WASHINGTON, D.C., July 28, 2014Dr. Russell Moore, president of The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, offered comments today on President Barack Obamas appointment of Rabbi David Nathan Saperstein as Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom.
Obamas previous nominee to this role, Dr. Suzan Johnson Cook, served from April 2011 to October 2013, and the position was unfilled for nine months since her resignation.
I applaud President Obama for making a nomination to the important position of Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom, a position that plays a key role in our nations responsibility to act on behalf of the persecuted around the world, Moore said. Rabbi Saperstein is a respected thinker and leader who brings gravity to this important task. He has my prayers and my pledge of full cooperation. The downgrade of religious freedom and the persecution of religious minorities around the world must end.
Moore joined other religious leaders in urging Obama to fill this vacancy. In December 2013, Robert P. George, recipient of the ERLCs 2013 John Leland Religious Liberty Award and chairman of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom, “called”:https://erlc.com/article/robert-p.-george-challenges-obama-administration-on-religious-liberty-at-le upon the Obama administration to appoint a new Ambassador-at-Large. On July 15th, Moore wrote a “letter”:https://erlc.com/article/erlcs-russell-moore-urges-obama-to-nominate-ambassador-at-large-for-interna to Obama to nominate another ambassador for this position without further delay.
The Southern Baptist Convention is Americas largest Protestant denomination with more than 15.8 million members in over
46,000 churches nationwide. The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission is the SBCs ethics, religious liberty and public policy entity with offices in Nashville, Tenn. and Washington, D.C.
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