GREENSBORO (BP)–Without America’s moral leadership, the world could easily descend into chaos and despotism, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said June 14 at the Southern Baptist Convention’s annual meeting in Greensboro, N.C.
By Gregory Tomlin
Baptist Press
GREENSBORO (BP) – Without America’s moral
leadership, the world could easily descend into chaos and despotism,
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said June 14 at the Southern
Baptist Convention’s annual meeting in Greensboro, N.C.
“The weight of international leadership is not borne
easily,” Rice said, “but we as Americans are more than equal to this
challenge, and we must be, for if we imagine a world without American
leadership we are led inescapably to this solemn conclusion: If America
does not serve great purposes, if we do not rally other nations to
fight intolerance and support peace and defend freedom, and to help
give all hope who suffer oppression, then our world will drift toward
tragedy.”
American inaction will result in the strong abusing
the weak and inevitable threats “to the very heart of our nation,” Rice
said.
The secretary’s 30-minute address followed
videotaped comments from President Bush the previous day. Rice thanked
Southern Baptists for their acts of compassion in southern Asia after
the 2005 earthquake and tsunami; in Africa, where Southern Baptists are
drilling wells and caring for AIDS patients; and in recent disaster
relief efforts at home.
“Here in our own country, few have done more than
Southern Baptists to ease the suffering of those who lost everything in
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita,” Rice said. “No man, no woman, no child is
beyond the reach of your compassion. Whenever tragedy brings people to
their knees, Southern Baptists have been there to help them get back on
their feet.”
The daughter and granddaughter of Presbyterian
ministers in Birmingham, Ala., Rice said she appreciated Southern
Baptists’ prayers for her and the president as they pursue peace in the
world. She said she prays daily and personally has found solace and
strength in prayer in times of tragedy and heartbreak.
Rice said she shares the conviction of President Bush and Southern
Baptists who believe the United States can and must be a force for good
in the world.
“The president and I believe that the United States
must remain engaged as a leader in events beyond our borders,” Rice
said. “We believe this because we are guided by the same enduring
principle that gave birth to our own nation – human dignity is not a
government’s gift to its citizens, nor is it mankind’s gift to one
another. It is God’s endowment to all humanity.”
Rice said the country is experiencing a trying time
but most affirm its role in the world, simply because the health and
liberty of the world’s citizens are being threatened. Disease, the rule
of tyrants and infringements on religious liberty are concerns the
United States must address, she said.
“We go into the world not to plunder but to protect;
not to subjugate but to liberate; not as masters, but as servants of
freedom,” she said.
Rice reminded Southern Baptists that as they rejoice
in their freedoms to self-government, to private property, to education
and to think, speak and worship as they wish, there are many people
across the globe who do not have the same freedoms. “America embodies
these freedoms, but America does not own them,” she said.