5 Facts about the SBC and racial reconciliation

This weekend has been designated Racial Reconciliation Sunday by the Southern Baptist Convention. Here are five facts you should know about the SBC and its efforts to unify all races within the Kingdom of God.

This Week at the ERLC

What You Need to Read

Chelsea Patterson Sobolik with How the Chinese Communist Party is persecuting Uyghur women

As Christians, we are commanded to care deeply about persecution and violence against the vulnerable. Both are antithetical to how God designed humans to flourish. Christians should educate themselves and then speak clearly and boldly about the abuses that are happening to women and girls around the world. We should advocate for the vulnerable, abused, and voiceless in every nation. Few of us will ever endure what Uyghur women experience, but we ought to use our freedom and our voices to call for protection of persecuted people abroad.

David “Gunner” Gundersen with "He looks like me!"

“Daddy, he looks like me!” My young black son pointed to the only black basketball player on the court that night at my overwhelmingly white seminary. Even at a young age, he immediately felt represented by the one man on the court who shared his appearance. Without knowing it, my son was experiencing “representation.”

Claire Gibson with What a Toyota Super Bowl ad taught us about adoption, trauma, and grace

Not every adoption story is one of triumph over adversity, like Jessica’s. There are plenty of horror stories — adoptions gone wrong, unethical agencies, etc. Those stories are prevalent and often garner plenty of attention. And I will be the first to say that it is essential to continue to regulate adoption both domestically and internationally to keep abuse and corruption to absolute zero. But for every awful adoption story, there are an untold number of faithful families doing the diligent, daily work of raising children and providing a stable, loving home where otherwise there was none.

Alex Ward with The courage of Ruby Bridges and her family

In the painting “The Problem We All Live With," a young Ruby Bridges is escorted to school by federal marshals, with racial slurs painted on the wall behind her and crushed tomatoes smashed against the wall, thrown by a crowd of onlookers outside the frame. She looks ahead, stoic, as she follows the marshals to school. What is absent from the image are all the others who had to courageously fight and defend her right to be educated and treated as a full member of society: her mother, her father, a watching country, and members of her church. The story of Ruby Bridges is not just the story of her courage, though it is that, but also the courage of her family and community as they fought for equal protection and justice.

News From Capitol Hill

Christians know we are called to be a voice for the marginalized, but with so many tragic situations unfolding around the globe it can be overwhelming to know what to do next. This week, the ERLC policy team offered helpful context and next steps for advocating for freedom and dignity for our neighbors facing religious persecution and ethnic oppression abroad.

On this week’s Capitol Conversations podcast, Jeff Pickering, Chelsea Patterson Sobolik, and Travis Wussow highlighted three big international stories for Christians to consider. They cover an update on the Chinese Uyghur genocide, how Christians are often left out of Middle East peace accords, and what we can learn about the fragility of democracy from the coup in Myanmar.

Chelsea Patterson Sobolik wrote about the horrific abuse Uyghur women are enduring under the brutality of the Chinese Communist Party. This genocide is, arguably, one of the world’s most important stories and Chelsea’s article is a helpful place to learn more. In closing, she encourages Christians with this:

“As Christians, we are commanded to care deeply about persecution and violence against the vulnerable. Both are antithetical to how God designed humans to flourish. Christians should educate themselves and then speak clearly and boldly about the abuses that are happening to women and girls around the world.”

Jeff Pickering covered an important update from the Biden Administration to rebuild the U.S. refugee resettlement program and why caring for refugees matters for Christians. Pickering writes:

“In the opening lines of last week’s executive order addressing the country’s refugee program, President Biden wrote, ‘the long tradition of the United States as a leader in refugee resettlement provides a beacon of hope for persecuted people around the world.’ Sadly, the rising tide of nationalism in our politics has dimmed that once bright light. There is much work to be done if America is to, in Biden’s words, lead again. Critical to that work is the rebuilding of a refugee resettlement program that honors our nation’s rich history of welcoming the world’s most vulnerable.”

Featured Podcasts

In this episode of Signposts, Russell Moore is joined by John Dickerson of CBS 60 Minutes to talk about his book, The Hardest Job in the World: The American Presidency. Dickerson talks about the place of politics in culture, the challenges of the modern presidency, how the position can shape and change the person, and his observations from years reporting on Capitol Hill and White House.

On the ERLC Podcast, Josh, Brent, and Lindsay discuss the Trump Impeachment trial, COVID-19 infections plummeting, the latest on masks, COVID-19 vaccines, the IMB appointing 30 new missionaries, the results of Super Bowl 2021, and what changes are coming in baseball this year. Devin Maddox also joins the podcast for a conversation about life and ministry.

From The Public Square

California revises indoor church guidelines after ruling
Daisy Nguyen, Associated Press

California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office on Saturday issued revised guidelines for indoor church services after the Supreme Court lifted the state’s ban on indoor worship during the coronavirus pandemic, but left in place restrictions on singing and chanting.

5.8 Million Fewer Babies: America’s Lost Decade in Fertility
Lyman Stone, Institute for Family Studies

Fertility rates have fallen around the world over the last decade—even in countries with generous social welfare states, which experts had long expected to be holdouts in the face of fertility declines. But while demographers often talk about this change in terms of “fertility rates” or “births per woman,” another way to tally the total is in terms of missing births.

Kentucky Doesn’t Need Slot Machines and Casinos
Denny Burk

I want to share a letter that I just received about the Kentucky State Legislature’s plan to bring slot machines and eventually casinos to our state. Anyone who opposes this needs to speak up now by calling their legislators and making their views known. Please read the letter below, and use the information to call your legislator. We must not let this pass.

Make houses of worship the center of vaccine rollout
Charles C. Camosy, Religion News Service

States and the federal government must reach out to church leaders in a systematic way and ask for their help.