Tom Elliff is the brother in law to Bailey Smith.  Smith was the SBC president who was made famous by his public declaration that God does not hear the prayer of a Jew.  Elliff has close ties with the Fundamentalist takeover of the convention.  He helped lead the "Conservative theological resurgence."  Tom chaired the committee that pushed for the adoption of the statement on family in the convention's statement of faith.  Part of the statement was in regards to women. This helped lead to the firing of a woman professor in Fort Worth who happened to teach church history to men.  The latest Southern Baptist Texan newspaper carried an explanation about the convention's view on women in the church.  Women were not supposed to teach a Bible class where men were in the audience.  If they ever got before the group they must first be under the submission of  her husband and the male pastor, a practice which would disrupt most Baptist churches by application.  An adult male in Biblical times could mean a 14 year old.
     In Elliff's book, America on the Edge, he gives insight into his view on topics like government and church and state.  The book is laced with footnotes to Gary Bauer, David Barton, and other Religious Right Connections.  On page 21 of the work he underlines the fact that the media is seeking mind-control of the populace.  He states they are at war against American values.  Tom compares America to Israel and claims our nation is based on acknowledgement of God and man's responsibility before God.  Pg. 58  The former President of the SBC gives his legal advice on the First Amendment.  He wrote that the misguided idea of separation of church and state comes from a bad court decision in 1947 known as Everson versus The Board of Education.  Elliff states the court based their decision on "an obscure" statement made by Jefferson.  This was the famous wall of separation quote from the much admired Jefferson.
     On page 67 Tom declared "the Supreme Court decision regarding prayer in public schools was perhaps the first outright defiant statement against God that the highest court of our land had ever made."  Tom gleans his opinions regarding such from Barton in the book.   He goes on to quote Barton's famous chronology of how the nation collapsed because of the ruling.  The title of the chapter on the First amendment issues decided by the courts in the nation is, "When America Began to Self-Destruct."
     More and more citizens in the nation are viewing events in the world and seeing the great American dream was religious freedom.  How Elliff's views on religious liberty play out on the field of foreign affairs and foreign missions await to be seen.