The Southern Baptist Convention is considering a resolution to reject the Confederate flag and stop displaying it.
The Southern Baptist Convention will be meeting Tuesday and Wednesday to hear from National Baptist Convention, USA President Dr. Jerry Young and to vote on a variety of resolutions. The Confederate flag is the biggest topic they’ll debate, and was submitted to the committee that decides with resolutions get to the floor for consideration.
The Confederate flag has been attacked on the local, state and national level in the past few years after Dylan Roof shot and killed nine people in a Charleston, S.C., church.
The resolution was first proposed in April by Dwight McKissic, a black pastor in Texas. In blog posts, McKissic wrote that taking a stand against the Confederate flag would help make up for the Southern Baptist Convention’s past.
McKissic wrote, “The SBC supported the Confederacy and was emotionally and philosophically attached to the Confederacy. The Dylan Roof love affair with the Confederate [flag] and his murdering of nine innocent Black Kingdom-citizens (Christians) has brought this matter back to the forefront. The SBC has an opportunity to get it right this time. Blanket apologies, and broad, generic repudiation of racism does not suffice.”
The Southern Baptist Convention was founded in Georgia in 1845 after the group decided to split from the northern Baptist Church because it disagreed with the northern church’s anti-slavery stance.
Not everyone is in favor of this potential resolution. Comments on McKissic’s website read, “As a member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, part of my obligations and duty is to place Confederate flags on graves of Confederate soldiers every April. If this resolution is passed, SBC churches whose cemeteries include Confederate graves will forbid this sacred honor to American Veterans.”
Another user said, “To suggest the banishment of the Confederate flag, is misled and continuing a sad purge on our history. For many, especially southerners, the flag represents the bravery of those who fought to defend their homes, independence, smaller government, and southern identity.”
Dr. Ronnie Floyd, the president of the Southern Baptist Convention, will not comment on whether the resolution will make it to the floor or if it will succeed.
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