What’s the one book I should read on anti-racism?’

      OpinionSusan M. Shaw, Senior Columnist

    • How a medical emergency during worship showed love in action

      OpinionZach W. Lambert

    • Three images to remember Tyre Nichols

      OpinionJulia Goldie Day

    • The state murder of Tyre Nichols

      OpinionLisa Sharon Harper and David Gushee

    • Title 42, congregations and the sojourner

      OpinionSean Powell

    • The truth about police brutality

      OpinionJames Ellis III

    • Biblical orthodoxy 2023: Sign or get ‘churched’

      OpinionBill Leonard, Senior Columnist

    • Jesus and Buddha are talking with me about loving and blessing my enemies

      OpinionH. Stephen Shoemaker

    • Letter to the Editor: Kudos all around for Baptist News Global

      OpinionLetters to the Editor

    • Letter to the Editor: Jesus expects us to follow him; Trump expects us to follow him

      OpinionLetters to the Editor

    • Humor and hope mark the dark journey taken by a creative and brave photojournalist

      OpinionKathy Manis Findley

    • One year of sobriety

      OpinionGlen Schmucker

    • Men’s ministry needs more than, eggs, bacon and football

      OpinionMaina Mwaura

    • The church must show the world a more excellent way of nonviolence

      OpinionRodney Kennedy

    • Church historian Richard Hughes reflects on a lifetime of ‘Troublesome Questions’

      OpinionTed Parks

    • What churches could learn from the Pub Choir phenomenon

      OpinionMike Frost

    • Living into lament: A white response to the killing of Tyre Nichols by police

      OpinionRobert P. Jones

    • Of church cemeteries, pulpit committees, crafts and sweet potato casserole

      OpinionChris Ayers

    • Of Margie, mountains and ‘El Shaddai’

      OpinionBert Montgomery

    • What I learned from meeting Martin Luther King in Louisville and Josie in Hopkinsville

      OpinionBill Thurman

    • On the baptism of our firstborn

      OpinionEmily Hull McGee

    • Has virtual worship actually harmed Christianity?

      OpinionSara Robb-Scott

    • Salman Rushdie Says He’s Grateful, ‘Can’t Regret’ His Life After Stabbing

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Why Chinese Immigrant Pastors Avoid Preaching on the News

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Joe Rogan: ‘The idea that Jewish people are not into money is ridiculous’

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • California senator announces bill to protect religious practices of incarcerated individuals

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Via jokes, ChatGPT chooses which religious traditions and figures deserve respect — and therefore what counts as ‘religion’

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • A brief history of the Black church’s diversity, and its vital role in American political history

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • “Left Behind: Rise Of The Antichrist” Is The Latest Installment In The Apocalyptic Thriller Franchise. It’s Nothing More Than Evangelical Make-Believe

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Antisemitic flyers could spur action on proposed Georgia law

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • A brief history of the Black church’s diversity, and its vital role in American political history

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • New effort surveys Sikh students about bullying and school climate in the US

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Civil rights legislation sparked powerful backlash that’s still shaping American politics

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Church of England submits blessings for same-sex couples to fierce debate in Synod

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • GOP Rep. Who Spoke At Pro-Hitler Event Goes After Ilhan Omar Because Of ‘Anti-Semitism’

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Psychedelic churches in US pushing boundaries of religion

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Prominent Jewish leaders add to drumbeat of criticism of Israel’s new government

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • At Tyre Nichols’ funeral, VP Harris and Sharpton among those praying and promising reform

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Marvin Olasky Still Wants to Make Journalism Biblically Objective

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Progressive National Baptists to deploy $1 million grant to boost ‘compelling preaching’

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Church of England sheds light on ‘shameful’ slave trade ties

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Chinese Christians remain in Thailand fearing deportation

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Black police officers aren’t colorblind – they’re infected by the same anti-Black bias as American society and police in general

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Ohio is investigating a Nazi homeschooling network that teaches children to love Hitler

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Omar says some Republicans don’t want a Muslim in Congress: ‘These people are OK with Islamophobia’

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • Tyre Nichols police beating video prompts faith leaders to react with grief, goals

      Curated

      Exclude from home pageBNG staff

    • How Egyptian police hunt LGBT people on dating apps

      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