[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 38, Number 24 (Monday, June 17, 2002)]
[Pages 987-988]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Satellite Remarks to the Southern Baptist Convention

June 11, 2002

    Thank you all very much. Dr. Merritt, thanks so much. It's good to 
be able to see you via video. I want to thank you for coming to the 
White House right after September the 11th, and thank you for such a 
kind introduction. I appreciate your friendship. And I'm honored to join 
all of you for the 2002 Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting. And 
I'm grateful for the opportunity to address you on this most special 
occasion.
    As you gather this week in St. Louis, you'll choose a new president, 
and you will renew old and honorable commitments. Three centuries ago, 
there were fewer than 500 Baptists in America. Today, there are almost 
16 million members of the Southern Baptist Convention. From your 
denomination have come Presidents like Harry Truman and preachers like 
Roger Williams and Billy Graham, a man who has played such an important 
role in nurturing my faith.
    Baptists have had an extraordinary influence on American history. 
They were among the earliest champions of religious tolerance and 
freedom. Baptists have long upheld the ideal of a free church in a free 
state. And from the beginning, they believed that forcing a person to 
worship against his will violated the principles of both Christianity 
and civility.
    What I found interesting is, the Baptist form of church government 
was a model of democracy even before the founding of America. And 
Baptists understood the deep truth of what Reverend Martin Luther King, 
Jr., said: ``The church is not the master or the servant of the state 
but rather the conscience of the state.''
    Since the earliest days of our Republic, Baptists have been 
guardians of the separation of church and state, preserving the 
integrity of both. Yet, you have never believed in separating religious 
faith from political life. Baptists believe as America's Founders did, 
that religious faith is the moral anchor of American life.
    Throughout history, people of faith have often been our Nation's 
voice of conscience. We all know that men and women can be good without 
faith, and we also know that faith is an incredibly important source of 
goodness in our country.
    True faith is never isolated from the rest of life, and faith 
without works is dead. Our democratic Government is one way to promote 
social justice and the common good, which is why the Southern Baptist 
Convention has become a powerful voice for some of the great issues of 
our time.
    You and I share common commitments. We believe in fostering a 
culture of life and

[[Page 988]]

that marriage and family are sacred institutions that should be 
preserved and strengthened. We believe that a life is a creation, not a 
commodity, and that our children are gifts to be loved and protected, 
not products to be designed and manufactured by human cloning.
    We believe that protecting human dignity and promoting human rights 
should be at the center of America's foreign policy. We believe that our 
Government should view the good people who work in faith-based charities 
as partners, not rivals. We believe that the days of discriminating 
against religious institutions simply because they are religious must 
come to an end.
    Faith teaches us to respect those with whom we disagree. It teaches 
us to tolerate one another, and it teaches us that the proper way to 
treat human beings created in the divine image is with civility. Yet, 
you also know that civility does not require us to abandon deeply held 
beliefs. Civility and firm resolve can live easily with one another.
    Faith teaches us that God has a special concern for the poor and 
that faith proves itself through actions and sacrifice, through acts of 
kindness and caring for those in need. For some people, Jesus' 
admonition to care ``for the least of these'' is an admirable moral 
teaching; for many Baptists, it is a way of life.
    Faith is also a source of comfort during times of grief. We saw this 
in the aftermath of the attacks on September the 11th. Millions of 
Americans turned to prayer for wisdom and resolve, for compassion and 
courage, and for grace and mercy. And in these moments of prayer, we are 
reminded of important truths, that suffering is temporary, that hope is 
eternal, and that the ruthless will not inherit the earth. Our faith 
teaches us that while weeping may endure for a night, joy comes in the 
morning. And while faith will not make our path easy, it will give us 
strength for the journey ahead.
    Many of you have prayed for my family and me. We have felt sustained 
and uplifted by your prayers. Laura and I are incredibly grateful to you 
for those prayers. We consider your prayers to be a most precious gift.
    I want to thank you all for your good works. You're believers, and 
you're patriots, faithful followers of God and good citizens of America. 
And one day, I believe that it will be said of you, ``Well done, good 
and faithful servants.''
    May God bless you all, and may God continue to bless America.

Note: The President spoke at 10:50 a.m. from Room 459 at the Dwight D. 
Eisenhower Executive Office Building to the meeting in St. Louis, MO. In 
his remarks, he referred to James Merritt, president, Southern Baptist 
Convention.