Dallas — Southern Baptist delegates at their national meeting overwhelmingly endorsed a ban on same-sex marriage – including a call for a reversal of the U.S. Supreme Court’s 10-year-old precedent legalizing it nationwide.
At the time of that ruling, 36 states had already legalized same-sex marriage, and support remains strong in many areas.
However, if the convention got its wish, not only would Obergefell be overturned, but every law and court ruling that affirmed same-sex marriage would, as well.
Andrew Walker, chair of the Committee on Resolutions, said at a news conference that the marriage resolution shows that Southern Baptists aren’t going along with the widespread social acceptance of same-sex marriage.
But Walker, a professor at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, acknowledged that a realistic rollback strategy would require incremental steps, such as seeking to overturn Obergefell.
Dallas — At their national conference, Southern Baptist delegates unanimously supported a ban on same-sex marriage, calling for a reversal of the U.S. A. A ten-year-old Supreme Court precedent made it legal across the country.
They also urged lawmakers to support childbearing-promoting policies and restrict sports betting.
At the annual meeting of the largest Protestant denomination in the country, which drew over 10,000 church representatives, the votes were taken Tuesday.
Although the broad resolution calls for the “overturning of laws and court rulings, including Obergefell v. Hodges that go against the way God intended marriage and the family to function. Additionally, “laws that affirm marriage between one man and one woman” are called for in the resolution. “,”.
It wouldn’t be sufficient to reverse the Supreme Court’s 2015 Obergefell ruling and impose a nationwide ban. Support for same-sex marriage is still strong in many places, where 36 states had already legalized it at the time of that decision.
However, if the convention succeeded, all laws and court decisions that supported same-sex marriage would be overturned in addition to Obergefell.
The marriage resolution was not up for discussion. Given that the staunchly conservative denomination has long defined marriage as a union of one man and one woman, that in and of itself is not surprising. But in calling for the overturning of a Supreme Court decision that was made ten years ago, as well as any other legal foundations for same-sex marriage in the law and court precedent, it takes a particularly strong stance.
In a much broader resolution on marriage and the family, the marriage issue was included. This resolution calls for civil law to be founded on what the convention claims is the biblically-stated divinely created order.
According to the resolution, lawmakers must “pass laws that reflect the truth of creation and natural law – about marriage, sex, human life, and family” and oppose legislation that goes against “what God has made plain through nature and Scripture.”. “,”.
The resolution also opposes “any law or policy that compels people to speak falsehoods about sex and gender” and demands that “the biological reality of male and female” be recognized. “.
Christians are exhorted to “embrace marriage and childbearing” and to view children “as blessings rather than burdens.”. “,”.
However, it also frames that matter as a matter of public policy. The statement urges “new moral clarity in public discourse regarding the crisis of declining fertility and for policies that support the bearing and raising of children within intact, married families.”. “.
The statement bemoans the fact that contemporary society is “pursuing willful childlessness which contributes to a declining fertility rate,” a topic that is increasingly being discussed on the political and religious right.
Delegates comment on other contentious issues.
Such content is destructive, addictive, and exploitative, according to a resolution on pornography that was passed without debate and states that governments have the authority to outlaw it.
The resolution on sports betting is based on Southern Baptists’ long-standing anti-gambling stance. Sports betting was described as “predatory and harmful.”. A pastor advocated for a change that would differentiate between recreational, low-stakes gambling and predatory, compulsive gambling. However, his amendment was not successful.
“The marriage resolution demonstrates that Southern Baptists aren’t supporting the broad social acceptance of same-sex marriage,” said Andrew Walker, chair of the Committee on Resolutions, during a press conference.
However, Walker, a professor at Louisville, Kentucky’s Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, admitted that smaller steps, like trying to overturn Obergefell, would be necessary for a practical rollback plan.
He stated, “I have a clear understanding of the challenges and obstacles in this resolution.”.
With praise sessions and hopeful reports of rising baptism rates, the two-day annual meeting got underway Tuesday morning. However, the passing of one of the most well-known informants in the sexual abuse scandal involving Southern Baptists casts a shadow over the event.
Jennifer Lyell, a former publishing executive for a denomination who came forward in 2019 with claims that a seminary professor had sexually assaulted her as a student, passed away on Saturday at the age of 47. Rachael Denhollander, a friend and fellow advocate, wrote on X on Sunday that she “suffered catastrophic strokes.”.
According to friends, Lyell suffered greatly as a result of the criticism she received after making her report public.
Due to the convention’s lack of progress, a number of reform activists and abuse survivors who were previously heavily represented at recent SBC meetings are not attending this year’s event.
In an effort to bridge that gap, two individuals stood watch outside the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center in Dallas while attendees passed by. The two displayed signs featuring images of Lyell and Gareld Duane Rollins, who passed away earlier this spring and was one of the people who accused longtime SBC power broker Paul Pressler of sexual abuse.
“It’s not a healthy thing for them (survivors) to be here,” said Johnna Harris, who hosts a podcast about abuse in evangelical ministries. “I thought it was critical that someone show up. I want people to know that there are caring people out there. “.”.
In 2022, the SBC Executive Committee apologized for “not listening to, protecting, and caring for Jennifer Lyell when she came forward to tell her story.”. It also admitted that the official news agency of the denomination had misreported the incident as “sexual abuse by a trusted minister in a position of power at a Southern Baptist seminary.”. “.”.
SBC officials expressed their sorrow over Lyell’s passing in statements this week, but her fellow advocates have criticized what they claim is a lack of reform.
At the 2022 SBC meeting, there was a resounding vote in favor of developing a system for tracking pastors and other church employees who are allegedly involved in sexual abuse. That happened soon after a widely publicized report by an outside consultant revealed that Southern Baptist leaders had been ignoring abuse cases and putting victims through years of denial.
However, earlier this year, Jeff Iorg, the president of the denomination’s Executive Committee, stated that the committee’s goal is not to create a database but rather to direct churches to pre-existing databases of sexual offenders and concentrate on educating them about preventing abuse. The committee is responsible for managing the daily operations of the denomination.
Those methods are deemed insufficient by reform advocates.
Christa Brown, an abuse survivor and seasoned advocate, wrote on Baptist News Global, which is not affiliated with SBC, that it is the most recent example of “officials trailing out hollow words, impotent task forces, and phony dog-and-pony shows of reform.”.
In a related action, the Executive Committee will also ask for convention funding of $3 million to cover continuing legal costs associated with abuse cases.
10,541 church representatives, or messengers, were present as of late Tuesday afternoon. That is less than 25% of the number that attended the SBC’s annual meeting 40 years ago this month in a Dallas clash that signaled the height of the power struggles for control of the convention, which were ultimately won by Pressler and his more conservative-fundamentalist side.
The messengers will also discuss whether to abolish the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, the body that oversees public policy and is adamantly conservative but, in the opinion of some, not sufficiently so, and whether to impose a constitutional ban on churches with female pastors.
President of the ERLC Brent Leatherwood stated on Tuesday that he was confident in the support of the messengers but would address the “turbulence” in his scheduled remarks on Wednesday.
