Southern Baptists voted on a resolution to overturn same-sex marriage. A Louisvillian wrote it
First, Denny Burk and the resolution committee used a verse from Genesis, then another, then one from Ephesians, Psalms and Deuteronomy.
The professor of Biblical Studies at Boyce College, a Christian college off Louisville's Lexington Road affiliated with the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, used the verses to write a resolution on "restoring moral clarity through God's design for gender, marriage and family."
"Whereas, legal rulings like Obergefell v. Hodges and policies that deny the biological reality of male and female are legal fictions, undermine the truth of God's design, and lead to social confusion and injustice," a line of the resolution stated.
The resolution was part of a focus by the Southern Baptist Convention, which has long had a fixation on opposing LGBTQ+ rights, and also abortion before the overturn of Roe v. Wade in 2022.
Burk, a strong traditionalist voice within the Southern Baptist Convention, proposed the language in the resolution. Burk is also the president of the Louisville-based Council for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, an advocacy group that opposes LGBTQ+ rights.
On Tuesday, during its annual meeting in Dallas, the Southern Baptist Convention voted on a resolution to reverse Obergefell v. Hodges, the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision that legalized same-sex marriage.
Southern Baptist delegates, known as "messengers," overwhelmingly approved the measure following little debate on the resolution's language.
Andrew Walker, an ethicist at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary off Lexington Road in Crescent Hill, chaired that resolution committee.
"What we're trying to do is keep the conversation alive," Walker told The New York Times.
Burk told USA TODAY he was grateful the SBC had taken up his call to overturn Obergefell.
"We know that we are in the minority on this issue, but we want to be a prophetic minority," Burk said. "We don't mind being countercultural when it comes to marriage. We want to bear faithful witness to God's good design — that marriage is the conjugal union of one man and one woman."
The Courier Journal requested an interview with Walker but received a message that Walker was on sabbatical, writing a book. The follow-up contact did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Courier Journal also requested an interview with Burk, who is also on sabbatical until July 31.
The Courier Journal also requested an interview with Albert Mohler, the president of the seminary and a prominent evangelical leader. Mohler did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Stephanie Kuzydym is an enterprise and investigative reporter. Reach her at skuzydym@courier-journal.com or on social media @stephkuzy. Liam Adams, who covers religion as part of the USA TODAY Network, contributed to this report.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Southern Baptist repeal same-sex marriage based in Louisville
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Newsweek
2 days ago
- Newsweek
We're Faith Leaders Calling for Conscience in the U.S. Senate
As pastors and spiritual leaders, we sit with families in tears, fearing they will be separated from their children. From El Paso to Miami, Catholic parishes to Southern Baptist churches and beyond, our faith communities are filled with long-settled immigrant families now living in fear. Without creating panic, we must acknowledge that these fears are real—and act now to prevent lasting harm. The Trump administration's efforts to end temporary protected status and humanitarian parole for approximately two million people have put many immigrants with legal status at risk of becoming undocumented. At the same time, ICE is targeting individuals and families who have lived peacefully in our communities for years, often decades, for detention and deportation. The budget reconciliation bill passed by the House and now before the Senate could drastically escalate these harms. It includes $45 billion for the construction of new detention centers, over $25 billion to support stepped-up enforcement and deportation operations, and unprecedented fees—including a combined $8,500 before a family member or other safe sponsor could begin to care for an unaccompanied child. This bill would effectively triple annual spending on ICE detention facilities and could lead to the indefinite detention of families, as well as the expedited removal of unaccompanied children without any access to legal assistance. We find these aspects of the bill—which pave the way for separating, arresting, detaining, deporting, and penalizing vulnerable immigrant children and families—to be morally objectionable. These measures do not reflect the values we uphold as Christians or as Americans. Detention centers are no place for