In reference to a resolution submitted by Clifton J. Allen (Tennessee) in behalf of a special committee representing Southern Baptist agencies co-operating in the promotion of a crusade for Christian morality, we recommend the approval of the following resolution:
WHEREAS, The present world order is marked by widespread moral confusion and degeneracy that has produced a worldwide moral crisis of gravest perils;
WHEREAS, Vicious evils, such as the combines of crime, gambling, beverage alcohol, lust, communism, and other vested interests of greed and power, have become increasingly aggressive to the point that they constitute a threat to the sanctity of personal character and the stability of government;
WHEREAS, Our nation has suffered disgrace before the peoples of the world through shocking breaches of trust in high places of public leadership and through sordid examples of lust and lawlessness in personal and community life;
WHEREAS, The prevailing tone of personal and social life has been corrupted by a philosophy of self-expression, indulgence, and naturalism;
WHEREAS, There is abundant evidence of moral deterioration in many areas of American life and evidence that millions of professing Christians are guilty of dishonesty, adultery, profanity, and addiction to the curse of beverage alcohol;
WHEREAS, Home life has felt the moral blight of divorce and marital infidelity;
WHEREAS, The witness of our churches has been tragically hindered by the compromises in moral conduct and the careless indifference to moral standards on the part of many church members;
WHEREAS, The Christian religion is a revelation of the moral purposes of God for the life of man and of the redemptive force whereby men can achieve moral excellence;
WHEREAS, Southern Baptists now having an enrolled membership of more than eight million church members, in some twenty-nine thousand churches, have a fearful responsibility for the moral nurture of their constituency, for the moral quality of the social order, and for the iniquitous evils which have spread moral contamination like a plague;
WHEREAS, The judgment of God must surely fall upon us if we fail to understand the moral crises of our times or fail to elicit and combine our utmost resources to help bring about a moral awakening;
Now, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the messengers of the Southern Baptist Convention, assembled in Miami, Florida, on May 20, 1955:
(1) That we declare our deepest concern relative to the moral breakdown and corruption that characterize so much of our common life;
(2) That we acknowledge with penitence and humility our own failure to measure up to the high moral standards of Christian discipleship;
(3) That we affirm our conviction that Christian morality is grounded upon the moral nature of God, the moral responsibility of persons, the moral quality of spiritual salvation, and the moral demands of Christ’s lordship;
(4) That we affirm our conviction that the sanctity of personality imposes upon us the obligation to contend for moral value in human relations and that moral living must express itself in respect for persons in all races and classes and in honest efforts to vouchsafe to every person the opportunity for fullest self-realization;
(5) That we accept the implications of the cross of Christ in relation to the goal of moral living and commit ourselves to a willingness to suffer for righteousness’ sake;
(6) That we express our wholehearted approval of the Crusade for Christian Morality throughout 1956, which has been launched cooperatively by our various Southern Baptist agencies and that we call upon our churches to initiate the most aggressive effort possible to quicken the moral conscience of our people and to foster a moral awakening throughout our nation.