It is not an official Southern Baptist Convention event, but while delegates from the largest Protestant denomination in the country meet next week in Indianapolis, some of the most conservative and Trumpy members of the convention will gather in what can only be described as a MAGA sideshow. (Or is it actually the main event?) In fact, Trump himself will be there (virtually) as well. The Southern Baptist Convention is listing this sideshow on its conference website.
Speakers at the Danbury Institute‘s “Life and Liberty” forum, in addition to Trump, include: Richard Land (The Christian Post), Albert Mohler (Southern Baptist Theological Seminary), Sam Brownback (former Kansas governor and U.S. senator), Tom Ascol (leader of the conservative Founders Ministries), and Ryan Helfenbein (Standing for Freedom Center at Liberty University).
The Danbury Institute has a mission:
The Danbury Institute is an association of churches, Christians, and organizations aligned to affirm and preserve God-given rights to life and liberty by influencing culture and public policy, upholding the free exercise of religion, inspiring the vigorous involvement of an informed citizenry, and promoting Judeo-Christian values as the proper foundation for a free and prosperous republic.
Broadly, we serve as a conservative voice to leaders and policy makers and an advocate for conservative Americans. Some of what we do includes meeting with elected representatives to let them know where Christians stand on various issues and to urge them toward good governance. In the reverse, we also gather important information from Washington and her leaders and take that back to Americans in towns and cities across the nation. That may entail alerting you to important votes about which you should contact your legislators or sending reminders to pray for specific court cases that will affect your liberties and the future of the nation. There is a wide array of ways to accomplish both of these tasks, both private and public, so the work of the Danbury Institute is robust and naturally multi-faceted.
When we speak with legislators, they communicate to us how much they rely upon hearing from constituents and advocacy groups to know which issues should receive more attention and which bills should garner their support. The mentality, they say, is often that “everyone else” will contact Washington. In reality, conservative Christian views are underrepresented in our nation’s capital. Similarly, accurate information can be difficult to find, especially with trust of mainstream media being at an all-time low. We intend to bridge that gap in both directions through communication and engagement. If everyone thinks “someone else will do it,” “it” never gets done. The Danbury Institute serves as a beacon and a nucleus for those who will stand clearly and boldly for the values of life and liberty.Â
Read more here.
Brian Kaylor of Word & Way is covering this:
Republican primary voters made their choice — overwhelmingly — about whether they wanted to continue supporting a twice-impeached president indicted (and now convicted) amid various scandals involving adultery, business fraud, national security violations, and trying to overturn a free and fair election he lost. Some lifelong traditional Republicans stepped up, hoping to help the party shake off the drama of Donald Trump. Like Trump’s former Vice President Mike Pence, who saw a MAGA mob want to hang him for disagreeing with Trump on just one day of his vice presidency. Yet, like the other presidential hopefuls, Pence proved no match for the cult of personality.
That divide between traditional conservativism and Trumpism will again be on display next week at the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention in Indianapolis, Indiana. Trump will speak virtually on Monday (June 10) during a side event promoted on the SBC’s website. Pence will appear the next day in person at another official side event. With these two appearances, we see the political fight for control of the nation’s largest Protestant denomination just months before a critical presidential election.
To appreciate the split between the Trump and Pence wings of the SBC, it’s worth revisiting the controversy that erupted when Pence spoke at the SBC annual meeting in 2018. Back then, the two politicians were still unified on a Trump-Pence ticket, so to invite Pence was to back Trump.
Read the rest here.
“In reality, conservative Christian views are underrepresented in our nation’s capital.”
Can that statement even be made with a straight face at this present time? They seem to very regularly be able to push through legislation which a majority of Americans disagrees with, and block legislation that a majority does agree with. They have a complete vise-grip lock on one of the two political parties. That certainly doesn’t sound like “underrepresentation” to me.
Come on Dave! Don’t you know they are are the “persecuted minority?” 🙂