CRIME AND PUNISHMENT

Approved by the 1975 General Association.

We believe that it is the duty of government agencies to establish and maintain police forces, courts and facilities for the punishment and rehabilitation of offenders.  Citizens should be protected from those who would encroach upon personal and property rights.  We respect the basic freedom and rights of persons convicted of crimes, but demand their just penalty as directed by impartial jury and law.  We support governmental objectives to prevent or reduce crime, and also oppose social conditions that induce crime.  We assert that it is the Christian social concern and objective to develop effective means of rehabilitation for those involved in crime.  We believe that a part of the mission of the church is to share the message of Christ with those people so they may be restored, rescued, reinstated and rehabilitated as persons profitable to God and society.  Views differ among us and laws differ among states concerning the death penalty.  Christians must use prayer and the word of God to arrive at a decision on the rightness or wrongness of the death penalty.

The General Association of General Baptists

100 Stinson Drive

Poplar Bluff, MO 63901