SBC affirms resolution on gender, marriage and family

DALLAS—Messengers to the Southern Baptist Convention in Dallas voted to affirm all eight resolutions brought to the floor—with some debate—but with only one amendment, deemed friendly.

“Restoring Moral Clarity through God’s Design for Gender, Marriage and the Family” drew the greatest notice ahead of the annual meeting, raising concerns beyond the SBC.

Several outlets reported the results of the vote yesterday, homing in on its call to end gay marriage by overturning Obergefell v. Hodges.

Yet SBC messengers saw little cause for discussion on the resolution, with only two messengers suggesting changes.

The wide-ranging resolution touched on issues ranging from same-sex marriage and “transgender ideology” to commercial surrogacy and defunding Planned Parenthood.

It states: “God created the world with order, meaning, and purpose, revealing through both Scripture and creation enduring truths about human life, marriage, sexuality, and the family.”

It also says: “Our culture is increasingly rejecting and distorting these truths by redefining marriage, pursuing willful childlessness which contributes to a declining fertility rate, ignoring and suppressing the biological differences between male and female, encouraging gender confusion, undermining parental rights, and denying the value and dignity of children.”

Citing concerns about not just girls but his own sons also potentially having to contend with transgender teammates in their locker rooms, Scot Myers of Texas offered an amendment to the resolution.

The original language said, “the normalization of transgender ideology—especially the participation of biological males in girls’ sports and the medical transition of minors—represents a rebellion against God’s design” and inflicts unjust harm on children.

Myers suggested wording be added to indicate biological girls in boys’ sports also is harmful.

This amendment was deemed friendly, and the resolution passed with the amended wording.

Messengers raised no additional concerns about any other pieces of the lengthy resolution.

Resolution on chemical abortion

A resolution “On Standing Against the Moral Evils and Medical Dangers of Chemical Abortion Pills” cites Scripture that teaches all human life is sacred and notes the SBC consistently has affirmed the sanctity of “preborn life” and opposed all forms of abortion.

Dean Scoular of Missouri sought to expand the language of the resolution to add a “resolved” to be more specific about which human lives should be protected.

He suggested adding wording that would call “for laws, including the United States Constitution” and state constitutions to protect all human life as sacred, including the elderly and humans with special needs.

The committee affirmed the spirit and letter of his amendment, but felt the resolution as written encompassed the concerns, and the amendment failed.

Drew Kingma of Texas sought to amend the resolution to make a stiffer statement on the moral evil of abortion by adding a call for individuals who’ve funded, engineered or willfully participated in any type of abortion to “confess and repent of the sin of murder,” and to put their faith in Jesus who will forgive all sinners, including murderers.

The committee acknowledged the spirit of his amendment was distinct from the wording of the resolution, yet they contended the content of the amendment already was reflected in the resolution as written and deemed the amendment unfriendly. The resolution passed without amendment.

A resolution “On the Harmful and Predatory Nature of Sports Betting,” garnered some debate. Matt McCraw of Florida offered an amendment to soften the language of the resolution to change the designation of gambling as “sin.”

David Crowther of Kansas, who presented the resolution, responded with the committees’ position. The amendment was deemed in conflict with the spirit of the resolution and therefore unfriendly, Crowther said.

Crowther advised McCraw and the messengers that Southern Baptists throughout their history “have been outspoken about the ‘sin’ of gambling,” and Southern Baptists never have made allowances for gambling for recreational purposes.

Despite the primer, a number of messengers agreed with McCaw that the sinfulness of gambling was debatable by voting in favor of amending the wording of the resolution. However, the amendment failed to gain enough support, and the resolution passed as written.

A resolution on banning pornography passed without discussion or dissent.

Resolution on religious freedom

A resolution about international religious freedom had an amendment proposed—to remove the word “undue” from the first RESOLVED and then add the words “or coercion.” The line in question would read: “… to practice their religious convictions without undue interference (or coercion) from civil power.”

The committee explained their position that removing the word “undue” might imply there never would be a situation where civil interference might be appropriate. Baptists never have held the position that religious freedom is an absolute right in all circumstances, the committee said.

The committee on resolutions stood by the wording they noted had been drawn from the Baptist Faith & Message 2000, deemed the amendment unfriendly, and it failed—but not before Casey Stark of Louisiana spoke in favor of the amendment.

“God has either given us” religious freedom and the ability to seek and know him, “or he has not,” he asserted. Baptists long have insisted individuals have a religious right to seek God without government influence or coercion, he said.

“On top of that,” Stark noted, “there’s a rising nationalism that would seek to have a Christian prince dictate Christian thought.

“We rely on the power of Jesus Christ alone to transform and save lives. We are not interested in government coercion or power of any kind,” Stark asserted.

After a little more discussion, the question was called and the resolution passed as originally proposed.

Resolutions on appreciating the city of Dallas, on commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Cooperative Program, and a resolution honoring the centennial anniversary of the Baptist Faith and Message and the 25th anniversary of its 2000 version, were presented individually and passed with little to no discussion.

Andrew Walker of Kentucky served as chair of the committee on resolutions. The committee brought eight resolutions to the floor in Dallas. Thirty-four additional resolutions were proposed to the committee but not brought out for consideration.

Authors of some resolutions not selected by the committee to be brought to the floor sought suspensions of the rules to bring out the declined resolutions. None of these bids was successful.

The full text of resolutions presented at the SBC annual meeting in Dallas can be found here.