They will stifle potential questioners as far down the ranks as possible. This program is well underway. The rest of us would do well to follow the lead of people of faith like President Carter. What he and his allies have done over the last decade or so is to create a network that nourishes southern Baptist life. For example, as doctrinaire boards have stripped Southern Baptist seminaries of academic integrity, alternate programs of ministerial education have emerged in independent institutions.
Independent services provide an alternate channel for placement of ministers in congregations.
Universities have established boards independent of Southern Baptist Convention control. In other words, committed Southern Baptists have created the communal agencies necessary to live out their faith beyond the walls created by fear. Scholars and every individual committed to an open church have to begin to take steps to assure one another the opportunity to communicate freely, to guarantee access to publication and employment, and to see to it that our resources are used for the programs deserving of our support. How we might do this will take both imagination and determination. Important as the individual is in this effort, individuals must collaborate to be effective.