Southern Baptist Leader Russell Moore: Take Down The Confederate Battle Flag

"The Confederate Battle Flag may mean many things, but with those things it represents a defiance against abolition and against civil rights. The symbol was used to enslave the little brothers and sisters of Jesus, to bomb little girls in church buildings, to terrorize preachers of the gospel and their families with burning crosses on front lawns by night. That sort of symbolism is out of step with the justice of Jesus Christ. The cross and the Confederate flag cannot co-exist without one setting the other on fire. White Christians, let’s listen to our African-American brothers and sisters. Let’s care not just about our own history, but also about our shared history with them. In Christ, we were slaves in Egypt—and as part of the Body of Christ we were all slaves too in Mississippi. Let’s watch our hearts, pray for wisdom, work for justice, love our neighbors. Let’s take down that flag." - Russell Moore, president Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptists Convention.

Todd Starnes is ever so pissed.

RELATED:  The Southern Baptist Convention formed in 1845 expressly to support slavery after Baptists in northern states joined the abolitionist movement. But it wasn't until 1995 that the SBC marked its 150th anniversary by issuing a formal apology. An excerpt:

WHEREAS, Our relationship to African-Americans has been hindered from the beginning by the role that slavery played in the formation of the Southern Baptist Convention; and

WHEREAS, Many of our Southern Baptist forbears defended the right to own slaves, and either participated in, supported, or acquiesced in the particularly inhumane nature of American slavery; and

WHEREAS, In later years Southern Baptists failed, in many cases, to support, and in some cases opposed, legitimate initiatives to secure the civil rights of African-Americans; and

Therefore, be it RESOLVED, That we, the messengers to the Sesquicentennial meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention, assembled in Atlanta, Georgia, June 20-22, 1995, unwaveringly denounce racism, in all its forms, as deplorable sin; and

Be it further RESOLVED, That we apologize to all African-Americans for condoning and/or perpetuating individual and systemic racism in our lifetime; and we genuinely repent of racism of which we have been guilty, whether consciously (Psalm 19:13) or unconsciously (Leviticus 4:27); and

Be it further RESOLVED, That we ask forgiveness from our African-American brothers and sisters, acknowledging that our own healing is at stake.

ALSO RELATED: Several days ago the Southern Baptist Convention issued a formal declaration of civil disobedience against the Supreme Court should it rule in favor of same-sex marriage.

SOUTH CAROLINA: Confederate Flag Flies At Full-Staff Outside Capitol Building

Via NBC News:

In solemn tribute to the nine people gunned down at a Charleston church, two flags atop the statehouse in Columbia, South Carolina, were lowered to half-staff on Thursday. They will stay there for nine days in honor of each victim. But in a bewildering display, a Confederate flag on statehouse grounds is still flying high. It wasn't an oversight. It's because of state law, according to reports. South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley has jurisdiction over how and when state flags fly — but the Confederate flag is under the authority of the state's General Assembly. It can't be changed in any way without a sign-off from the General Assembly, The Washington Post reported. A state press secretary confirmed that detail to the online magazine Slate. "In South Carolina, the governor does not have legal authority to alter the flag," the press secretary said. "Only the General Assembly can do that."

The Confederate battle flag and its display is legally protected under the South Carolina Heritage Act, which was enacted in 2000.

Fifth Circuit Court Rules That Texas Cannot Ban Confederate Flag License Plates

Via Raw Story:

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday ruled that Texas could not prohibit a group that celebrates the Confederacy from having their own specialty license plates. The federal appeals panel ruled 2-1 that the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles Board engaged in “viewpoint discrimination” and violated the First Amendment by rejecting the Sons of Confederate Veterans application for license plates featuring the Confederate battle flag.

The board rejected the proposed plate by an 8-0 vote in 2011, saying that members of the public found the Confederate imagery to be offensive. The board explained in its resolution that “a significant portion of the public associate the confederate flag with organizations advocating expressions of hate directed toward people or groups that is demeaning to those people or groups.” But the federal appeals court said the board could not discriminate against particular viewpoints because the public deemed them to be offensive.

Similar plates are currently available in most southern states.