children. They expose young people to unsafe conditions, inadequate medical care, limited access to education, and psychological trauma. At least nine people have died in ICE custody in 2025—a chilling reminder of the dangers these facilities can pose. PASADENA, CALIFORNIA - JUNE 18: People gather at a protest and vigil after a morning ICE raid in Pasadena on June 18, 2025 in Pasadena, California. PASADENA, CALIFORNIA - JUNE 18: People gather at a protest and vigil after a morning ICE raid in Pasadena on June 18, 2025 in Pasadena, do not oppose the legitimate goals of promoting public safety and regulating immigration. However, despite claims that immigration enforcement would focus on individuals who have criminal records, the reality has been different. Between January 26 and March 23, the number of people without criminal convictions or charges arrested by ICE increased fivefold. With border crossings at historic lows, families with deep community roots will increasingly become the focus of enforcement. Our faith calls us to protect children and families, treat migrants and refugees with compassion, and uphold the dignity of every person because each of us is made in the image of God. These are not partisan positions—they are Christian imperatives. A recent report, "One Part of the Body: The Potential Impact of Deportations on American Christian Families," makes this truth clear: "If even a fraction of those vulnerable to deportation are actually deported, the ramifications are profound—for those individuals, of course, but also for their U.S.-citizen family members and, because when one part of the body suffers, every part suffers with it, for all Christians." We call on senators of both parties to exercise moral courage, and to consider how well these important policy decisions respect human life and dignity, rather than political expediency. Reject the current enforcement-only approach to immigration that will lead to family separation and deny communities the vital contributions of immigrants. Ensure that the final budget reconciliation bill does not include new funding that could be used by ICE to make families the focus of immigration enforcement and subject them to inhumane detention conditions. Eliminate the unjust fees proposed that would hinder family reunification and undermine our legal immigration system. George Washington is said to have described the Senate as a saucer that "cools" the hot tea of the House. In this moment, the Senate must live up to that calling—not just as a check on rash legislation, but as a defender of the common good. Most Rev. Mark J. Seitz is bishop of El Paso, Texas and chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' Committee on Migration. Dr. Keny Felix is senior pastor of Bethel Evangelical Baptist Church in Miami Gardens, Florida and president of the Southern Baptist Convention National Haitian Fellowship. The views expressed in this article are the writers' own.
Politico
2 days ago
- Politico
Navigating a possible Prop 187 moment
Presented by IT'S THE ECONOMY, STUPID — For years, Mike Madrid has been moonlighting as the Cassandra of Latino voters, warning Democrats that the once-reliable voting bloc was slipping out of their grasp. Now, after the 2024 election largely confirmed his thesis, Madrid, a Republican strategist who was a co-founder of the anti-Donald Trump Lincoln Project, says he wants to help politicians from both parties deliver what Latinos actually want. His newly launched initiative, 'Working Class Latino Project,' promotes focusing on economics — and veering away from the immigration-centric focus of many Latino politicians in the last few decades. There's some irony in the timing of this debut, just as immigration has surged back into the spotlight. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids are now daily occurrences in Los Angeles, potentially galvanizing a whole new generation of Latinos a la those who were politically mobilized after the anti-immigrant Proposition 187 in 1994. Madrid acknowledged that backlash to Trump's immigration enforcement could cause some Latinos to return to the Democratic Party. But, he insists, the cost of living concerns that drove Latinos' rightward shift aren't going away. 'Even if this is a possible Prop 187 moment, shame on us if we are not simultaneously creating an economic agenda,' Madrid said. 