SBC in Phoenix: Committee declines “alt-right” resolution

Messengers adopt statements on moral leaders, gambling

Messengers to the Southern Baptist Convention meeting in Phoenix adopted nine resolutions on Tuesday afternoon, but they chose not to reverse the decision of the resolutions committee in order to bring a controversial statement about “alt-right” to the floor for a vote.

The usual motions on appreciation for the host city, prayer, the Reformation, and such were approved without comment, but a statement that wasn’t brought out of committee produced lengthy discussion between its author and the team that refused to bring it for a vote.

Arlington, Texas pastor Dwight McKissic submitted a resolution asking messengers to condemn the “alt-right” political movement as racist and inciting ethnic cleansing. The committee was not comfortable with some of the language in McKissic’s draft.

Chairman Barrett Duke, former vice president of the SBC’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission who now serves as executive director of the Montana state convention, said the committee spent hours discussing McKissic’s proposed resolution. “There are elements in that resolution that we agreed with, concern about racism and those who foment racism,” Duke said in a news conference following the afternoon business session. But, “it was difficult to look at that resolution and not see that someone might misunderstand.”

One concern was how the resolution was written, Duke said. “We didn’t see that there was a way we could speak to the number of issues in that resolution.” Another was the possibility that the statement would raise questions about the SBC’s biblical position on race. “You can look at the convention and see that we’re reaching out to other races,” Duke said. “About 20 percent of our churches are non-Anglo churches.”

Messengers did not see the text of McKissic’s proposed resolution. A motion to bring it the floor failed to get a required two-thirds majority. Later, a messenger asked that McKissic’s motion be brought to the floor. That would require additional time for a report from the Resolutions Committee, again requiring a two-thirds majority.

A ballot vote to allow more time to deal with the matter on Wednesday is being counted.

Motions about morals

Messengers approved two resolutions about moral issues. One of them called for higher moral standards among leaders. It was based on a resolution adopted during the Clinton administration’s Lewinsky scandal. The 2017 version mentions no leaders by name, but says all “leaders should set a positive example for every American citizen by living and serving according to the highest moral and ethical standards.”

“There was no need to single out president Trump or anyone else,” Duke said. “We believe the resolution stands on its own without bringing any other characters into it.”

Without naming Vice President Mike Pence, the resolution commends “those leaders who choose not to meet privately with members of the opposite sex who are not their spouses in order to ensure that they leave no room for temptation to lead them astray…” Pence was criticized in March when it was reported that he followed Billy Graham’s example never to meet alone with female staff members, or dine with women without his wife present.

And a new statement on gambling seems important at this time, as gambling expands and several states are considering expanding gaming venues. “The resolution on gambling calls it the ‘sin of gambling,” Duke said. “We looked back and we noticed that we had never in the past actually labeled gambling sin in that explicit way.”

The resolution speaks to the culture at large, but it also addresses Southern Baptists, whose opposition to gambling may be wavering as forms and venues for gaming proliferate.

— Eric Reed in Phoenix