Bart Barber, President of the Southern Baptist Convention, has a lot to say about faith, scandal, and the political extremism threatening American democracy.
It's been a turbulent few months for the Southern Baptist Convention. The SBC is the largest evangelical institution in America, representing 47,000 churches and about 14 million members. But in May, it was revealed some of its now former executives had ignored hundreds of allegations of sexual abuse in Southern Baptist churches for decades. When SBC members elected a new president in June, they turned to a small-town, Texas pastor named Bart Barber to lead them.
Ryan Burge: They actually kept a list of over 700 names of people who had been credibly accused. What they said, though, is,"We couldn't give that to the churches because local churches have autonomy in who they hire and fire for pastors. We can't tell them they can't hire this person." Bart Barber: That's not a strong enough word. We didn't just ignore them. Sometimes we impugned their motives. Sometimes we attacked them. The reason why I'm president of the Southern Baptist Convention is because our churches do not agree with that and have taken action to correct those things.
Anderson Cooper: Bart Barber told us that he doesn't believe the election was rigged. He does believe that Joe Biden was duly elected the President of the United States. Bart Barber: Yeah. I, I did not vote for President Trump in 2016. And that lays out my rationale for that pretty well.Bart Barber: The way he treated women that had been documented at that point. Uh, I thought that-- a lot of the rhetoric about immigration was wrongful. A lot of Southern Baptists thought that the rhetoric about immigration was wrongful.Bart Barber: Talkin' about legal immigration.Bart Barber: I embrace it. I'm-- I'm thankful for people who have immigrated.
Bart Barber: I'll just say this-- I wanna be driven by the principles of Jesus Christ. And-- that does not involve mob violence. I-- I don't-- I don't support that. Anyone who does support that-- I'm less likely to vote for them because of their support for that. Bart Barber: There is nothing that would prevent me from voting for Mike Pence in a primary.
Support for the separation of church and state was a foundational principle for Baptists who faced religious persecution in England and Anderson Cooper: There was just the case recently, a ten-year-old girl who's raped, barred from having an abortion in Ohio. Was able to obtain one in-- in Indiana. I mean, this is a, a little girl who, she has a right to life too.Bart Barber: I do.Bart Barber: I think, um, I don't want that to sound like I don't have tremendous compassion for her and her circumstance. I wish we could put an end to ten-year-olds being raped.
Norge Siste Nytt, Norge Overskrifter
Similar News:Du kan også lese nyheter som ligner på denne som vi har samlet inn fra andre nyhetskilder.
Trump's message to Republicans on abortionFormer President Donald Trump says Republicans need to do a better job explaining their position on abortion ahead of the midterm elections.
Les mer »
In Texas, VP Kamala Harris urges voters to push back on ‘immoral’ abortion banVice President Kamala Harris, visiting Austin on Saturday, one month before Election Day, highlights Texas' abortion restrictions with the president of NARAL....
Les mer »
Trump’s legal drama is nowhere in the campaign ad warsAs much as the multiple investigations closing in on former President Trump rivet avid consumers of political news, campaigns aren’t yet using it in competitive races around the country
Les mer »
Pompeo rips Biden's 'reckless' Armageddon remark: 'One of the greatest foreign policy failures'Trump administration Secretary of State Mike Pompeo criticized President Biden's Armageddon comment as 'reckless' and exhibiting a 'failure to deter' Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Les mer »