President Joe Biden’s (D) administration has reportedly launched an investigation into the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) over its handling of alleged scandals within the church.
The SBC is the largest protestant faith group in the United States and is among the most politically conservative as 64% of the church’s members are Republican, according to a report from Pew Research Center.
“The SBC Executive Committee recently became aware that the Department of Justice has initiated an investigation into the Southern Baptist Convention, and that the investigation will include multiple SBC entities,” the church’s executive leadership said in a statement. “Individually and collectively each SBC entity is resolved to fully and completely cooperate with the investigation.”
The news comes as the Biden administration authorized a raid on former President Donald Trump — a Republican who was Biden’s political opponent in the 2020 election — this week which has generated a significant amount of backlash over accusations of political targeting.
Democrats in Washington, D.C., are also pushing to add 87,000 new employees to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The IRS was forced to delete a job posting this week that stated applicants needed to be willing to “carry a firearm and be willing to use deadly force, if necessary.”
The SBC said that they were already working on addressing past alleged instances of abuse as evidenced by a recent investigation that they had completed.
“We recognize our reform efforts are not finished,” the church said. “In fact, those efforts are continuing this very moment as the recently announced Abuse Reform Implementation Task Force begins its work and as each entity has strengthened its efforts to protect against abuse.”
The letter was signed by Daniel L. Akin, President, SEBTS; Jason K. Allen, President, MBTS; Bart Barber, President, SBC; Bart Barber, President, SBC; James K. Dew, President, NOBTS; D. Hance Dilbeck Jr., President, Guidestone; Kevin Ezell, President, NAMB; Adam W. Greenway, President, SWETS; Jeff Iorg, President, Gateway Seminary; Brent Leatherwood, Acting President, ERLC; Ben Mandrell, President Lifeway; Willie D. McLaurin, Interim President, SBC EC; R. Albert Mohler Jr., President, SBTS; and Sandra Wisdom-Martin, Exec. Director, WMU.
Story cited here.
