Occasionally, a prominent Christian minister actually does or says the right thing, and when they do it's worth giving them a thumbs-up. Today's accolade goes to Russell Moore, president of the Religious Liberty and Ethics Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, who had some serious criticisms of what's being said right now by the 2016 GOP field.
“Donald Trump is saber-rattling about shutting down mosques in this country, which, as somebody who works every day on religious liberty, I’m astounded that we could have a presidential candidate of either party speaking in such a way,” Moore said. “Evangelicals should recognize that any president who would call for shutting down houses of worship … is the sort of political power that can ultimately shut down evangelical churches.”
Moore was also critical of candidates like Ted Cruz who are now arguing that the U.S. should only accept Christian refugees from Syria, not Muslims.
“I don’t think we ought to have a religious test for our refugee policy,” Moore said, adding that a rigorous vetting process could still make room for innocent Muslims. “We really don’t want to penalize innocent women and children who are fleeing from murderous barbarians simply because they’re not Christians,” he said, though he added that persecuted Christians in the region haven’t received enough attention from the U.S.
There are probably lots of things I wouldn't agree with Moore on, but these remarks at least reveal a level of intellectual honesty about him. So he wins the Thumbs-Up award of the day.
