In the movie “The Patriot” the central actor, played by Mel Gibson, has a line that speaks volumes to the attitude of our nation’s forefathers.  Gibson’s character, while debating whether or not South Carolina was going to become part of the revolution against England, asked the question; “why should I trade one tyrant three thousand miles away for three thousand tyrants one mile away? ” He answered his question by saying; An elected legislature can trample a man’s rights as easily as a King can.   There is now a question that should be asked of all NC Baptists.  Have we traded one “good-ole boy” bureaucratic network for another?  There are some items of importance to watch for today at the convention that will reveal we have.

First, watch how the convention leaders handle two motions that were presented last year and overwhelmingly affirmed by messengers. There were two motions that I saw come to the convention floor that have the potential of being controversial.  The Baptist Faith and Message motion, made by my friend Phil Addison, and the motion on alcohol policies made by yours truly. The BF&M motion is going to be handled by presenting a resolution for the convention.  There is one question that I have concerning this resolution; why have we not seen it before we get to the convention?  I know there are resolutions the Resolutions Committee is dealing with but those have already been published.  The only resolution, I know of, is the standard resolution we make for the city of Greensboro. Thus, to get the resolution before the messengers there will need to be a rules change. The question needs to be asked.  Why does an appointed committee from the Board of Directors, that has been meeting all year, not operate within the guidelines already laid before the convention? There will probably be 4 or 5 resolutions presented today during the “Miscellaneous Business” session and those messengers will need to call for a “suspension of the rules” in order to get their resolution before the convention.  Thus, you have the Board of Directors operating outside of the set rules and guidelines while the rest of the messengers are looked upon with suspicion for doing the same thing.

The second motion to be handled will be the alcohol motion.  Read more