'Because one of the lessons that needs to be learned by my generation is if you don't have an economic agenda, it can all go away with one election.' Madrid commissioned a poll after the November election that found blaring warning signs for Democrats. More than three-quarters of respondents said that California state government policies made prices much higher or somewhat higher. Well over half of respondents disapproved of how the government was addressing the economy. But that doesn't automatically mean an upside for Republicans; respondents weren't convinced the GOP understood their needs. To Madrid, the findings signaled a jump ball for both parties to make a better dollars-and-cents appeal to Latinos. Plans for the initiative include polling, crafting policy development and hosting a series of economic summits across the state to identify key economic issues that Latinos want to see addressed. He plans to work with a bipartisan group of Latino legislators, as well as pollster Mindy Romero of USC. The venture is backed by Business Roundtable, with funding from corporate interests such as energy companies and developers. The money source will almost certainly raise eyebrows from Democrats, especially progressives and allies of organized labor, who may see the project as a stalking horse for conservative policies. Madrid says the project 'isn't going to be anti-labor at all,' and notes that he's willing to buck either party's orthodoxy. 'If tariffs harm the Latino middle class, which they do, I will be very vocal about that, along with other restrictive regulatory measures like CEQA [on] the left,' he said. Assemblymember Juan Carrillo, a moderate Democrat from the Antelope Valley who is involved in the initiative, said some progressives may be skeptical of Madrid's message. But he said his party needs to be 'realistic' about the economic dissatisfaction of the state's largest plurality ethnic group. 'The worry that older Latinos will continue to go to the right, I think that we need to pay attention to what they're telling us,' said Carrillo. 'Those hardworking older Latinos like myself — I came here when I was 15 years old from Guadalajara. I came here and I worked hard, and that's all the Latinos are telling me that in my district, that we are not paying attention' to issues like economic opportunity and upward mobility. Madrid has been working with Latino lawmakers from both parties to get the initiative off the ground — a touchy prospect given the partisan self-segregation in the Capitol between the longstanding Latino Legislative Caucus (composed only of Democrats) and the new Hispanic Legislative Caucus (for Republicans). He had advised against forming an official bipartisan caucus, precisely because hot-button issues like immigration could be too toxic for such a group. And other issues — economic ones — aren't going anywhere. 'Regardless of what's happening in LA, with the ICE raids and with the real need for immigration reform, people are still struggling to put gas in their cars,' said state Sen. Suzette Valladares, an Antelope Valley Republican also involved in the project. 'These economic issues are not going to go away, but are going to compound for working-class Latinos.' GOOD MORNING. Happy Thursday. Thanks for waking up with Playbook. You can text us at 916-562-0685 — save it as 'CA Playbook' in your contacts. Or drop us a line at dgardiner@ and bjones@ or on X — @DustinGardiner and @jonesblakej. WHERE'S GAVIN? Nothing official announced. STATE CAPITOL BUDGET BRUISER — Gov. Gavin Newsom's budget negotiations with the Legislature are going down to the wire due to a clash over housing policy and labor protections. Newsom has made approval of the entire budget contingent on whether lawmakers approve a proposal to slash environmental reviews for many housing projects in urban areas. As Lindsey Holden wrote for California Playbook PM, many rank-and-file Democrats and their powerful union allies are fuming over a new minimum wage requirement for residential construction workers. Debate at the Capitol on Wednesday devolved into should-be allies angrily comparing Newsom's plans to Jim Crow, slavery and immigration raids, our Eric He, Jeremy B. White and Rachel Bluth write. Meanwhile, district attorneys and law enforcement groups say the budget deal between Newsom and legislative leaders is a 'slap in the face' because it doesn't set aside more funding to help counties fully implement tough-on-crime ballot measure Proposition 36, which Newsom opposed. Read more, also from Lindsey. FANTASY FEUD — Major operators in the online fantasy sports-wagering arena are upping their Sacramento messaging blitz ahead of a highly anticipated opinion from state Attorney General Rob Bonta on whether the sites are legally operating in California. Chatter about Bonta's forthcoming opinion has ramped up as industry insiders speculate where he will land on the legality of placing wagers on fantasy team lineups, an increasingly lucrative online industry. The decision could have national implications for fantasy sports, given the size of California's market and the legal gray area in which the sites often operate. The speculation escalated Wednesday night, when KCRA reported that Bonta was 'expected to deem all online fantasy sports platforms illegal in the state,' citing multiple unnamed sources. Fantasy sports platform operators argue that their sites shouldn't be considered traditional sports wagering because selecting