Support NeoGAF

[nrvalleytime]

So the Sourern Baptist Convention passed a resolution today condemning the Alt-Right movement in all its forms. You might think that a Christian church organization passing something like this should be standard.

And you're right.

But the SBC has historically had a history of racial segregation, going back as far as its inception. It was founded by pro-slavery pastors, and it took over a hundred years for the denomination to denounce the KKK. Today's vote in response to a new, unbridled, and openly racist movement is encouraging. Christianity has to be better, and this is one very small step. Pastors will be left with the responsibility to uncover and expose this group in their churches, so much work is left to be done. But small steps have to happen before change.

Full amendment text here.

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ne...-vote-resolution-against-alt-right-sbc17.html

The most-talked-about resolution at this year's annual meeting of Southern Baptists initially didn't even make it to the floor. But after some late-night scrambling the night before, about 5,000 denominational leaders voted Wednesday to explicitly condemn the alt-right movement.

For years, Southern Baptists have grappled with their denomination's past history of racism, and continue to work towards racial reconciliation. Failing to take the chance to condemn white supremacy could imply to outsiders—and the growing non-white minority within the SBC—that America's largest Protestant group won't speak out against the racists of today.

When attendees realized yesterday that a committee had declined to hear the proposed alt-right resolution—one of several being considered at the meeting—they gathered after-hours to vote to reintroduce the issue this afternoon. Moore said that from the platform, he couldn't see a single voting card opposed to bringing the alt-right resolution to the floor. On Wednesday afternoon, the measure passed.

It states: ”Racism and white supremacy are, sadly, not extinct but present all over the world in various white supremacist movements, sometimes known as ‘white nationalism' or ‘alt-right.' The messengers to the Southern Baptist Convention ... decry every form of racism, including alt-right white supremacy, as antithetical to the gospel of Jesus Christ.... We denounce and repudiate white supremacy and every form of racial and ethnic hatred as of the devil."

 

[Gattsu25]

Good that they signed this. Saw an article this morning that there was some debate regarding if it should be included.

As you indicated the Southern Baptist Association has a sour history on issues like this so it's heartening to see them step away from that past and adopt this resolution.

 

[kirblar]

The Atlantic has a good full article on it here - https://www.theatlantic.com/politic...-convention-alt-right-white-supremacy/530244/

 

[Machina]

Pretty sad that such an issue has to be considered by a committee

 

[TheChewyWaffles]

Pretty sad that such an issue has to be considered by a committee

But this is still progress.

 

[Raven117]

Color me surprised. Good for them.

 

[Ogodei]

The question is if any of this will be absorbed down into the pulpit, though wedging majority-white Christian groups like this away from the right would be so worth it, not the least because Supply Side Jesus is an abomination of Christian doctrine (at least from this non-believer's perspective).

 

[Deepwater]

from the Atlantic article; the chair for the resolution committee on why they denied the original proposal:

”We were very aware that on this issue, feelings rightly run high regarding alt-right ideology," said Barrett Duke, the head of the resolutions committee, in an interview on Wednesday morning. ”We share those feelings ... We just weren't certain we could craft a resolution that would enable us to measure our strong convictions with the grace of love, which we're also commended by Jesus to incorporate." The resolutions committee did not reach out to McKissic ahead of the meeting to work on a revised version of the resolution, Duke said.

fast forward to the convention, the pastor asked the entire body to reconsider the proposal, end-of-day burnout led them to glaze over it. Once they realized what they were beginning to pass up on and the optics of how that would look, they scrambled to actually push through as a resolution

 

[Envelope]

Legitimately surprised to see this from a southern Baptist group

 

[nrvalleytime]

from the Atlantic article; the chair for the resolution committee on why they denied the original proposal:



fast forward to the convention, the pastor asked the entire body to reconsider the proposal, end-of-day burnout led them to glaze over it. Once they realized what they were beginning to pass up on and the optics of how that would look, they scrambled to actually push through as a resolution

Yep. The leader of the resolution committee approached the pastor who initially proposed it and said "I apologize. I sincerely apologize" for not reviewing the motion more carefully to understand it.

Baby steps.

 

[Lord Frieza]

Well that's cool, I guess.

 

[I H8 Memes]

I read an article on this earlier today and it was pretty refreshing. Quite a few people worked around the clock to make it happen. Most simply didn't understand what the alt right meant.

 

[WiiredShawn]

Cool.

Now for the resolution ON THE ANTI-GOSPEL OF DONALD TRUMP

 

[Lord Frieza]

I read an article on this earlier today and it was pretty refreshing. Quite a few people worked around the clock to make it happen. Most simply didn't understand what the alt right meant.

Yeah, "didn't understand." These communities know damn well what the alt-right is and what they represent, they've been active in them for a long time. It really just comes down to optics more than anything. I mean, there are people who want this change sure, but as far as the top, that's what it's about.

 

[SURGEdude]

Good for them. They are still a bunch of wackos though.

 

[mattwhite924]

Pretty sad that such an issue has to be considered by a committee

To be fair, Baptists do everything by committee. Usually there's committees to form those committees.


On a more serious note, I'm glad they did this. I grew up in Southern Baptist churches, but I've grown increasingly disenfranchised over the years over the behavior of others who claim to follow the same teachings I do. I don't know how much it will help things, but seeing the national convention condemn behavior like this is a start.

 

[Fury451]

Pretty sad that such an issue has to be considered by a committee

Not necessarily. This means that there's oversight to prevent racists from preaching that vile shot from the pulpit, and can be officially kicked out if not followed, no debate. It's a big deal

Plus baptists use comittees for everything

 

[Lord Frieza]

I mean, it's a nice step and all, and hopefully it leads to something beyond just optics, but it's one of those things that just way too late to really matter. The Evangelical movement in America has basically been taken over lock, stock, and barrel by white supremacists and dominists, and they are going down with the ship, and they don't really care if they take the whole thing with them. It's going to take at least a generation to really get anything on track, and that's only if there's a real push to do anything, and it doesn't all amount to big fart in the wind.

 

[You Are Viewtiful]

Those young Southerners are definitely not going to Church anymore if their spicy fascist memes are banned.

 

[The Faceless Master]

iirc, didn't they rush to call people back in and pass it after declining it twice and showing how they really felt?

 

[TheCochese]

If it's a choice between the alt-right and abortion, they'll welcome the Pepes with open arms.

 

[benjipwns]

Good for them. They are still a bunch of wackos though.

I'll have you know that Alton Brown used to be a Southern Bapist.

 

[hosannainexcelsis]

Russell Moore, the present of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, is a principled man I highly respect, and has been a good example for me in my own walk with Christ. I'm glad to see him and others in the Baptist domination spearheading a move like this. Racism has no place in the body of Christ.

 

[Not]

Cool. A step forward.