The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) & homosexuality

2012: A resolution that same-sex marriage
cannot be considered a civil rights issue.

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Resolution concerning same-sex marriage:

Messengers (delegates) attending the year 2012 annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) overwhelmingly passed a resolution expressing the belief that marriage by loving, committed same-sex couples is not a civil right and should not be considered as one. ₁ The resolution, titled " 'Same-sex Marriage' and Civil Rights Rhetoric" was in response to several recent developments, including:

• A bill in Congress to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA),
  
  
• The very successful recent lawsuits by married same-sex couples in federal courts to have DOMA declared unconstitutional, and
  
  
• Expressions of support for same-sex marriage by President Obama, Vice-President Biden, and other leading Democratic leaders.

In the title of the resolution, they surround the term same-sex Marriage with 'single quotation marks,' apparently to indicate that they do not believe that such marriages are legitimate. This denigration of same-sex couples is found quite frequently on conservative Christian web sites.

About the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA):

The Tenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution requires that:

"The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people." ₂

Since the Constitution does not delegate the definition of marriage to the Federal government, it automatically becomes a responsibility for each state. For over two centuries, from the late 18th century, when the United States was founded, until 1996 when DOMA was signed into law by President Clinton (D), the federal government automatically recognized as valid every marriage that was legally solemnized in any of the states. With the passage of DOMA, this multiple century tradition was abandoned. DOMA intruded on states rights by requiring that the federal government ignore all legal marriages made under state law when they are solemnized by a same-sex couple. The result is that about 1,150 rights, benefits, and protections automatically given to each opposite-sex couple by a civil or religious marriage are not available to same-sex married couples.

About the resolution:

On 2012-JUN-20, Kevin Smith who is pastor of Watson Memorial Baptist Church in Louisville, KY, assistant professor of Christian preaching at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, and spokesperson for the Resolutions Committee said:

"This was a specific statement regarding the use of rhetoric that we find to be a misappropriation, certainly with people who read a lot of history that talks about the godly Christian influences of the Civil Rights Movement."

This positive reference to the civil rights battle over desegregation during the mid-20th century is refreshing because the SBC was originally organized to preserve slavery. The denomination played a major role in opposing the civil rights movement by African Americans. ₃ The SBC only repudiated its past racist actions in its 1995 apology to African Americans which said in part:

"... we, the messengers to the Sesquicentennial meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention, assembled in Atlanta, Georgia, June 20-22, 1995, unwaveringly denounce racism, in all its forms, as deplorable sin; and

Be it further RESOLVED, That we affirm the Bibles [sic] teaching that every human life is sacred, and is of equal and immeasurable worth, made in Gods image, regardless of race or ethnicity (Genesis 1:27), and that, with respect to salvation through Christ, there is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female, for (we) are all one in Christ Jesus (Galatians 3:28) ..." ₄

Unfortunately, the SBC does not extend the teaching that "every human life is sacred, and is of equal and immeasurable worth, made in Gods image" beyond considerations of of race and ethnicity to include gender, sexual orientation or gender identity. Their stated position is that only men are eligible to be ordained as pastors. And now, they have formally declared that marriage by same-sex couples is not their civil right as fellow human beings.

Still, at this Convention, the SBC did elect Fred Luter Jr. as their first African-American president. Also, they did pass a "... Resolution on 'African American Contributions to American Baptist History,' which acknowledges the role of African Americans in Baptist work in the United States..." ₁ Every bit of progress towards "liberty and justice for all" should be encouraged and celebrated, whether it relates to gender, race, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability status, national origin, religion, etc.

Their 2012 resolution reads:

This topic continues on the next page

References used, and two footnotes:

The following information sources were used to prepare and update the above essay. The hyperlinks are not necessarily still active today.

1. Katherine T. Phan, "Southern Baptists Agree Same-Sex Marriage Not a Civil Rights Issue, Christian Post, 2012-JUN-21, at: http://www.christianpost.com/
2. "Charters of Freedom: Bill of Rights," National Archives, at: http://www.archives.gov/
3. "Southern Baptist Convention," Encyclopedia Britannica, at: http://www.britannica.com/
4. "Resolution on racial reconciliation on the 150th anniversary of the Southern Baptist Convention, 1995-JUN, at: http://www.sbc.net/
   

Copyright 2012 Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance
Original posting: 2012-JUN-26
Latest update: 2012-JUN-26
Author: B.A. Robinson

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