{"id":1916519,"date":"2023-04-19T02:56:33","date_gmt":"2023-04-19T06:56:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/top-southern-baptist-ethicist-claims-to-speak-for-denomination-as-he-supports-tennessee-red-flag-law\/"},"modified":"2023-04-19T02:57:14","modified_gmt":"2023-04-19T06:57:14","slug":"top-southern-baptist-ethicist-claims-to-speak-for-denomination-as-he-supports-tennessee-red-flag-law","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/top-southern-baptist-ethicist-claims-to-speak-for-denomination-as-he-supports-tennessee-red-flag-law\/","title":{"rendered":"Top Southern Baptist Ethicist Claims To Speak For Denomination As He Supports Tennessee Red Flag Law"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">32<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ftop-southern-baptist-ethicist-claims-to-speak-for-denomination-as-he-supports-tennessee-red-flag-law%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1916519&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The senior ethicist for the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/topic\/southern-baptists\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Southern Baptist Convention<\/a> threw the weight of the denomination behind a so-called <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/topic\/gun-control\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">red flag<\/a> law in <a href=\"http:\/\/dailywire.com\/topic\/tennessee\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Tennessee<\/a>, even as rank-and-file <a href=\"http:\/\/dailywire.com\/topic\/christianity\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">ministers<\/a> and congregants increasingly see denominational leadership\u2019s values as contradictory to their own.<\/p>\n<p>Brent Leatherwood, the president of the Southern Baptist Convention\u2019s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, recently wrote a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennessean.com\/story\/news\/religion\/2023\/04\/17\/southern-baptist-public-policy-backs-tennessee-gov-bill-lee-gun-proposal\/70122387007\/?fbclid=IwAR2vHqditHBaO8UwC1MQqg9wvkZyFIegcaFAPgFi31zgyKel_0zzvBmn0j4\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">letter<\/a> to state lawmakers in support of Tennessee Republican Governor Bill Lee\u2019s proposed red flag laws, which would <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/gov-bill-lee-calls-on-legislature-to-pass-red-flag-law-signs-exec-order-intensifying-gun-background-checks\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">enable<\/a> the state government to take firearms away from those who are found to be at risk to themselves or others. The forthcoming legislation follows a self-described transgender individual fatally shooting three children and three staff members at The Covenant School in Nashville, which three of Leatherwood\u2019s own children attend.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat he outlined is a thoughtful approach to ensure we respect the constitutional rights of citizens while also helping to protect potential victims from dangerous individuals,\u201d Leatherwood wrote in support of the proposal from Lee. \u201cAllowing law enforcement to work with families in order to initiate action that involves full due process in the judicial system will ensure individuals who could cause great harm are temporarily kept from accessing weapons.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Leatherwood invoked the command from Jesus to \u201clove your neighbor as yourself\u201d in his letter, cited biblical commands for civil government to oppose the \u201cbad conduct\u201d of wrongdoers, and noted that \u201cSouthern Baptists comprise over one-fifth of the population of Tennessee.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Red flag laws nevertheless remain broadly <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thetrafalgargroup.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/COSA-RedFlag-Poll-Report-0621.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">unpopular<\/a> among large majorities of Republicans and many independents, who fear that government officials can abuse the authority granted to them under the statutes. Opponents of red flag laws assert that they pose a threat to Second Amendment liberties and due process while failing to prevent criminal acts. The National Rifle Association and other advocacy organizations have publicly <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nraila.org\/articles\/20230418\/tennessee-urgent-action-needed-oppose-red-flag-gun-confiscation-orders\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">opposed<\/a> the Lee proposal.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRed flag gun confiscation would not have stopped the shooter. However, it will disarm perfectly sane, law-abiding people, resulting in more terrible deaths, not fewer,\u201d Zach Lautenschlager, the former vice president of the National Association for Gun Rights, told The Daily Wire. \u201cTennessee already has laws which allow guns to be seized from people who are adjudicated a danger to themselves and to others. Red flag just removes due process, pure and simple.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Lautenschlager, who was instrumental in enacting constitutional carry legislation across the country, noted that residents of other states have fallen victim to \u201ca disgruntled neighbor or former coworker\u201d submitting an anonymous tip to law enforcement, which results in the loss of their right to self-defense \u201cwithout their knowledge and without any kind of hearing in which they can participate.