players to create a fictional roster of athletes is a game of skill, not chance. But tribal communities — which spent tens of millions of dollars to defeat a 2022 measure to legalize sports gambling — are fighting the fantasy industry's growth. They want Bonta to declare it illegal in all forms. Bonta began reviewing the legality of fantasy leagues in 2023, after receiving a request from a lawmaker, former state Sen. Scott Wilk, who warned fantasy betting was proliferating and is more akin to a game of chance. SILICON VALLEY MAHAN REBOUNDS — Progressive Democrats are having a very good week after Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist, won the Democratic Party's primary for New York City mayor. But in the Bay Area, a different election Tuesday gave moderates cause to celebrate. In San Jose's special election for a City Council seat, moderate Anthony Tordillos trounced his labor-backed opponent by double digits. The outcome was a major coup for Mayor Matt Mahan, who has long battled with labor unions that loathe his brand of anti-establishment, centrist Democratic politics. Mahan endorsed Tordillos, chair of the Planning Commission, in the runoff against Gabby Chavez-Lopez, a progressive more closely aligned with unions. The outcome ensures that Mahan's moderate-aligned bloc will hold the majority on the City Council. Mahan, in an interview with Playbook, said he and Tordillos both represent a current of Silicon Valley leaders willing to challenge the status quo within liberal circles. 'People want elected leaders who are focused on results, not partisan or ideological battles,' Mahan said. Tordillos has backed some of Mahan's headline-grabbing policies, including his plan to tie city employees' pay raises to performance metrics. That said, he didn't support Mahan's much-debated plan to arrest homeless people who repeatedly refuse shelter. Nevertheless, Tuesday's outcome is a comeback of sorts for Mahan. In the first round of the council contest, Mahan's preferred candidate, Matthew Quevedo (his deputy chief of staff), narrowly finished in third place. Union leaders were quick to frame the outcome as a referendum on the mayor. But Mahan quickly moved to align himself with Tordillos in the runoff. Tordillos said the two, who share a background in tech, hit it off over their interest in using data to shape policy — as well as a sentiment that city government has been too dominated by ideology. 'Residents don't feel like the status quo is doing enough,' Tordillos said, citing the city's response to housing, homelessness and affordability problems. INFLUENCE WATCH OIL MONEY — Former HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra received a $39,200 contribution from Chevron for his 2026 campaign for governor. It appears to be the oil company's first contribution to a candidate for governor since Jerry Brown in 2014, as Rob Pyers of Target Book observed. Becerra's contribution is likely to raise eyebrows among climate hawks in the Democratic Party. But his Chevron money pales in comparison with fellow gubernatorial hopeful Antonio Villaraigosa's pivot toward the oil industry. As the Los Angeles Times reported, the former LA mayor has accepted at least $176,000 in contributions from people with ties to the industry. CLIMATE AND ENERGY THIS WAY OR THE HIGHWAY — The ongoing brawl between labor and environmental groups over highway expansion is back on with a new wrinkle. Read last night's California Climate on why affordability — and not pollution — will be front and center when the two sides face off Thursday over $600 million in funding for six projects. TOP TALKERS STAYING PUT — Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce President and Chief Executive Maria S. Salinas expressed concern in a Q&A with the LA Times for the city's small businesses amid the upheaval and ICE raids. Salinas said fears around recent enforcement actions in Los Angeles County — where immigrants account for 35 percent of the county's more than 10 million people — have caused both workers and consumers to stay home. 'When people are afraid to go out, they stay away from local stores and aren't going out to eat at their local restaurants. You see the emptiness in the local neighborhoods,' Salinas said. IN A CORNER — Republican Rep. Kevin Kiley, in a post on X, encouraged the state to cooperate with the U.S. Department of Education after the agency concluded that California violated Title IX by allowing transgender athletes to compete in school sports according to their gender identity. In the post, Kiley called on the state to reverse the policy, restore medals and apologize to female athletes before it loses funding. Now, the state Department of Education and the California Interscholastic Federation have 10 days to change the policies or 'risk imminent enforcement action.' California officials said the state 'believes all students should have the opportunity