Southern Baptists still hanging on to political conservativism and religious fundamentalism

[lees1975]

https://signalpress.blogspot.com/2026/06/right-wing-politics-are-heavy-influence.html

Over the course of the past three years, the messengers from the churches to the Southern Baptist Convention have defeated attempts to place a restrictive ban on women serving as pastors in its affiliated churches, though the denomination's statement of faith, the Baptist Faith and Message 2000, has allowed its credentials committee to sever ties to several churches considered to be in volation of this provision. The difference between this being a committee decision, as opposed to being included in the constitution and bylaws of the denomination is that doing the latter would automatically exclude any church which has, on its staff, a female in the role of a pastor who interprets scripture, teaches, or preaches to the church.

In order to be included in the Constitution, the amendment must pass with a two-thirds majority of the messengers in favor of it at two subsequence convention annual meetings. Mike Law, a Virginia pastor, introduced an amendment three years ago, which passed the first convention, but which failed to get the two thirds approval at the subsequent meeting to be included in the constitution. Juan Sanchez, a Texas pastor, introduced a similar proposal at the following convention meeting, but it, too, failed to get the two thirds majority required to advance. It should be noted that this proposal has been supported by the majority of messengers in attendance, but not enough support has carried it to the two-thirds threshold.

This proposal, made by one of the denomination's self-appointed inner circle, Al Mohler, President of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, got 75% of the messenger's votes at a convention being held in Orlando, attended by a relatively small number of messengers, just over 11,000. It's been convention meetings with higher attendance where the two-thirds threshold has been more difficult to meet.

I think it is vitally important for those who are working hard to oppose the fascist dictatorial tendencies of the sitting President to understand exactly how right wing conservative Evangelicalism works. Undermining this pseudo-Christian cult is a solid strategy in providing the kind of opposition necessary to prevent further damage and to motivate voters to get to the polls and make sure anything and anyone associated with Trump is defeated.

There are those who think it is futile to try and provide a reasonable argument for people to get out of this right wing religious-political mess, but I disagree. In the decade since Trump first ran for the Presidency, the Southern Baptist Convention has lost just over four million members, 25% of what it had in 2016, and has seen a 30% decline in the weekly attendance at its affiliated churches. Something is causing this massive exodus, and it is sure not the weak excuses being offered by its apologists. I tend to think that the sincere Christians among their ranks, those with a deep understanding of scripture, and Christian history, and the ability to discern the cultural and historical contexts of Christian faith and practice are deciding to get as far away from an apoostacy

There is, in fact, a growing group of podcasters and bloggers who are pointing out the grave theological errors of the SBC and their impact, and are showing people how it is possible to be a practicing Christian and an American Patriot and a Democrat at the same time, three representations of religious and political identity that are fully compatible with each other.