JACKSON, Tenn. — Nov. 5, 2013 — Two 51社区 professors and a guest speaker helped chapel attendees Oct. 30 navigate the issues surrounding religious liberty, emphasizing the importance of religious freedom for all people.
Hunter Baker, associate professor of political science and dean of instruction, served as the panel moderator. Participants in the panel were Andrew Walker, director of policy studies at the Southern Baptist Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission; C. Ben Mitchell, Graves professor of Moral Philosophy; and Micah Watson, associate professor of political science and director of the Center for Politics and Religion.
Baker began the discussion by talking about the word solidarity, a buzzword made popular on campus by Greg Thornbury, former vice president for spiritual life and dean of the School of Theology and Missions.
鈥淭here will be many Christians under pressure to compromise their convictions,鈥� Baker said. 鈥淲hether you agree or disagree with an underlining policy, the question is, 鈥榃ill you demonstrate solidarity with your brothers and sisters to protect their religious liberty or their freedom of conscience?鈥欌��
As they responded to Baker鈥檚 questions, all three panelists emphasized the importance of liberty for all religions, not just one particular faith or institution.
Walker also mentioned solidarity, acknowledging that while Christians have disagreements with other religious traditions, they still have an obligation to lobby on behalf of all religions.
鈥淲e [as Christians] ought to be advocating for the right for any religion to set up where they want to set up, for the same logic and precedent would apply to any of us,鈥� Walker argued. 鈥淪olidarity is a theme that has drawn together a multi-faith front on religious liberty -- we all recognize that with encroaching secularism, it鈥檚 time that all individuals of faith band together and confront and eventually refute the new sexual orthodoxy.鈥�
Mitchell expanded Walker鈥檚 argument by describing religious liberty as something that covers both a liberty of conscience and of practice.
鈥淗uman beings made in God鈥檚 image ought not to be coerced in conscience or in practice to do things they don鈥檛 want to do,鈥� Mitchell explained. 鈥淟oving our neighbor compels us to try to protect others. You should be free to exercise your conscience and I should be free to die for my conscience if necessary.鈥�
Watson and Walker both mentioned the importance of connecting the gospel to religious liberty.
鈥淭he gospel is powerful enough to handle itself in the public square without state support,鈥� Watson said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not just about [Christians] and our rights, so we want to defend everyone鈥檚 conscious right to think about these things without having pressure put on them.鈥�
Walker agreed, saying that Christians often fail in 鈥渃onnecting religious liberty to the gospel. We don鈥檛 hold these positions just to hold them statically and in a vacuum. The end is Christ, so Christians have a vested interest in truth-telling.鈥�
The panelists also discussed the Health and Human Services mandate, the limitations of religious liberty and Christian organizations that have faced strict regulations on state and private college campuses.
But these challenges, Walker said, present Christians with a unique platform: 鈥淲e have an opportunity as Christians, in whatever context, to act in a way that isn鈥檛 angry or protesting, simply saying 鈥楯esus is Lord, we think you鈥檙e wrong, but we鈥檙e moving on.鈥欌��
Video of the panel discussion is available at .