The fallout from a controversial religious liberty case that saw Southern Baptist entities lining up to defend the construction of a mosque in New Jersey has seen a trustee of its International Mission Board resign and the IMB tweak its policies on campaigning.
A judge in the long-running case ruled that Baptists had been treated better than Muslims by planning authorities that had required the Islamic Society of Basking Ridge to provide more than twice as many parking spaces as churches and synagogues.
Both the SBC's Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission and the IMB had supported the mosque on religious liberty grounds. The ERLC and its head Russell Moore had been fiercely criticised from within the denomination for doing so.
According to Baptist Press, Rev Dean Haun, pastor of First Baptist Church in Morristown, Tennessee, resigned from the IMB trustee board in November over the issue.
He told Baptist Press the decision "was one of the most heart-wrenching decisions that I've ever had to make in my ministry because I feel like I've been a faithful Southern Baptist all my life".
He said the involvement of the IMB in the case "at least borders on" an "unholy alliance" with followers of a religion that denies the deity of Christ and the atonement, and that it did not fit the IMB's mission and purpose.
He told Tennessee's Baptist and Reflector: "If we defend the rights of people to construct places of false worship are we not helping them speed down the highway to hell? I want no part in supporting a false religion even if it is in the name of religious freedom."
Haun said he believes Islam does not deserve to be protected like other religions in America because it is not a religion. "In my opinion Islam, which means to 'submit,' is a geo-political movement that seeks to replace our values and even our faith with Sharia law. I doubt if the situation were reversed if the Muslims would stand up for our religious liberty."
In a statement to Baptist Press apparently conceding one of Haun's points, IMB president David Platt said: "As a result of discussions among IMB trustees and staff over recent months, we have revised our processes for our legal department filing any future amicus briefs. IMB leaders are committed in the days ahead to speak only into situations that are directly tied to our mission."
