By Will Hall, Message executive editor ALEXANDRIA, La. (LBM) – “Churches have become, particularly the White evangelical churches, have become political instruments,” former President George W. Bush told Russell Moore, president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention. Bush made the accusation during an online conversation, “Immigrants and the American Future,” sponsored by the Bush Center in Dallas and moderated by Moore. “The comments were stunning for a president whose 2004 reelection campaign relied in part on energizing those White evangelicals using the issue of same-sex marriage,” reported the Washington Times. “Eleven states had questions about marriage on their ballots that year, including Ohio, the crucial state in the Electoral College where Mr. Bush’s campaign said it benefited from Christian turnout.” The former president’s comments were a response to Moore’s claim that support for immigration by U.S. Christians has flagged in recent years. But legal immigration to the United States has not dropped below 1 million per year since 2013 (990,553) under the Obama Administration. Moreover, refugee resettlements under former President Trump were on par year-for-year with … [Read more...]

By Will Hall, Baptist Message executive editor NASHVILLE, Tenn. (LBM) – Russell Moore, president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, announced on russellmoore.com, May 18, he had “struggled with the decision” but that he was leaving his position with the Southern Baptist Convention to join Christianity Today as “public theologian and as director of a new venture, the Christianity Today Public Theology Project.” Moore had served since 2013 as head of the Nashville, Tennessee-based ERLC. Prior to that he was “provost and dean of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, where he also taught theology and ethics,” according to his website. Sharing his gratitude for the opportunity to serve Southern Baptists, he made special mention of his work on “national conferences such as MLK50 and Caring Well” as well as “a string of special successful engagements on matters of public policy.” He also praised his team for their “work of evangelism and cultural engagement.” Moore was staunchly pro-life during his eight-year tenure. One of his special emphases was providing ultrasound machines to pregnancy care centers through the ERLC’s ongoing Psalm 139 Project. The sonograms these medical … [Read more...]