In 1989 and early 1990 he was among a group of church leaders who met personally with then Salvadoran President Alfredo Cristiani, in El Salvador and New York, to encourage protection for church workers during one of El Salvador's most volatile periods. He also was among those who met with then Secretary of State James Baker to urge that U.S. aid to that country be dependent upon appreciable improvements in its human rights policies. Weiss also was part of an interfaith delegation that went to the Middle East on the eve of the Persian Gulf War in 1990. We have first-hand reports from Baptists and other Christians that they are victims of discrimination by state churches or persecution by government agencies. This cannot be tolerated.
Racism is a sin, a theological heresy.
As a response to interpersonal relationships it is antithetical to everything the Gospel teaches us. We who take seriously the Great Commission need to articulate that truth. Our voices need to be heard. If we don't pursue understanding ourselves, and call others to the same standard, we're failing to be effective disciples. Within the American Baptist family Weiss has encouraged an extra measure of understanding among members representing a diversity of theological and other understandings.