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Elaine Mallon


NextImg:Southern Baptists to debate church's stance on same-sex marriage

The nation’s largest Protestant denomination is set to debate a sweeping resolution that urges lawmakers to make gay marriage illegal.

Southern Baptists, gathering this week for their annual convention, are considering proposals aimed at overturning Obergefell v. Hodges, the 2015 Supreme Court decision that legalized same-sex marriage nationwide; prohibiting women from serving as pastors; making pornography illegal; and encouraging policies that promote family-building.

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The proposed resolution, titled “On Restoring Moral Clarity through God’s Design for Gender, Marriage, and the Family,” declares that government leaders have a moral obligation to “pass laws that reflect the truth of creation” and to oppose legislation that “denies or undermines what God has made plain through nature and Scripture.”

Messengers raise their ballots in support of a motion put up for vote during a Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting on Tuesday, June 11, 2024, in Indianapolis. (AP Photo/Doug McSchooler)

The measure, drafted by Andrew T. Walker, an ethicist at a Southern Baptist seminary in Kentucky, reflects a growing sentiment among conservative evangelicals to rekindle the long-term legal strategy that ultimately led to the reversal of Roe v. Wade.

“Christians are called to play the long game,” Walker said. “There are burgeoning embryonic efforts being discussed at the legal-strategy level on how to begin to challenge Obergefell. How do we take the lessons from Roe that took 50 years? What is the legal strategy to overturn Obergefell at some point in the future?”

This renewed push comes amid rising conservative momentum in courts and legislatures, including a forthcoming case that the Liberty Counsel hopes the Supreme Court will use to end same-sex marriage rights.

Conservative Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has previously signaled support for overturning Obergefell, having expressed in a concurring opinion in the case that overruled Roe, Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, that the Supreme Court should “reconsider” previous cases that legalized gay marriage and contraception.

The resolution calls not only for the reversal of Obergefell but for the dismantling of any federal or state law “that defies God’s design for marriage and family,” specifically naming the Respect for Marriage Act. Signed by former President Joe Biden in 2022, the law requires federal recognition of same-sex marriages. It also proposes limiting or banning commercial surrogacy, strengthening parental rights in education and healthcare, and ensuring “safety and fairness in female athletic competition.”

The Southern Baptist Convention, which underwent a significant conservative shift 40 years ago, is leaning into broader moral and political concerns this year.

Not all within the denomination support the direction. A contentious debate is unfolding over the future of the SBC’s public policy arm, the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission. While 10 convention members have endorsed continued funding, one is pushing for its defunding, largely because the ERLC opposes seeking criminal charges for women who receive abortions.

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“Without the ERLC, you will send the message to our nation’s lawmakers and the public at large that the SBC has chosen to abandon the public square at a time when the Southern Baptist voice is most needed,” ERLC President Brent Leatherwood said in a statement.

During last year’s convention, members voted to oppose in vitro fertilization.