In Theory:

Former President Jimmy Carter recently organized a meeting of Baptists in Atlanta in an attempt to bridge the liberal-conservative rift in his church. Many church leaders attended, but the Southern Baptist Convention balked, and the church’s President Frank Page denounced what he viewed was the gathering’s “smoke-screen left-wing liberal agenda.” Do you think the political divide in the faith community can be healed, or will it grow further apart?

As the pastor of an American Baptist Church that severed ties with the region formerly known as the Pacific Southwest, I can attest: We know about politics in the church.

Because politics is about power, this matter will not end until power is disseminated to all. As long as churches buy into an exclusive faith, there will always be those who are in and those who are out.

The radical right insists that only a certain few can enter the kingdom, and therefore anyone different is not tolerated.

This kind of faith often turns a blind eye to poverty, injustice and hatred — forgetting Jesus’ words of caring for others, seeking peace, and acting for justice.

However, a surge of interest from traditionally more conservative churches in social issues like AIDS, poverty and hunger, shows that in many ways we are bridging the divide.

It is heartbreaking that Christians have a hard time loving our neighbor and each other, but our faith always offers us hope.

Rev. Sarah Halverson

Fairview Community Church

Costa Mesa

I think that the divide in the faith community will continue to grow, but I do not believe the divide is political, but rather theological.

The Gospel message is that Jesus Christ gave his life to save sinners. It has nothing to do with a person’s political views.

I cannot speak on the issues within the Southern Baptist Denomination, having never been associated with a denomination, but always a part of an independent local church.

The Bible teaches that the religious division will center on a church’s decision to either stay true to the gospel message of the death burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ, or its apostasy into a political and social message instead of the pure gospel.

Pastor Dwight Tomlinson

Liberty Baptist Church

Newport Beach

A Jewish response to this question is that I see the political divide in this country getting both narrower and wider.