CLC's Land Underscores Sanctity of Life Concerns

by Tim Ellsworth                                                                                           Vol. X, No. 6, June/July 1997

Southern Baptists must uphold morality and righteousness in the United States, Richard Land, president of the Christian Life Commission, said in his June 17 report to the 1997 Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting. Land quoted from the Old Testament Book of Ezekiel, where God was searching for a man to stand in the gap between himself and a nation. "One of the main differences between Judah and the United States of America is God has found a people who want to stand in the gap -- and those people are Southern Baptists," Land said.

The CLC president said the organization has focussed on the sanctity of human life in the past year and will continue to do so. He pointed out that a baby is killed every 20 seconds in the United States and that the country's preoccupation with death extends from the nursery to the nursing home. "We are in a struggle to the death for the soul of this culture, and the enemy's poster boy is Dr. Jack Kevorkian," Land said. "We are going to defend the helpless.... Every human life is of inestimable value to God. We're going to stand for God-given life."

Land decried recent scientific advances that have made cloning a reality and have moved the culture "from science fiction to science fact." He said the CLC will oppose the cloning of human beings and will strive to make it illegal around the world as "a crime against the human race."

The CLC president also addressed the issue of persecution around the world. "It will not stop unless the Christians of America insist that it stop, and we are going to insist that it stop," Land said. "We are going to stand for religious liberty overseas, and we are going to stand for religious liberty here in the United States.

Land encouraged messengers to convey to legislators their support of the religious liberty amendment sponsored by Rep. Ernest Istook, R.-Okla. "This amendment will tell the Supreme Court to sit down, shut up, and butt out," Land said.

He also encouraged messengers to boycott the Walt Disney Company. Concerning the 1996 resolution challenging Disney's moral drift, Land said, "I have some good news, and I have some bad news. The good news is that on good days, the Disney Corporation ignored us. On bad days, they contemptuously gave us the back of their hand. They don't think that Southern Baptists are significant.

"I suspect that tomorrow when you vote to refrain from giving of your resources to any of Disney's enterprises, that in the next 12 months Disney is going to find out just how many regiments and just how many divisions of godly people Southern Baptists have." [BP]

[Editorial Comment: To be effective the Baptist boycott must extend to all Disney products and services. Here is a summary list of their enterprises: Disneyland and Disney World theme parks, Disney merchandise stores, ABC TV network, 4 motion picture companies (Touchstone, Hollywood, Caravan, and Miramax), 4 cable TV channels (ESPN, Lifetime, A&E, and The Disney Channel), sixteen radio stations in major markets, The Mighty Duck professional hockey team, and an assortment of newspapers, trade journals, medical journals, and publishers. For a full three-page list of Disney owned enterprises, send a stamped self-addressed envelope to The Baptist Banner, 8601 Buckboard Drive, Alexandria, VA 22308.]