Southern Baptists adopt moral leadership statement

PHOENIX—The Southern Baptist Convention, home to prominent evangelical supporters of President Donald Trump, adopted a statement on moral leadership at the group’s annual meeting Tuesday that avoided pointed criticism of current political officeholders.

The denomination also rejected a proposal to condemn the “alt-right,” the political movement that came to the forefront during the presidential election that mixes racism, white nationalism and populism. Barrett Duke, a Southern Baptist executive who shepherded the statements through the meeting, said the resolution contained inflammatory and broad language “potentially implicating” conservatives who do not support the “alt-right” movement.

The event in Phoenix is the first Southern Baptist annual meeting since the U.S. presidential election, which riled the denomination’s leadership over whether Trump, a thrice-married casino and real estate mogul, was morally fit for office.

The Rev. Russell Moore, head of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, which serves as the Southern Baptist’s public policy arm, was among the candidate’s most vocal evangelical critics. In late 2015, Moore called evangelical support for the Republican “illogical” and a repudiation of everything Christian conservatives believe. On Twitter, Trump called Moore a “nasty guy.”

At the same time, several prominent Southern Baptists became evangelical advisers to Trump’s campaign, including the Rev. Robert Jeffress of Dallas. Evangelicals who backed Trump generally saw him as a flawed but potentially effective leader who could deliver a conservative nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court and religious exemptions for opponents of abortion and same-sex marriage.