WHEREAS, The peoples of the world include persons of various ethnic, linguistic, national, and religious backgrounds, and
WHEREAS, Differences in appearance, customs, life-styles, and group loyalties, are an occasion for prejudice, and
WHEREAS, Prejudice often issues in hostile attitudes, cruel expressions, unjustified discrimination, and overt persecution, and
WHEREAS, There is something of the image of God in every man which should elicit from Christians understanding and love,
Therefore, be it RESOLVED, By the Southern Baptist Convention meeting in annual sessions in St. Louis, Mo., on this third day of June 1971, that
First, we be reminded ” . . . that God is no respecter of persons: But in every nation he that feareth him, and worketh righteousness, is accepted with him” (Acts 10:34-35), and
Second, we call on Southern Baptists to refute in every honorable way deeds, statements, inferences, implications, and innuendoes which tend to engender suspicion and hatred between men for whom Christ died, and
Third, we call on Southern Baptists to explore appropriate ways by which the recognition of honest differences between Christians and non-Christians may be admitted so the claims of Christ can be promulgated without violating the dignity, respect, and Christian love to which others are entitled, and
Fourth, we point out particularly one area of concern known as anti-Semitism, which some think erroneously is inherent in Christianity, and which we disavow.