"We don't call it 'politically correct' to speak out against racist bigotry. We call it being faithful to the gospel."
60 religious leaders, myself included, made a statement of faithful obedience three weeks ago.
We named it Called to Resist Bigotry, and aimed it at the messages sold by Trump — messages that deliberately promote and fuel bias, fear, and even hate against Mexicans, immigrants in general, Muslims, Syrians in particular, women, African Americans (including our first black president), a disabled reporter, and all political opponents, whom Trump consistently attacks in the most demeaning, degrading, and disgusting language.
60 religious leaders, myself included, made a statement of faithful obedience three weeks ago.
We named it Called to Resist Bigotry, and aimed it at the messages sold by Trump — messages that deliberately promote and fuel bias, fear, and even hate against Mexicans, immigrants in general, Muslims, Syrians in particular, women, African Americans (including our first black president), a disabled reporter, and all political opponents, whom Trump consistently attacks in the most demeaning, degrading, and disgusting language.
Donald Trump offends our values.
One of the most recognized religious leaders for “values voters” is Russell Moore, president of the Ethics and Religions Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention. Moore is a conservative white evangelical, who normally votes Republican.
But last week, Moore wrote a column for The New York Times called “A White Church No More.” In it, he wrote,
"The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s ‘I Have a Dream’ speech did not envision that more than 50 years later ‘Go back to Africa’ would be screamed at black protesters or that a major presidential candidate would tweet racially charged comments.
Some American Christians may be tempted to ignore these issues, hoping they are just a wave of ‘political incorrectness’ that will ebb in due time. That sort of moral silence shortchanges both our gospel and our future.”
Faith-based organizations don’t endorse candidates. So you won’t be surprised that I am not going to endorse Donald Trump — neither will I endorse his Democratic opponents, Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders. But we faith leaders will comment on the morality of this presidential campaign, the issues raised or not raised, and the morality of candidates based on our moral values.
Our politics are not God’s politics. And as Moore concluded in his column, “The man on the throne in heaven is a dark-skinned, Aramaic-speaking ‘foreigner’ who is probably not all that impressed by chants of ‘Make America great again.’”
