Southern Baptist Convention Rejects Resolution Condemning Alt-Right, White Supremacy

Editor’s note: On Tuesday night, the SBC voted to reconsider the ‘Anti-Gospel Alt-Right White Supremacy’ resolution. Read about that development here.

Among the submitted resolutions rejected at the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention in Phoenix, Arizona, this year was one calling for the condemnation of the alt-right movement and white supremacy.

The resolution was submitted by the Rev. William Dwight McKissic, Sr., a prominent pastor in the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC).

On Tuesday, the official start of the SBC’s annual meeting, it was revealed in an image shared on social media by pastor Alan Cross that McKissic’s resolution had been classified as “declined.”

“SBC Resolutions Committee declines resolution to denounce rising alt-right/white supremacy movement. Would take 2/3 vote to bring to floor this afternoon #SBC17,” Cross wrote on Twitter, also including the hashtag being used for the 2017 annual meeting.

The resolution was listed as “On the Condemnation of the ‘Alt-Right’ Movement and the Roots of White Supremacy” with the designation of “Declined” under McKissic’s name and locale.

Faithfully Magazine submitted a request for confirmation on the status of Mckissic’s resolution and reasons for its rejection to the SBC’s Convention Communications and Relations arm on Tuesday. As of publication, Faithfully Magazine was still waiting for a response.

McKissic made his proposed resolution condemning the alt-right and white supremacy public in May, posting draft versions of it on his blog and Facebook page.

“If this resolution is passed, understood, believed and practiced—it could help to lead the SBC in experiencing what Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. called ‘the beloved community’—which is a greater sense of unity and bridging the gaps between the fault lines of all persons from all socioeconomic backgrounds. And from a biblical perspective, where there is evidence of unity, there is an increase in a greater spiritual harvest; and that’s our ultimate goal,” McKissic explained.

McKissic expressed the belief that if his proposed resolution was adopted and passed, it could have helped further the SBC’s agenda of “reconciliation, healing, unity, cross-cultural respect, appreciation for freedom of expression, and diversity of viewpoints.”

The SCB describes a resolution as “an expression of opinion or concern, as compared to a motion, which calls for action.”

“A resolution is not used to direct an entity of the Southern Baptist Convention to specific action other than to communicate the opinion or concern expressed,” its annual meeting website states.

McKissic, pastor of Cornerstone Baptist Church in Arlington, Texas, is a former Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary trustee. He ran into conflict with members of the SBC in 2006 when he spoke out against its ban on the use of a “private prayer language”—otherwise known as speaking in tongues, or glossolalia.

As Faithfully Magazine previously reported, the alt-right movement is a hodgepodge of predominantly angry, White millennial males disaffected with the traditional Republican party and paranoid about “White genocide.” The movement received extensive media attention after it was concluded that its members had a hand in securing President Donald Trump’s election. Individuals claiming affiliation with the movement have been speaking out publicly and, some cases, carrying out violent crimes against perceived religious minorities and people of color.

The SBC, founded in 1845 specifically in support of the enslavement of people of African descent, has issued various resolutions over the years repenting of its racist stance against Blacks and other minorities. Among those resolutions were one on racial reconciliation in 1995 and a 2016 resolution titled “On Sensitivity And Unity Regarding The Confederate Battle Flag,” addressing the display of Confederate flags in churches.

The mostly-White denomination is the country’s largest Protestant Christian group. It touts more than 15 million members.

Read Faithfully Magazine’s original report: Southern Baptist Pastor Proposes Resolution Condemning Alt-Right, White Supremacy

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