ATLANTA (AP) - Former President Carter, leading a meeting of thousands of Baptists across racial and theological lines, said Friday he hopes the gathering will help convince conservative Southern Baptists and other Christians to end divisions over the Bible and politics.

Carter said, ``We can disagree on the death penalty, we can disagree on homosexuality, we can disagree on the status of women and still bind our hearts together in a common, united, generous, friendly, loving commitment.''

Organizers said more than 14,000 people attended the ``Celebration of a New Baptist Covenant.'' The three-day gathering was the first to unite major black and white Baptist groups and aimed to show that their tradition goes beyond conservative Southern Baptist beliefs.

Many of the participants belong to churches that distanced themselves or split from the Southern Baptist Convention after conservatives consolidated control in the 1970s and 1980s. With more than 16 million members, the SBC is not only the largest Baptist denomination in the U.S., but is also the biggest Protestant group in the country.

An emotional Carter called the meeting ``the most momentous event in my religious life.'' The former president, a longtime Bible teacher at his Plains, church, severed ties with the Southern Baptist Convention in 2000 over what he called its ``increasingly rigid'' beliefs.

But he has since tried to reconcile with its leaders, none of
whom attended the meeting.

Detractors said the gathering was merely a showcase for the
Democratic Party. Along with Carter, former Vice President Al Gore
gave a presentation on global warming and former President Clinton
was the final speaker.