Southern Baptist Leader Urges Pastors to Engage Politically

There is a particular conviction that animates a religious leader when he moves from the pulpit to the public square—a conviction that the moral questions of the day cannot be separated from the political choices that shape them. In the weeks before the midterm elections, Southern Baptist Convention President Willy Rice has made that argument explicit. In an interview with Fox News Digital, Rice called on pastors across the country to "step up" into the political process, arguing that silence from the pulpit has allowed a vacuum to develop—one that others have filled.

"Should pastors engage in the political process? They absolutely should," Rice said. "Because there are many political issues that are, at their heart, theological issues and moral issues that strike at the very center of what we believe to be true and what we believe people need to know in order to flourish personally and as a culture" .

Rice's argument rests on a historical claim and a contemporary observation. Historically, he says, pastors have had a strong voice at key moments in American political life. But in recent decades, he argues, Christians have been encouraged—from both external and internal forces—to "be more quiet" and "withdraw from the political process." Meanwhile, he notes, those on the theological and political left did not withdraw. "Statistics show that people on the political and theological left are actually more politically engaged than those on the right," Rice said. "So what you had was, for a period of time, I felt like you had an almost a vacuum that kind of developed, a silence that was there with a lack of Christian leaders leaning in" .

The issues Rice identifies as most pressing are familiar to the Southern Baptist constituency: abortion, the definition of marriage, gender identity, and immigration. He frames them not as partisan matters but as theological ones. "These issues are deeply, profoundly theological issues," he said. "They go back to the creation; they go back to Genesis 1 and 2. They go back to our understanding of what it means to be a human being, and our understanding of what God's creative purpose is for us as human beings" .

On immigration, Rice acknowledges the tension that many Christians feel between compassion and the rule of law. He argues that both are legitimate values, and he accuses some political actors of manipulating Christians by suggesting that compassion requires embracing open immigration. "No one would say that because you love people or care for people, you should leave the doors of your house unlocked, or you should open up the jail cells in your own community," he said .

Rice's call comes at a moment when the relationship between evangelical voters and political engagement is once again a subject of national attention. The midterm elections will determine control of Congress, and the outcome may hinge on turnout among the very voters Rice is addressing. Whether pastors heed his call—and whether their congregations follow—remains to be seen. But the argument itself is an old one: that faith is not a private matter, and that silence in the face of moral questions is itself a political choice.

AI Image Disclaimer: The images accompanying this article were generated by artificial intelligence and are for illustrative purposes only.

Sources: Fox News, Yahoo News