BWA Executive Committee Resolution 1947-05.1

The General Secretary read the resolution which he had presented to the Southern Baptist Convention at St. Louis, as follows:

WHEREAS, there are in camps in Germany, Italy, and Austria, nearly a million displaced persons of various denominations, composed of men, women, and children, 80% of whom are Christians, and 20% Jews, including 150,000 children below the age of 17, and;

WHEREAS, these displaced persons are unable to return to their own homes because of persecution or fear of persecution by reason of their race, religion, or political beliefs, and desire above all else to start a new life in a nation where there is freedom of speech, freedom of worship, and freedom of movement, and have demonstrated their faith that this nation and others allied with it will do them justice, be it

RESOLVED, that the Southern Baptist Convention go on record as favoring the admission by the United States of its fair share of those displaced people, such share amounting to 400,000 over a period of the next four years, and urge the Congress to provide emergency legislation to accomplish this result.

Motion was made and adopted that this same resolution be passed by our Committee.

Keywords

BWA; Displaced Persons; Immigration; Jews; Refugees.

Citations

Original Source Bibliography: Baptist World Alliance: Minutes of Executive Committee Held at Washington, D.C., U.S.A. on Wednesday, May 14th, 1947. London: Baptist World Alliance, 1947.

Original Source Footnote/Endnote: Baptist World Alliance: Minutes of Executive Committee Held at Washington, D.C., U.S.A. on Wednesday, May 14th, 1947 (London: Baptist World Alliance, 1937), pp. 11-12.

Online Document Full Citation: BWA Executive Committee Resolution 1947-05.1 Restrictions on Immigration; https://baptistworld.org/resolutions.

In-text Online Document Citation: (BWA Executive Committee Resolution 1947-05.1).

Note: The Southern Baptist resolution can be found in the Annual of the 1947 Southern Baptist Convention, Committee on Resolutions Report, “Displaced Persons,” p. 51.