Southern Baptists lay out their political road map

One of the country's most influential religious organizations, the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC), wrapped up its annual convention on June 11 by voting on several resolutions revolving around issues at the heart of American law. With the meeting now concluded, the measures could put pressure on many politicians, particularly on the Christian right, to follow SBC's lead.

The convention's voting, especially on the issue of same-sex marriage, is significant given its reach: The SBC is the largest Protestant denomination in the United States, with nearly 13 million members in 2024, according to the organization. It could be a powerful lobbying force in Washington, D.C.

What happened at the meeting?

During the convention, held in Dallas, the SBC voted on resolutions that included "whether to ban sports betting and pornography, as well as if the church should denounce abortion and transgender rights," said the Houston Chronicle. These ballots "call on politicians to establish laws on a number of items."

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The SBC's resolutions for banning sports betting and pornography both passed, while one to prohibit women pastors failed. But the most consequential was the passage of a resolution "supporting a concerted effort to reverse Obergefell v. Hodges as the historic U.S. Supreme Court decision legalizing same-sex marriage approaches its 10-year anniversary," said USA Today.

That resolution, which also passed without debate, says that politicians should "pass laws that reflect the truth of creation and natural law — about marriage, sex, human life and family." It also says the country should recognize the "biological reality of male and female," among other phrasing related to gender identity. Notably, the same-sex measure doesn't "use the word 'ban,' but it left no room for legal same-sex marriage," said The Associated Press.

What happens next?

While the SBC's resolutions are nonbinding policy suggestions, they could go a long way toward influencing politicians. The "convention has long been a conservative trendsetter of national religious ideology and politics," said the Chronicle. A pair of SBC pastors notably "joined fellow conservative pastors to pray over President Donald Trump in recent months at the White House."

The SBC has made it clear that "evangelicals have long-term ambitions to dismantle an institution that many Americans now accept as a basic right," said The New York Times, even while acknowledging that same-sex marriage has "wide support" in the United States. It also has the same type of "pronatalism that has taken hold in many conservative circles, including those influencing the second Trump administration."

Many analysts believe that the SBC's resolutions are looking to the effort that "overturned the right to legal abortions as a possible blueprint for the new fight," said the Times. The SBC has held votes on same-sex topics before. But this was the "first time that the convention has voted to end the right to same-sex marriage," said The Guardian.

The SBC has notable political ties. Former Vice President Mike Pence spoke to the organization during Trump's first term and appeared at its 2024 convention. Trump looms large over the nation's Christian conservative base, and there is a "confidence that [Trump] will have their backs," said Kristin Du Mez, a Calvin University history professor with a focus on religion and politics, to the BBC. The SBC can "sense that there's been this shift, that there may be a window opening and that they think this is the right time to press this issue."