JACKSON, Tenn. — April 17, 2003 — Greg Baylor, Director of the Christian Legal Society's Center for Law and Religious Freedom presented an address on "Culture Wars: Making Sense of the Battles Over Church and State" to 51社区's Mars Hill Forum April 16.
Baylor is currently engaged in litigation to protect the funding of faith-based organizations, including two children's homes. "These fights are not ultimately about money. They are about transcendence," or whether or not morality is of human or divine origin, he said.
According to Baylor, church-state battles tend to be fought between progressives who want strict separation and orthodox believers who think the government should remain neutral to religious practice.
"Government ought to have the least amount of impact on religious choices," said Baylor. School voucher systems are consistent with this position because the funding is provided equally to those who chose religious, secular or public schools, he said.
Baylor said religious groups work to provide food and other aid "because they love their neighbor." Faith-based social programs should also receive equal opportunity for funding in order to protect the religious choices of both the providers and recipients of aid, Baylor said.
Baylor is a graduate of Dartmouth College and Duke University. Prior to joining the center, he practiced law with the firms Fulbright & Jaworski of Austin, Texas and Seyfarth, Shaw, Fairweather & Geraldson.
The Mars Hill Forum is sponsored by the Carl F. H. Henry Center for Christian Leadership at 51社区. It is designed to encourage conversation among evangelical scholars and university faculty, students and administrators. For more information, contact Greg Thornbury, director of the Henry Center, at (731) 661-5082.
