Beth Moore, a Prominent Evangelical, Splits With Southern Baptists
New York Times
From the outside, the marriage of convenience between white conservative Christians and Donald J. Trump looked like a devoted one: White evangelicals voted for Mr. Trump overwhelmingly in 2016 and stuck with him in 2020, brushing aside perpetual lies and sexual impropriety to support a man they saw as their protector.
However, not everyone was content.
Now, one of the most prominent white evangelical women in the United States is breaking with her longtime denomination, the Southern Baptist Convention, citing the staggering disorientation of seeing its leaders support Mr. Trump, and the cultural and spiritual fallout from that support.
There comes a time when you have to say, this is not who I am, Beth Moore, told Religion News Service in an interview published on Tuesday. I am still a Baptist, but I can no longer identify with Southern Baptists, she added.
Her stature in the movement poses a serious challenge for the Southern Baptist Convention, which has already been embroiled for years in debates not just about Mr. Trump, but about racism, misogyny and the handling of sexual abuse cases. Its membership is in decline.