美国国家公共电台 NPR Pence Speech Riles Some As Southern Baptists' Moderates Gain Strength

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STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

The Southern Baptist Convention, the largest Protestant denomination¹ in the country, finished its annual meeting awkwardly. Vice² President Mike Pence was the featured speaker and delivered a speech befitting a campaign rally.

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VICE PRESIDENT MIKE PENCE: I think there's only one way you can sum up this administration. It's been 500 days of action, 500 days of accomplishment³. It's been 500 days of promises made and promises kept.

(CHEERING)

INSKEEP: OK. If it had been a campaign rally, that would all be normal, but some people at this religious event expected something a little more nonpartisan from their country's vice president. NPR's Tom Gjelten covers religion. He's in our studios. Good morning, Tom.

TOM GJELTEN, BYLINE⁵: Hi, Steve.

INSKEEP: I do have to wonder, though, given that many Southern Baptists have so strongly backed President Trump⁶, did they really mind this speech?

GJELTEN: Well, I think precisely⁷ because so many Southern Baptists have backed President Trump, the Trump administration, there's been some feeling in the movement that maybe they've become a little too closely identified with the Republican Party, with the Trump administration. And one of the people that feel that way is J. D. Greear. He's the pastor⁸ who this week was elected president of the Southern Baptists. He made known before he was elected that he thought the movement should be less partisan⁴, focused more on the Gospel message. Listen to this excerpt⁹ from a speech he gave to the convention on Monday.

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J D GREEAR: We believe that Jesus is the Lord of the whole Earth. He is the king of kings, and he is the Lord of Lords. We believe that he, not any version of Caesar, is the Messiah. He is the Christ, the son of the living God, that salvation¹⁰ is found in him, not in the Republican platform or the Democratic platform. And that salvation did not come riding in on the wings of Air Force One. It came in cradled in a manger.

GJELTEN: So that's what Pastor Greear said on Monday. The next day, the Southern Baptists elected him their president. And then yesterday, Vice President Pence showed up and delivered that political speech.

INSKEEP: I want to underline for people that the vice president, of course, he's a politician. He runs for office, but he's also got this office. He's been hired by all of us to perform this civic¹¹ function. Was Pence aware that the Baptists wanted him to be performing that function rather than being a partisan?

GJELTEN: Well, it didn't sound like it. He may have been, but, I mean, he did lavish¹² praise on the Southern Baptists, but he spent most of his time talking about the Trump administration's accomplishments¹³, from the outreach to North Korea to the achievements in tax reform and growing the economy.

INSKEEP: How did people respond?

GJELTEN: There was a standing¹⁴ ovation¹⁵ at the end of his speech. I mean, Southern Baptists are conservative. They still like the Trump administration. But there was also some criticism and notably¹⁶ from Pastor Greear himself, the new president. Within minutes of Pence finishing his speech, this is what J. D. Greear tweeted - (reading) I know that sent a terribly mixed signal. We are grateful for civic leaders who want to speak to our convention. But make no mistake about it, our identity is in the Gospel. He said, we do missionaries¹⁷, not political platforms.

INSKEEP: Quite a statement, which overshadowed, we should mention, some other news, something that might have been the major news from the Southern Baptist Convention had this not happened.

GJELTEN: That's right. There have been some pretty serious allegations about some of the male leaders as it is, of course, a male-dominated denomination. In the last few weeks, you've had a Southern Baptist seminary president forced out because of the way he handled abuse complaints by women. Another top officer resigned after acknowledging what he called a morally inappropriate relationship. Southern Baptist women have been quite outspoken¹⁸ about these issues. There was a lot of discussion at the convention about how those situations were handled and how things should change going forward.

INSKEEP: One other thing, Tom Gjelten - maybe they don't want to be as political anymore, the Southern Baptists, but they have views of policies. Did they make any policy suggestions?

GJELTEN: I think the one big news in that regard, Steve, was actually around immigration. This is probably the issue where you see the most distance between the evangelicals and the Trump administration. One of the resolutions passed at this convention called for more acceptance of immigrants. It passed overwhelmingly. It criticized the separation of families at the border. Another resolution called for a more generous treatment of refugees. It cited Bible verses to support that position.

INSKEEP: Tom, thanks very much as always.

GJELTEN: Of course.

INSKEEP: That's NPR's Tom Gjelten.