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Members of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, also known as the ERLC, have been accused in recent years of supporting policy proposals which contradict the desires of Southern Baptist congregations. Russell Moore, the former president of the ERLC, said three years ago that ministers should <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/how-the-federal-government-used-evangelical-leaders-to-spread-covid-propaganda-to-churches\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">persuade<\/a> church members to accept COVID vaccination and wear masks. Leatherwood endorsed a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/pro-life-lobbying-groups-issue-letter-against-charging-women-with-crimes-for-seeking-abortions\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">letter<\/a> last year alongside several dozen pro-life activists which opposed a bill in Louisiana that would have criminalized abortion for all parties involved, even though Southern Baptists passed a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sbc.net\/resource-library\/resolutions\/on-abolishing-abortion\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">resolution<\/a> affirming that \u201cthe murder of preborn children is a crime against humanity that must be punished equally under the law\u201d the previous summer.<\/p>\n<p><b data-stringify-type=\"bold\"><a class=\"c-link c-link--focus-visible\" href=\"https:\/\/onelink.to\/dwapp\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-stringify-link=\"https:\/\/onelink.to\/dwapp\" data-sk=\"tooltip_parent\">CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILY WIRE APP<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs an SBC pastor for the past nearly 16 years, I have never been contacted by anyone at the ERLC to share my thoughts on any of the issues they cover or agendas they push,\u201d Scott Packett, the pastor of North Athens Baptist Church in Athens, Tennessee, told The Daily Wire. \u201cFor Mr. Leatherwood to assume that he speaks for all SBC pastors and churches is quite presumptuous.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Packett added that he does not believe red flag laws will \u201cstop these acts of terror\u201d even though he sympathizes with Leatherwood and his family after the massacre at The Covenant School. \u201cGuns do not kill people. Depraved human beings kill people,\u201d he continued. \u201cGiving the government power to limit our Second Amendment rights is not the answer. Look at other major cities and states where these laws are enforced: murderers will do whatever it takes to kill. Therefore, limiting access to guns for regular law-abiding citizens is never the solution.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Leatherwood wrote in his letter to Tennessee lawmakers that \u201cevery life, without exception, is created with infinite worth in the eyes of our Lord because each one is made in His image.\u201d Packett sees the claim as inconsistent with Leatherwood\u2019s opposition to the bill in Louisiana, after which the ERLC told \u201cchurches like mine they want abortion to be unthinkable.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Leatherwood and the ERLC appear to have remained silent when Lee recently <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/tennessee-gov-signs-bills-protecting-children-from-sex-change-procedures-drag-shows\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">approved<\/a> bills which prohibit sex change procedures, hormone treatments, and puberty blockers for minors, as well as sexually explicit drag shows in public or near children. The Daily Wire was unable to find public statements or court filings from the ERLC in favor of the laws and contacted the entity to confirm they did not publicly support the proposals.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The senior ethicist for the Southern Baptist Convention threw the weight of the denomination behind a so-called red flag law in Tennessee, even as rank-and-file ministers and congregants increasingly see denominational leadership\u2019s values as contradictory to their own. Brent Leatherwood, the president of the Southern Baptist Convention\u2019s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, recently wrote a<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":99,"featured_media":1916520,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[541],"tags":[24647,4856,23375,24648,6867,6547,7741,6260,4621,9787,6651],"class_list":["post-1916519","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-daily-wire","tag-baptist","tag-claims","tag-denomination","tag-ethicist","tag-flag","tag-law","tag-red","tag-southern","tag-speak","tag-supports","tag-tennessee"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1916519","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/99"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1916519"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1916519\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1916520"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1916519"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1916519"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1916519"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}