PASTOR RESIGNS FROM SOUTHERN BAPTIST MISSION BOARD OVER LEGAL BRIEF SUPPORTING NEW JERSEY MOSQUE

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 A pastor who had served as a trustee of the Southern Baptist 
Convention’s (SBC) International Mission Board, led by “Radical” author 
and former Alabama pastor David Platt, has resigned out of his concerns 
over the board’s participation in an amicus brief supporting the 
construction of a New Jersey mosque.

Dean Haun, the pastor of First Baptist Church of Morristown,
Tennessee, told the Baptist and Reflector this week that he wasn’t aware
that the Board had joined in the brief until he started receiving email
and phone calls from other pastors who were troubled about the matter.

The Mission Board, the SBC Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission,
and the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty were among 20
groups that had joined the legal filing,
including the American Association of Jewish Lawyers and Jurists, the
International Society for Krishna Consciousness, the Sikh Coalition, the
Interfaith Coalition on Mosques and many others.

The matter centered around the Islamic Society of Basking Ridge,
which had sought to build a mosque in Basking Ridge, New Jersey, but was
denied following community opposition. It sued in March of last year,
and the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty assembled a coalition of faith
groups supportive of the Society’s rights for an amicus brief to be
filed with the court.

“It’s good when we can join hands with … folks we are sometimes on
the other side of,” Brent Walker, executive director of the Baptist
Joint Committee for Religious Liberty, told Baptist News in May.

The International Mission Board further states on its website that it
joined the legal brief because it supports religious liberty for all
people, and believes that if Christians only support freedom for
themselves, it could be detrimental to the furtherance of the gospel.

“IMB supports freedom of religion for all people both in the United
States and around the world. IMB signing the amicus brief regarding the
New Jersey mosque is an agreement that all people deserve religious
liberty, but it does not in any way support the mosque financially or
with human resources,” its FAQ section outlines.

“If one follows global news (e.g., Russia’s restrictive laws signed
earlier this year, on-going battles in places like Egypt, Malaysia, or
India on the right to convert to Christianity, etc.), it’s apparent that
religious liberty is an ongoing global issue. IMB’s call on the
government of these other countries to support the religious freedom of
their citizens will ring hollow if, in the USA, we only support freedom
of religion for Christians,” the Board states.

But Haun says that he disagrees with the reasoning of the Board as to
why it joined the legal brief in support of the Islamic Society’s
efforts.

“If we defend the rights of people to construct places of false
worship, are we not helping them speed down the highway to Hell?” he
told reporters. “I want no part in supporting a false religion even if
it is in the name of religious freedom. Our Baptist institutions’ names
will be on this brief setting legal precedents and supporting the right
of mosques to be built all over our nation for years to come.”

Haun outlined that he does not wish to hurt the Board, but simply
does not wish to be a part of the matter. He said that he believes God’s
command not to be unequally yoked with unbelievers (2 Corinthians
6:14-15) supersedes the desire for religious freedom.

“While I love the IMB and have been grateful to serve for the past
six years, I personally cannot be a party to our action,” Haun
stated. “By all means, let’s stand for religious liberty in America. But
first and foremost let us stand on our firm convictions that our
alliance with God is paramount, that He will accomplish His ends without
the necessity of evil alliances.”