Dr. Richard Land, president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, released the following statement following the 2012 Presidential Election:
bq. I congratulate President Obama on his victory. It was a hard-fought political battle. Now the really difficult task of governing begins again, and it is remarkable how little has changed in spite of hundreds of millions of dollars being spent and countless months of debates.
The debt crisis looms larger than ever, and the economic malaise continues. The Republicans still control the House. The Democrats still control the Senate with an additional two or three seats. And the president has been re-elected to another four-year term with far fewer votes than he garnered in 2008. This is a recipe for gridlock and division, which the nation cannot afford.
I call upon all elected leaders to seek to lead us in ways that will restore both moral and economic health in our nation. I call upon all Christians and other people of faith to heed the biblical admonition to pray for all those in authority and to communicate their concerns to their elected representatives.
Prior to the election, at the request of the Religion News Service, I sent a letter to both President Obama and/or President-elect Romney. It was the same letter, because the agenda of Southern Baptists and the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission does not change based upon election results.
In that letter, I called on whoever was elected president on Nov. 6 to
* ‘defend the sanctity of all human life from conception to natural death in all laws and all medical programs, government and private.
* respect and protect religious freedom and freedom of conscience for all Americans, including all medical delivery and health insurance programs.
* defend the sanctity of marriage as a relationship between a man and a woman, both in federal and state law.
* forge a bipartisan program to cut the national debt and stimulate economic growth.
* lead a bipartisan effort to bring about significant, meaningful, fair and just immigration reform.
* unequivocally support Israels right to exist within secure and defensible borders and her right not to be threatened with nuclear annihilation by the genocidal regime in Tehran, and
* lead a national bipartisan effort to reduce the impact of hardcore pornography and to eliminate the sex trafficking for which pornography produces the consumer demand.
This would clearly be a full and challenging agenda. However, I believe it is one that the American people would embrace under the principled leadership of their public officials. I will be praying that God will enable the president and all of our elected leaders to lead us to real, God-honoring solutions that will make a significant impact toward us becoming a more moral, unified people.
p(notes). The Southern Baptist Convention is Americas largest non-Catholic denomination with more than 16.2 million members in over 44,000 churches nationwide. The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission is the SBCs ethics, religious liberty and public policy agency with offices in Nashville, Tenn. and Washington, D.C.
p(notes). To request an interview with Dr. Richard Land, contact Jill Waggoner at 615-782-8409, or by e-mail at jwaggoner@erlc.com. Follow us on Twitter “@erlcsbc.”:http://www.twitter.com/erlcsbc
