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On the memorial eve of this century's deadliest church shooting, Republican presidential candidate George W. Bush promised to aggressively fight religious bigotry and said the Clinton Administration should be held accountable for labeling Southern Baptists as "perpetrators of religious hatred."

"People who belittle people of faith are exhibiting bigotry," Bush told Baptist Press, the national news service of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC). "That bigotry comes in the form of anti-Semitism, anti-Catholicism—in some movies recently produced—and anti-Southern Baptist. It's religious bigotry pure and simple. Our nation is founded on religious freedom—the principle that people ought to be able to practice religious freedom and speak their mind, freely."

Bush made his remarks during an interview with Will Hall, the SBC's vice president for convention news, following a rally in Louisville, Kentucky. Bush said he was particularly disturbed by comments the White House made about Southern Baptists just three months after seven Southern Baptists were gunned down during a worship service at Wedgwood Baptist Church in Fort Worth, Texas.

During a December 1999 press conference, White House Press Secretary Joe Lockhart accused Southern Baptists of being "perpetrators of religious hatred." The response came following a question about Southern Baptist evangelism efforts towards Jews.

"Somebody should take the president to task," Bush said. "That spokesman needs to be held accountable for what he said. Religious freedom means that: religious freedom."

A study of speeches delivered by President Clinton in the months following the shooting revealed only one reference to Wedgwood Baptist Church, compared to more than 100 of Matthew Shepherd, a homosexual who was the victim of a hate crime, leading some Christian observers to wonder why the White House would downplay the significance of the Fort Worth shooting.

Several weeks after he made the statement, Lockhart backpeddled, apologizing if anyone misunderstood his remarks. Still, Bush said, in a Republican administration there will be no place for religious bigotry.

Bush said Christians will be welcome in his administration and when it comes to his personal faith, "what you see is what you get."

"I'm mindful of telling people that when asked about my religion that I'm mindful of walking that walk," Bush said. "That's the best thing I can do as president. And when you walk the walk, people of faith will walk right with you."

Bush said the September 15, 1999, shooting at Wedgwood Baptist Church was a time of great sorrow and great faith for not only himself, but the nation.

It was on that night when Larry Gene Ashbrook walked into the sanctuary of Wedgwood Baptist Church and opened fire on a crowd of teenage Christians. While yelling obscenities and cursing the believers, Ashbrook exploded a pipe bomb. He fired more than 60 rounds of ammunition before killing himself.

When the shooting ended, seven Christians were shot and seven others were killed, including Justin Ray, a high school student who videotaped the carnage.

Despite video evidence of Ashsbrook's hateful comments towards Christians, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Justice Department told Baptist Press the killings did not meet the standards of a hate crime.

Bush, who was campaigning out of state, flew back to Texas and visited the pastor of Wedgwood Baptist Church in his home.

"I walked into the room of the preacher's house the night of the shooting. He was a strong man and I mean there was unbelievable anguish and weeping," Bush said. "And yet, behind the anguish and weeping there was this powerful faith."

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September (Web-only) 2000, Vol. 44