RICHMOND — Virginia Baptist pastor Victor Visotsky knows about religious persecution. Visotsky, now pastor of New Life Russian Baptist Church in Falls Church, grew up in Soviet Estonia. He remembers how members of his Baptist church were arrested and imprisoned for printing and distributing Christian literature. Others were fined for holding illegal prayer meetings in their homes, or for teaching their children to follow the Bible. Periodically the KGB and local police would raid and ransack his house as they searched for religious materials. Like countless others before and since, Visotsky came to America seeking a place to practice his faith without fear or reprisals. And still they come.
To remind us all not to take our religious freedom for granted, a Sunday each year is placed on our denominational calendar—usually the first Sunday in July. But the Virginia Baptist religious liberty committee believes that one Sunday is not enough. In a prepared statement for the Religious Herald, the committee stated, “This observance can be easily lost in all the emphases about summer camps and Bible schools, family vacations, mission trips and a host of other exciting and meaningful events filling the schedules of church going Baptists this summer.
“Ironically, it can also be lost within a myriad of celebratory events in the church and community as the independence of the nation is celebrated. What is especially poignant is the reality that of all the freedoms we celebrate as Americans, and as Baptists in America, the freedom of religion is one of our first freedoms. Yet if we fail to act responsibly, it may be one of our first freedoms to be lost.”
In varying degrees, since the founding of our nation, the freedom of religion has been under attack. One might easily contend that the most trying times for religious freedom were during the early colonial period when Baptists were routinely jailed for proclaiming their faith. For Baptists, that these were dark days are beyond dispute.
But the persecutions Baptists and other religious minorities endured, and the state church's blatant over-extension of its powers, actually crystallized opposition and provided the catalyst for establishing our constitutional freedom of religion.
The days of persecution were trying, but there is a much more sinister, though well-intentioned, threat to religious freedom working its way through the fabric of our republic. When it comes to protecting religious freedom for all Americans, the conditions are mirrored in the words of a '70's balladeer, “… the times they are a changing.”
In some cases, attitudes are changing because people have not understood or have never been exposed to the deep level of commitment to religious freedom the nation's early founders brought to the constitutional debate.
Sometimes school administrators and others are confused about how to interpret and apply laws covering religious expression. Changes in legislative and judicial applications of religious freedom laws, and the fear of lawsuits or public outcry keep them overly cautious in separating church and state.
But religious liberty violations cut both ways. When students are denied the right to express their faith through art or clothing, or when they are prevented by school officials from participating in a “See You At the Pole” gathering their freedoms are being limited.
Baptists and other Christians must be vigilant in protecting their freedoms. But they must be equally determined to protect the religious freedoms of non-Christians.
We Baptists, who were persecuted early on, must be fearless in rising to protect others when their religious freedoms are threatened.
First Baptist Church of Dalton, Ga., — a congregation affiliated with the Baptist General Association of Virginia — is a good example. This congregation rose to defend the rights of a group of Muslims to build a mosque when other Christian groups rose in opposition. What many do not seem to understand is that an attack on any American's freedom is an attack on all Americans' freedoms.
People who are truly intent on preserving their own religious liberties will find creative ways to bridge gaps of misunderstanding and prejudice and support the religious freedoms of all faith groups in our land.
Religious persecution is wrong. Whether it is a blatant attempt to deny individuals or groups the right to practice their faith without interference or governmental support, or is subtly cloaked in nationalist pride, it is wrong.
We Baptist Christians who on the one hand champion soul competency and liberty of faith in Christ, cannot on the other hand deny any person the liberty to discover his or her own faith position, even if that position is different than our own.
Thomas Jefferson said it best in the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom:
“We the General Assembly of Virginia do enact that no man shall be compelled to frequent or support any religious worship, place, or ministry whatsoever, nor shall be enforced restrained, molested, or burthened in his body or goods, nor shall otherwise suffer, on account of his religious opinions or belief; but that all men shall be free to profess and by argument to maintain, their opinions in matters of religion, and that the same shall in no wise diminish, enlarge, or affect their civil capacities.”
Victor is not so far removed from his own persecutions that he has forgotten the importance of standing together in liberty. “We are one body in Christ and the day will come when we will stand before the throne of God together with ‘a great multitude, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues.' ” (Revelation 7:9). He has issued a clarion call to all Baptists; “As we journey there, [heaven], we need to raise awareness of religious persecution, pray for our suffering brothers and sisters and act to help those who endure persecution today. Who knows — tomorrow we may need their help.”
The religious liberty committee asks for your church's active participation in celebrating and preserving religious liberty. Education, prayer, and community bridge-building is needed. In doing this, we will make our nation stronger, and, in the process, demonstrate the magnanimity of Christ's kingdom.
David Robinson of West Hampton Baptist Church in Hampton is a member of the BGAV religious liberty committee. Fellow committee members Paula Batts and Victor Visotsky contributed to this article.