to learn and play at school, and we have consistently applied existing law in support of students' rights to do so,' as NBC News reported. AROUND THE STATE — A new bill calls for creating a new regional agency for homelessness programming in Sacramento County and would effectively replace the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency. (The Sacramento Bee) — A federal judge ruled that Los Angeles officials failed to follow a settlement agreement that would create more shelter for homeless people. (LAist) — Five former baseball players at the University of San Francisco filed a lawsuit claiming that the school failed to 'to adopt and enforce policies' prohibiting abuse allegedly by two ex-coaches. (San Francisco Chronicle) PLAYBOOKERS PEOPLE MOVES — Emily Cohen has been named CEO at United Contractors (UCON). She currently serves as UCON's executive VP and has been with the organization for over 15 years. — Jason Rzepka is joining the firm RALLY as senior director, effective mid-July. Rzepka, a veteran strategic comms pro, was most recently president and founder of WRIT LARGE. — Lisa M. Magorien has joined the law firm Seyfarth Shaw in Los Angeles (Century City), as a partner in its labor and employment practice. She was previously a partner at Lagasse Branch Bell & Kinkead, LLP. BIRTHDAYS — David Bocarsly at the Jewish Public Affairs Committee of California … Robert Gonzalez at Teamsters Local 1932 … Jesse Lehrich, co-founder of Accountable Tech … Mark McGrath at Creative Artists Agency … Lynwood City Councilmember Juan Muñoz-Guevara (favorite treat: tres leches cake or a Paloma cocktail) … OpenAI's Elizabeth Wilner … Merit's Trevor Cornwell … BELATED B-DAY WISHES — (was Wednesday): Dennis Cuevas-Romero at the California Primary Care Association … Hunter Bishop WANT A SHOUT-OUT FEATURED? — Send us a birthday, career move or another special occasion to include in POLITICO's California Playbook. You can now submit a shout-out using this Google form.
3 days ago
The US and Iran have had bitter relations for decades. After the bombs, a new chapter begins
WASHINGTON -- Now comes a new chapter in U.S.-Iran relations, whether for the better or the even worse. For nearly a half century, the world has witnessed an enmity for the ages — the threats, the plotting, the poisonous rhetoric between the 'Great Satan' of Iranian lore and the 'Axis of Evil' troublemaker of the Middle East, in America's eyes. Now we have a U.S. president saying, of all things, 'God bless Iran.' This change of tone, however fleeting, came after the intense U.S. bombing of Iranian nuclear-development sites this week, Iran's retaliatory yet restrained attack on a U.S. military base in Qatar and the tentative ceasefire brokered by President Donald Trump in the Israel-Iran war. The U.S. attack on three targets inflicted serious damage but did not destroy them, a U.S. intelligence report found, contradicting Trump's assertion that the attack 'obliterated' Iran's nuclear program. Here are some questions and answers about the long history of bad blood between the two countries: In the first blush of a ceasefire agreement, even before Israel and Iran appeared to be fully on board, Trump exulted in the achievement. 'God bless Israel,' he posted on social media. 'God bless Iran.' He wished blessings on the Middle East, America and the world, too. When it became clear that all hostilities had not immediately ceased after all, he took to swearing instead. 'We basically have two countries that have been fighting so long and so hard that they don't know what the f— they're doing,' he said on camera. In that moment, Trump was especially critical of Israel, the steadfast U.S. ally, for seeming less attached to the pause in fighting than the country that has been shouting 'Death to America' for generations and is accused of trying to assassinate him. In two words, Operation Ajax. That was the 1953 coup orchestrated by the CIA, with British support, that overthrew Iran's democratically elected government and handed power to the shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. The Western powers had feared the rise of Soviet influence and the nationalization of Iran's oil industry. The shah was a strategic U.S. ally who repaired official relations with Washington. But grievances simmered among Iranians over his autocratic rule and his bowing to America's interests. All of that boiled over in 1979 when the shah fled the country and the theocratic revolutionaries took control, imposing their own hard line. Profoundly. On Nov. 4, 1979, with anti-American sentiment at a fever pitch, Iranian students took 66 American diplomats and citizens hostage and held more than 50 of them in captivity for 444 days. It was a humiliating spectacle for the United States and President Jimmy Carter, who ordered a secret rescue mission months into the Iran hostage crisis. In Operation Eagle Claw, eight Navy helicopters