The Southern Baptist Convention released a statement after the murder of Charlie Kirk. Initially, I signed that statement, but after a few days of thought I retracted my name. As I explained elsewhere, while I could carry the necessary views and nuance in my head to comfortably put my name on it, the resulting assumptions made about me because of my signature missed the mark. In short, it said too much and simultaneously not enough.
Below, I present an edited version of the SBC statement which is more in line with my thoughts. It, too, isn't perfect. However, I believe it hits most of the points necessary for this moment, and is broad enough for the vast majority of Southern Baptists to agree with. You may disagree, and that is perfectly acceptable.
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As leaders of the Southern Baptist Convention, we lament the
assassination of Charlie Kirk and we mourn his death. Political violence is a
grave sin, and it represents a threat to our nation and its government. The
murder of Charlie Kirk, as well as the murder of Minnesota State Congresswoman
Melissa Hortman and her husband, and the attempted assassinations of President
Donald Trump, Minnesota State Senator John Hoffman and his wife, and Pennsylvania
Governor Josh Shapiro, just within the last year, are grave warnings to us all as we
consider the health of our nation and society.
All persons of goodwill must condemn these premeditated acts
of violence and see the depth of evil in them and in a spirit of violence that
will undermine our ability to function as a nation.
Christians are rightly grateful for Charlie Kirk’s public
witness to Christ and for his courageous defense of the dignity of the unborn
and a host of other issues that uphold God’s created order. To the extent that
God’s created order was shared and defended, and done so in a godly manner, we rightly
appreciate the profound impact Charlie Kirk has had on that work, inspiring young
people to live with bold conviction and take righteous action on these issues.
We mourn with his wife, Erika, whose husband has been so
murderously taken away, and for their precious children, now left without an
earthly father. We pray for them, and ask our Heavenly Father to protect and
console them.
We call for righteousness and justice and for the lawful
prosecution of the assassin, as well as those involved in the violent acts mentioned above, and urge Southern Baptists to join us in praying for their repentance
and salvation. We also call for Southern Baptists and all Christian brothers
and sisters to recommit ourselves to the defense of life, liberty, and biblical
morality in our nation, and we pray for an end to political violence in any
form. We condemn any retaliatory violence.
We call on all our brothers and sisters in Christ to bear
faithful witness to the good news of Jesus Christ — the world’s true King and
our only hope — who was crucified and raised so that sinners might be forgiven
and have eternal life.
May God have mercy on our nation, and may we be found faithful in our generation.
