Southern Baptists Join Muslims and the NCC to Help the Uninsured

April 27, 2004

Source: The Associated Baptist Press

http://www.abpnews.com/abpnews/story.cfm?newsId=4235

On April 27, 2004 The Associated Baptist Press reported, "Perhaps only a problem as daunting as the 40-plus million Americans lacking health insurance could bring together officials from groups as diverse as the Southern Baptist Convention, the National Council of Churches, and the Islamic Society of North America. Those groups as well as Catholic, Jewish, Pentecostal and other religious organizations have joined forces to draw attention among the nation's faith communities to 'Cover the Uninsured Week 2004,' scheduled for May 10-16. The effort is sponsored by several different religious and charitable groups and is being coordinated by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The effort features a National Interfaith Advisory Board whose members include Richard Land, president of the SBC's Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission; and Eileen Lindner, deputy secretary for the National Council of Churches. 'I think the very ability to put together such an extensive religious and interfaith coalition is a testament to the high moral stakes of this issue,' Lindner, the advisory board's chairperson, said. She added that her group's 'primary role' in involvement with the week is 'to help encourage and enliven our religious communities'in their attention on what she called 'the scandal' of 44 million Americans -- 8.5 million of them children -- who do not have health insurance."