Russell Moore – the president of the SBC’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission – whose last known political affiliation was the Democratic Party while serving as a staffer for a Democratic legislator, is joining his fellow Democrats in calling for the resignation of Ralph Northam. Northam, a Democrat who won the Virginia governorship from Republican, Ed Gillespie in 2017 (took office on January 13, 2018), is under pressure by his own party to resign his seat after it was discovered that he posed for a ‘racist’ photo while in college, which was posted in his medical school yearbook. The year was 1984. Democrats, as well as some Republicans, have called for Northam’s resignation and include Corey Booker, Kirsten Gillibrand, Elizabeth Warren, Julian Castro, and Kamala Harris.
The 35 year-old photo shows Northam in “blackface,” as pictured below.
Russell Moore has not called on Northam to resign for being a pro-abortion Democrat. Russell Moore has not called on Northam to resign for believing in the redistribution of wealth, which violates the 8th Commandment. Rather, Moore is demanding that Northam resign for a bad decision 35 years ago, which was to put on black make-up for a Halloween photo in poor taste.
Taking to Twitter to signal his virtue, as usual, the ‘woke’ Southern Baptist leader demanded Northam resign using the hashtag #NorthamResign.
Moore has repeatedly argued that women who have murdered their children via abortion should not be punished (even if it were criminalized). However, for Moore, wearing blackface appears to be the unforgiveable sin.
Please note that Russell Moore uses classical Marxist terminology in his tweets, reducing the complicated issue of race relations to one of “power dynamics.”
Moore also equivocates, likening abortion to “racial injustice.” Of course, wearing blackface, while insensitive, is not injustice. It may be distasteful. It may be insensitive. But in order for racial insensitivity to be a matter of “justice,” someone would have to demonstrate that they have suffered actual personal harm from the costume. In 35 years since the photo was taken, that doesn’t seem to be the case.
While all Christians should be happy that a Democrat has to leave office, the reason for Moore’s anger and hashtag slacktivism seems overdone, especially compared to Moore’s relative silence on the topic of abortion, which never seems to vex him as terribly as perceived racial insensitivity.
There is zero doubt in anyone’s mind that Russell Moore would not demand the resignation of any politician who had an abortion 35 years ago. Moore’s outrage is selective.