and six Air Force transport planes were sent to rendezvous in the Iranian desert. A sand storm aborted the mission and eight service members died when a helicopter crashed into a C-120 refueling plane. Diplomatic ties were severed in 1980 and remain broken. Iran released the hostages minutes after Ronald Reagan's presidential inauguration on Jan. 20, 1981. That was just long enough to ensure that Carter, bogged in the crisis for over a year, would not see them freed in his term. No. But the last big one was at sea. On April 18, 1988, the U.S. Navy sank two Iranian ships, damaged another and destroyed two surveillance platforms in its largest surface engagement since World War II. Operation Praying Mantis was in retaliation against the mining of the USS Samuel B. Roberts in the Persian Gulf four days earlier. Ten sailors were injured and the explosion left a gaping hole in the hull. Not officially, but essentially. The U.S. provided economic aid, intelligence sharing and military-adjacent technology to Iraq, concerned that an Iranian victory would spread instability through the region and strain oil supplies. Iran and Iraq emerged from the 1980-1988 war with no clear victor and the loss of hundreds of thousands of lives, while U.S.-Iraq relations fractured spectacularly in the years after. An example of U.S.-Iran cooperation of sorts — an illegal, and secret, one until it wasn't. Not long after the U.S. designated Iran a state sponsor of terrorism in 1984 — a status that remains — it emerged that America was illicitly selling arms to Iran. One purpose was to win the release of hostages in Lebanon under the control of Iran-backed Hezbollah. The other was to raise secret money for the Contra rebels in Nicaragua in defiance of a U.S. ban on supporting them. President Ronald Reagan fumbled his way through the scandal but emerged unscathed — legally if not reputationally. Only four: Iran, North Korea, Cuba and Syria. The designation makes those countries the target of broad sanctions. Syria's designation is being reviewed in light of the fall of Bashar Assad's government. From President George W. Bush in his 2002 State of the Union address. He spoke five months after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks and the year before he launched the invasion of Iraq on the wrong premise that Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction. He singled out Iran, North Korea and Saddam's Iraq and said: 'States like these, and their terrorist allies, constitute an axis of evil, arming to threaten the peace of the world.' In response, Iran and some of its anti-American proxies and allies in the region took to calling their informal coalition an Axis of Resistance at times. Some, like Hezbollah and Hamas, are degraded due to Israel's fierce and sustained assault on them. In Syria, Assad fled to safety in Moscow after losing power to rebels once tied to al-Qaida but now cautiously welcomed by Trump. In Yemen, Houthi rebels who have attacked commercial ships in the Red Sea and pledged common cause with Palestinians have been bombed by the U.S. and Britain. In Iraq, armed Shia factions controlled or supported by Iran still operate and attract periodic attacks from the United States. In 2015, President Barack Obama and other powers struck a deal with Iran to limit its nuclear development in return for the easing of sanctions. Iran agreed to get rid of an enriched uranium stockpile, dismantle most centrifuges and give international inspectors more access to see what it was doing. Trump assailed the deal in his 2016 campaign and scrapped it two years later as president, imposing a "maximum pressure" campaign of sanctions. He argued the deal only delayed the development of nuclear weapons and did nothing to restrain Iran's aggression in the region. Iran's nuclear program resumed over time and, according to inspectors, accelerated in recent months. Trump's exit from the nuclear deal brought a warning from Hassan Rouhani, then Iran's president, in 2018: 'America must understand well that peace with Iran is the mother of all peace. And war with Iran is the mother of all wars.' In January 2020, Trump ordered the drone strike that killed Qassem Soleimani, Iran's top commander, when he was in Iraq. Then Iran came after him, according to President Joe Biden's attorney general, Merrick Garland. Days after Trump won last year's election, the Justice Department filed charges against an Iranian man believed to still be in his country and two alleged associates in New York. 'The Justice Department has charged an asset of the Iranian regime who was tasked by the regime to direct a network of criminal associates to further Iran's assassination plots against its targets, including President-elect Donald Trump," Garland said. Now, Trump is seeking peace at the table after ordering bombs dropped on Iran, and offering blessings. It is potentially the mother of all turnarounds.
