Last night, SBC Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission President Russell Moore appeared on CNN to criticize Attorney General Jeff Sessions. Sessions has come under fire from religious leaders for the Trump Administration’s policy of separating the children of illegal immigrants caught crossing the southern border of the United States from their parents. Rather than sending children to jail with their parents or choosing not to enforce the law, the Trump Administration has chosen to incarcerate illegal immigrants and look after their children in care facilities until such a time as their parents’ cases can be adjudicated. In response to criticism from Christian leaders, Sessions cited Romans 13 in order to justify the government’s actions in enforcing the law. Russell Moore took the occasion to appear on CNN with Wolf Blitzer and declare that Sessions “could use more time in Sunday School.”
Evangelical leader Russell Moore to AG Jeff Sessions: “We all have moments when we could use a little more time in Sunday school, and this is one of those moments for the Department of Justice” https://t.co/riIIw0DDOB pic.twitter.com/ksG2mMbvU9
— Anderson Cooper 360° (@AC360) June 16, 2018
According to a 2016 profile published by Newsweek, “Sessions is a Sunday school teacher at the Ashland Place United Methodist Church in Mobile and has been a delegate to the annual Alabama Methodist Conference.” That Russell Moore, whose job it is to lobby the government for Southern Baptists interests, went on national TV and made a flippant, disrespectful, and ignorant remark about the USA’s top attorney is inexcusable. His haughty remark may have played well with Blitzer and the liberal demographic of CNN but it is arguably not representative of Southern Baptists thought. Before giving Moore the floor during the interview segment, Blitzer (who is Jewish) cited several New Testament passages out of context. Rather than taking the time to correct Blitzer for his misapplication of scripture, Moore continued his multi-year blitzkrieg against the Trump Administration. Russell Moore rightly argued that Romans 13 does not support the application unjust law. However, he made no substantial argument that US immigration law is unjust. Instead, he employed emotional rhetoric about “vulnerable children” who are “clinging to their parents.” He did not address the actions of those parents, who bring their children along while committing a crime and engaging in what can often be a very dangerous illicit border crossing. As a theologian who graduated from the same Southern Baptist seminary as Russell Moore, I can tell you that Sessions’ application of Romans 13 was sound. The difference between myself and Moore, is that I don’t make my living as a professional lobbyist for an increasingly progressive denomination. Moore, whose original career aspiration was that of a Democratic Party politician, is the tip of a dangerous Southern Baptist iceberg. I am beginning to suspect that below the water are an increasing number of Neo-Calvinist social justice warriors making their way out of Southern and Southeastern Baptist Theological seminaries. Widespread acceptance of Moore and his acolytes by Southern Baptist leaders may be motivated by financial concerns, given that illegal immigrants can’t tithe from jail. Whatever the case, Southern Baptist laypeople should pay more attention to how their money is being spent. They and their churches essentially paid to have someone who represents them go on CNN, decry a conservative government official, and content for a soft immigration policy.
To learn more about how you can defund Russell Moore and his progressive agenda, see this article.
*Please note that the preceding is my personal opinion. It is not necessarily the opinion of any entity by which I am employed, any church at which I am a member, any church which I attend, or the educational institution at which I am enrolled. Any copyrighted material displayed or referenced is done under the doctrine of fair use.
