Baptist official views faith as election key

Southern Baptist Convention official Richard Land has a few words of advice for secularists: "The country has made the decision that they want more faith in the public square.”

Forum commentary

Go online to Beliefnet.com for commentary on the recent civil forum at Rick Warren's Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, Calif. An interview with Warren, Saddleback's pastor and author of "The Purpose-Driven Life,” also is featured on the site's "God-o-Meter” blog, found under the site's "Politics and News” section.

Also new is the faith-themed Web site's blog or "blogalogue” titled "Lynn v. Sekulow: Politics, Religion and the Public Square,” also found under the site's "Politics and News” section.

It features a discussion about the role faith and religion play in politics. Discussing the issue are Jay Sekulow, chief counsel for the American Center for Law and Justice, a law firm and educational organization focused on protecting religious freedom, American families and human life, and the Rev. Barry W. Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State.

That is the premise of Land's message these days as the U.S. presidential election approaches.

He said the recent civil forum at pastor and author Rick Warren's Saddleback Church is an example of how important faith has become to many Americans.

After all, Land said, who would have thought that the two presumptive presidential nominees would attend a pre-party convention discussion at a church — one with Southern Baptist roots, no less?

"I must say I am genetically programmed to be an optimist, but even I, in my wildest dreams, could not have imagined that in 2008 the only post-debate forum would be at a Southern Baptist church and be moderated by a Southern Baptist preacher,” Land said while visiting Oklahoma City this week. He is president of the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission.

Land said the forum, held Saturday in Lake Forest, Calif. (and aired online and on several cable TV networks) exceeded expectations for most people, and helped prove that "most Americans want to bring their religious convictions to bear on public policy.”

Such statements are reminders of why Tony Perkins, president of the Washington, D.C.-based Family Research Council, dubbed Land the "consummate culture warrior.

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