The T.B. Maston Christian Ethics Award Dinner

November 9, 2009

On October 30, I attended the T.B. Maston Christian Ethics Award Dinner honoring Baptist historian Leon McBeth. The dinner was held at Wilshire Baptist Church in Dallas.

A couple of years ago I wrote a paper on T.B. Maston and hopefully will present an updated version of that paper at a social science conference in Houston next Spring. So, I thoroughly enjoyed being in a room with many men and women who have been influenced by the renowned Baptist ethicist.

Brent Walker of the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty was the featured speaker at the award dinner. Walker outlined three tensions that Baptists must balance in their advocacy for religious liberty and involvement in public life. These three tensions include:

Tension between the No Establishment and Free Exercise Clauses of the First Amendment

Tension between Freedom and Responsibility

Tension between Civic Withdrawal and Engagement

You can read more about these tensions in this article over at Associated Baptist Press.

As religious liberty advocates, we Baptists must ensure that we also pay attention to free exercise issues. Too often, Baptist separationists come across in practice of devoting too much time and emphasis to Establishment Clause issues. Granted, these are the issues that often get the most press. Walkers advice is quite timely.