By Steve McConkey

Jimmy Carter recently had an editorial in the Guardian newspaper in Great Britain. In this editorial, he said he severed his ties to the Southern Baptist Church over women's rights. Then he challenged all religious leaders to promote the freedom of women. His message promoted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights set down by the United Nations.

Despite the rhetoric, our main concern is that Carter has not been very clear on the main rights of women in our current time-- the right to protect a baby's life and the rights of women in Islamic countries.

Abortion is the ultimate human rights violation of our time. In a National Review article, while campaigning in 1976, he told Catholic audiences that he was against abortion and then told feminist groups that he supported abortion rights, the same position he had as a governor. Today, his position is "I'm personally opposed to abortion, but woman have the right."

With 42 million babies aborted per year, Carter should stand for life clearly. Instead, he compromises the core rights of women, as 21 of the 42 million aborted babies per year are women.

Also, he has befriended Islamic terrorist groups like the Hamas. They have horrific policies in the treatment of women. Recently on the Gaza Strip, there have been "honor killings," in which a woman may be murdered by male relatives for sex outside of marriage. Carter mentioned in his editorial that he is challenging Islamic countries to change their policies, however, why does he become friends with Hamas leaders who clearly treat other human beings with such contempt?

Underground believes that Jimmy Carter should spend more time tackling the abortion problem and the violations of human rights by terrorist groups. Yes, there are some violations of women by Christians, but the majority of true Christians treat others with respect. The vast majority of Southern Baptists are decent people.