ERLC roasted on X/Twitter after posting 'Bringing Hope to the Public Square' video

“We see ourselves as missionaries sent by Southern Baptists to a confusing and chaotic public square in order to bring the hope of the gospel.”

A description of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC) posted along with a YouTube video (link above) on X/Twitter a few days ago has drawn widespread criticism.

Reaction to the post was largely negative and appears to point to a schism among the leaders and average pew sitters in the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC).

Below are a few of the responses:

Why a Negative Reaction to ERLC’s Post?

As the political lobbying arm for Southern Baptists, the ERLC appears to promote or take stands counter to many of its rank-and-file members.

In 2023 ERLC President Brent Leatherwood lobbied for the “red flag” gun control law in Tennessee and the concealment of the manifesto written by a transexual mass shooter Audrey Hale at The Covenant School in Nashville.

DailyWire writer Megan Basham called out Nashville’s Fox 17 on X for not identifying who Leatherwood was when he spoke at a press conference following the shooting:

“FOX 17, it is rather disingenuous for you to not be more transparent about exactly who Brent Leatherwood is. He is not just a parent of students at Covenant. He is the head of the ethics and religious liberty commission, the political lobbying arm of the Southern Baptist convention. And in that role, he has lobbied for gun control legislation. Specifically citing the school shooting, he urged Governor Lee and the Tennessee legislature to pass a red flag law. He dismissed the manifesto, and contrast, as irrelevant,” wrote Basham.

“It is certainly relevant that, based on these pages, the killer appears to have been motivated by anti-white hatred. The National Association of Police have asked for these records to be released to help them in profiling potential mass killers in the future.”

Leatherwood even attracted interest from a reporter representing the Louder with Crowder program, who confronted him on what they said was his “crusade to prevent the release of the Nashville Manifesto” after Leatherwood called media companies that released portions of the manifesto “vipers” and “not human.”

Controversy Over Ukraine Funding

This year, Leatherwood lobbied funding Ukraine as a priority over Israel along with other high-profile evangelicals on Capitol Hill that included former ERLC president Richard Land.

Below are excerpts from a three-page letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries:

“In 2022, messengers at our annual meeting affirmed a Resolution On the War in Ukraine. … And yet, despite the strong support from our churches, the service given to those displaced, and the horrific persecution faced by our brothers and sisters, the “unwavering support” of our government appears to have waned. Bowing to political factors, Congress has considered ceasing to fund the defense of Ukraine, a United States ally of over thirty years.

“Due to both our long-held beliefs and our experience serving those most impacted by these conflicts, we support the work of Congress in providing additional support to Ukraine and welcome Congress to take action to prevent further loss of life,” Leatherwood wrote. “We support members working across the aisle to pass meaningful legislation that undergirds our strong commitment to democratic states, including maintaining support for Israel and Taiwan, who themselves face regional conflicts, or threat of such, similar in geopolitical nature to that of Ukraine.”

Leatherwood’s letter drew backlash from some conservative Christians who said the move is the latest example of the Southern Baptist public policy arm not representing their interests.

William Wolfe, the executive director of the Center for Baptist Leadership, told republicsentinel.com that the move by Leatherwood was a “total betrayal” to Southern Baptists.

“At a time when our society is in desperate need of uncompromising gospel leadership on contentious political debates about life, marriage, gender, and the sanctity of our nation, the ERLC fails to rise to the occasion,” said Wolfe. “Instead they advocate for globalist policy priorities under the excellent name of conservative Southern Baptists.”

Wolfe added that the silence from the entity on other matters “speaks volumes” since they have not denounced the ethnic cleansing of Armenian Christians, the murder of Laken Riley by an illegal alien, and the failure of Johnson to uphold his promise on the border.

Rep. Matt Gaetz @mattgaetz (R-Fla.) commented on X, “Israel is a land with a 4,000 year connection to our faith. Ukraine is a former Soviet state. These are not the same thing, and should be considered independently.” The post was viewed on X by nearly 3 million people.

Critics say Leatherwood uses his ERLC platform to lobby for lax immigration policies and to promote amnesty, positions that appear to run counter to concerns many Southern Baptists have about national security and the rule of law.

“In light of all these things many laypeople in the pews of SBC Churches (such as myself) now feel as though we have to fight off our own church association to keep our rights from being infringed upon. On our left we have the Biden administration jailing anti-abortion advocates and pushing for more children to castrate themselves and take similar chemical cocktails that the covenant shooter was most likely under the influence of,” wrote Conner Buckingham on forgeandanvil.substack.com.

“Leatherwood cannot continue to spit on SBC congregants and tell us it is rain. If the SBC does not take drastic measures to hold the rogue ERLC accountable, I fear the SBC will lose many more faithful members who can’t stand to see their tithes fund their ideological opposition.”

Buckingham started a petition at change.com to remove Leatherwood from the ERLC which to date has garnered about 800 signatures.

Conclusion

To be sure there are many reasons why a growing segment of Southern Baptists do not support the ERLC and its leader, Brett Leatherwood. The trajectory of the ethics arm of the SBC appears to follow the same path under Leatherwood as it did with its former president, Russell Moore, who was the subject of The Baptist Report article, Russell Moore’s complex relationship with the Southern Baptist Convention.