Southern Baptist pastor rebukes 'lynch mob' attacking Russell Moore

Dwight McKissic, the pastor of Cornerstone Baptist Church in Arlington, Texas, denounced other members of the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) for attacking Russell Moore due to his criticism of President-elect Donald Trump.

Moore, president of Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC), has come under fire from other Baptist ministers for his previous comments denouncing Trump's behavior and rebuking Evangelicals who supported him.

Some ministers considered withholding donations to the ERLC, which is the public policy arm of the SBC, while others want to remove him from his position as its president.

McKissic warned that firing Moore will lead to the creation of the "Trump Baptist Convention," and it could damage race relations within the SBC.

In his blog post published on Dec. 24, he asserted that those who are trying to get Moore fired are being influenced by Trump.

"The lynch mob in SBC life who is going after Moore are taking their cues from Donald Trump who was among the first to attack Moore with one of his infamous tweets during the primary season," McKissic wrote, referring to a Trump's Twitter message last May, in which he referred to Moore as a "terrible representative of Evangelicals" and a "nasty guy with no heart."

McKissic noted that there are people who believe that the backlash against Moore is rooted in his outspokenness on issues involving race and police brutality. He said that Moore is one of few Southern Baptists who is capable of understanding social justice issues from a minority perspective.

"Russell Moore really feels our pain," McKissic wrote. "In many ways he is being treated as a racial minority by the convention in this situation. So to fire Russell Moore is to say to minorities, you are only welcome in the SBC if you remain silent regarding your political views," he added.

Moore has since apologized for the tone of some of his remarks. He clarified in a blog post that he did not intend to criticize anyone who voted for Trump.

McKissic urged other SBC ministers to forgive Moore and move on. He said that criticizing Trump should not cause divisions within the convention.