Southern Baptists vote to seek repeal of ruling that legalized same-sex marriage

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Delegates from the Southern Baptist Convention have overwhelmingly backed a resolution opposing same-sex marriage, even urging the reversal of the Supreme Court's Obergefell v Hodges decision, which legalized it nationwide in 2015.
The resolution was passed at the denomination's annual meeting, which hosted more than 10,000 church representatives.
While the resolution does not explicitly use the word "ban," it calls for the "overturning of laws and court rulings, including Obergefell v Hodges, that defy God's design for marriage and family," and advocates "for laws that affirm marriage between one man and one women."
The resolution also implored legislators to restrict sports betting and support policies that encourage childbearing.
Even if the 2015 Obergefell decision were reversed, it would not automatically result in a nationwide ban, as 36 states had already legalized same-sex marriage at the time of the ruling, and support for it remains strong in many areas.
However, if the convention got its wish, not only would Obergefell be overturned, but so would every law and court ruling that affirmed same-sex marriage.
There was no debate on the marriage resolution.
The marriage issue was incorporated into a much larger resolution on marriage and family — one that calls for civil law to be based on what the convention says is the divinely created order as stated in the Bible.
The resolution says legislators have a duty to "pass laws that reflect the truth of creation and natural law — about marriage, sex, human life, and family" and to oppose laws contradicting "what God has made plain through nature and Scripture."
The same resolution calls for recognizing "the biological reality of male and female" and opposes "any law or policy that compels people to speak falsehoods about sex and gender."
It urges Christians to "embrace marriage and childbearing" and to see children "as blessings rather than burdens."
But it also frames that issue as one of public policy. It calls "for renewed moral clarity in public discourse regarding the crisis of declining fertility and for policies that support the bearing and raising of children within intact, married families."
It laments that modern culture is "pursuing willful childlessness which contributes to a declining fertility rate," echoing a growing subject of discourse on the religious and political right.
The pornography resolution, which had no debate, calls such material destructive, addictive and exploitive and says governments have the power to ban it.
The sports betting resolution draws on Southern Baptists' historic opposition to gambling. It called sports betting "harmful and predatory."
Andrew Walker, chair of the Committee on Resolutions, said at a news conference that the marriage resolution shows that Southern Baptists aren't going along with the widespread social acceptance of same-sex marriage.
But Walker, a professor at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, acknowledged that a realistic rollback strategy would require incremental steps, such as seeking to overturn Obergefell.
"I'm clear-eyed about the difficulties and the headwinds in this resolution," he said.
The two-day annual meeting began Tuesday morning with praise sessions and optimistic reports about growing numbers of baptisms. But casting a pall over the gathering is the recent death of one of the most high-profile whistleblowers in the Southern Baptists' scandal of sexual abuse.
Jennifer Lyell, a onetime denominational publishing executive who went public in 2019 with allegations that she had been sexually abused by a seminary professor while a student, died Saturday at 47. She "suffered catastrophic strokes," a friend and fellow advocate, Rachael Denhollander, posted Sunday on X.
Friends reported that the backlash Lyell received after going public with her report took a devastating toll on her.
Several abuse survivors and advocates for reform, who previously had a prominent presence in recent SBC meetings, are skipping this year's gathering, citing lack of progress by the convention.
Two people sought to fill that void, standing vigil outside of the meeting at the Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center Dallas as attendees walked by. The pair held up signs with photos of Lyell and of Gareld Duane Rollins, who died earlier this spring and who was among those who accused longtime SBC power broker Paul Pressler of sexual abuse.
"It's not a healthy thing for them (survivors) to be here," said Johnna Harris, host of a podcast on abuse in evangelical ministries.
"I felt like it was important for someone to show up. I want people to know there are people who care."
The SBC Executive Committee, in a 2022 apology, acknowledged "its failure to adequately listen, protect, and care for Jennifer Lyell when she came forward to share her story." It also acknowledged the denomination's official news agency had not accurately reported the situation as "sexual abuse by a trusted minister in a position of power at a Southern Baptist seminary."
SBC officials issued statements this week lamenting Lyell's death, but her fellow advocates have denounced what they say is a failure to implement reforms.
The SBC's 2022 meeting voted overwhelmingly to create a way to track pastors and other church workers credibly accused of sex abuse. That came shortly after the release of a blockbuster report by an outside consultant, which said Southern Baptist leaders mishandled abuse cases and stonewalled victims for years.
But the denomination's Executive Committee president, Jeff Iorg, said earlier this year that creating a database is not a focus and that the committee instead plans to refer churches to existing databases of sex offenders and focus on education about abuse prevention. The committee administers the denomination's day-to-day business.
Advocates for reform don't see those approaches as adequate.
It is the latest instance of "officials trailing out hollow words, impotent task forces and phony dog-and-pony shows of reform," abuse survivor and longtime advocate Christa Brown wrote on Baptist News Global, which is not SBC-affiliated.
In a related action, the Executive Committee will also be seeking $3 million in convention funding for ongoing legal expenses related to abuse cases.