High School Students Explore History of Religious Liberty in America
WASHINGTON – The Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty is pleased to announce the scholarship winners in the 2009 Religious Liberty Essay Contest, sponsored by the Religious Liberty Council of the Baptist Joint Committee.
More than 70 high school juniors and seniors from 13 different states entered this year’s contest. In their essays, students evaluated a statement about the dangers of governmental interference in religion from colonial Baptist John Leland, a key figure in the fight for religious liberty protections in the U.S. Constitution. In 1804, Leland said that the government’s efforts to foster Christianity had “done it more harm than all the persecutions ever did.”
Click here to learn about the winning essays.
This year’s grand prize winner is Amy Blankenship from Erlanger, Ky. Her essay used examples from the life of Constantine and the apostle Paul to show how religion flourishes best without government endorsement. She wrote, “We cannot and should not excise religion from the public square. But, likewise, we cannot and should not use the levers of government to compel belief or obedience to any particular religious code.” Blankenship will receive a $1,000 scholarship and a trip to Washington, D.C., in conjunction with the Baptist Joint Committee board meeting in October. A 2009 graduate of Lloyd Memorial High School, Blankenship will attend the University of Kentucky this fall, majoring in both music performance and pre-law. She is the daughter of Randy and Kathy Blankenship and attends Erlanger Baptist Church.
Mikelle Humble received the second place prize. A 2009 graduate of Parkview Baptist School in Baton Rouge, La., Humble will receive a $500 scholarship. Her essay evaluated Leland’s claim and said, “Just as persecution at the hands of government brings to light all that is noble and true in Christianity, affiliation with government brings nothing but harm to both groups.” She went on to note that “a national Christian religion would be in grave danger of becoming trivial and shallow.”
The third place winner also hails from Parkview Baptist School in Baton Rouge, La. Ben Albright is a 2009 graduate, and he will receive a $100 scholarship. Albright’s essay examined how Leland’s contemporaries supported his claim that government should stay out of religious matters. After examining how the state sponsorship of the Anglican Church damaged the faith of the people and the government itself, he wrote that we must be committed to maintaining the wall of separation between church and state “lest we form a new state religion that similarly destroys the faiths of our people.”
The Religious Liberty Essay Contest was established in 2006 to engage high school juniors and seniors in church-state issues. A panel of judges issued scores based on essay content and writing skills.
Amy Blankenship’s winning essay will be printed in a forthcoming issue of Report from the Capital, the Baptist Joint Committee’s monthly newsletter. For more information on the Baptist Joint Committee, visit www.BJConline.org
