{"id":14194,"date":"2014-06-09T07:00:58","date_gmt":"2014-06-09T12:00:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/%year%\/%monthnum%\/%day%\/southern-baptists-confront-a-third-way-on-homosexuality-and-sin\/"},"modified":"2024-04-14T03:21:44","modified_gmt":"2024-04-14T08:21:44","slug":"southern-baptists-confront-a-third-way-on-homosexuality-and-sin","status":"publish","type":"short-read","link":"https:\/\/alpha.pewresearch.org\/pewresearch-org\/short-reads\/2014\/06\/09\/southern-baptists-confront-a-third-way-on-homosexuality-and-sin\/","title":{"rendered":"Southern Baptists confront a \u2018third way\u2019 on homosexuality and sin"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"FT_14.06.06_homosexualsBaptists\"<\/figure>\n\n

As the Southern Baptist Convention begins its annual meeting<\/a> Tuesday in Baltimore, the country\u2019s largest Protestant body will confront an issue agitating many conservative evangelical Christian churches: How to navigate the rapidly shifting landscape of same-sex marriage<\/a> and homosexuality.<\/p>\n\n

The denomination, which claims 16 million members<\/a> but also has been struggling with declining membership<\/a>, defines God\u2019s plan for marriage<\/a> and sexual intimacy as between \u201cone man and one woman,\u201d and teaches that homosexuality is \u201cnot a \u2018valid alternative lifestyle.\u2019\u201d According to its constitution<\/a>, if a congregation decides to \u201caffirm, approve or endorse homosexual behavior,\u201d it is considered no longer \u201cin cooperation with\u201d the wider body.<\/p>\n\n

But in February, a California pastor told his Southern Baptist congregation<\/a> that he no longer believed the traditional teachings of the church regarding homosexuality. The Rev. Danny Cortez said<\/a> members of New Heart Community Church and his own son, who had recently come out as gay, had helped convince him that homosexuality is not a sin.<\/p>\n\n

Last month, New Heart church members voted against firing Cortez<\/a>, choosing instead to welcome the gay community as a \u201cThird Way\u201d congregation, described by the pastor as \u201cagree to disagree\u2026and not cast judgment on one another.\u201d But in a blog post<\/a> headlined, \u201cThere is no \u2018Third Way\u2019 \u2013 Southern Baptists Face a Moment of Decision (and so will you),\u201d prominent evangelical leader Albert Mohler wrote last week that, \u201cA church will either believe and teach that same-sex behaviors and relationships are sinful, or it will affirm them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary<\/a>, wrote that eventually, \u201cevery congregation in America will make a public declaration of its position on this issue.\u201d He also predicted that the Southern Baptist body \u201cwill act in accordance with its own convictions, confession of faith, and constitution\u201d at this week\u2019s meeting.<\/p>\n\n

White evangelical Protestants are particularly likely to believe that homosexuality is a sin. In 2013, a Pew Research Center survey<\/a> found that about eight-in-ten white evangelicals (78%) said it is a sin to engage in homosexual behavior, similar to the percentage saying the same 10 years earlier (82%). In 2013, about eight-in-ten black Protestants (79%) also said homosexual behavior is a sin, but far fewer white mainline Protestants (38%), Catholics (33%) or religiously unaffiliated people (18%) agreed. Overall, among the general public 45% said homosexual behavior is a sin.<\/p>\n\n

In the same 2013 survey, six-in-ten white evangelical Protestants (59%) said homosexuality should be discouraged by society and 74% said there was a conflict between their religious beliefs and homosexuality, both more than any other major religious group besides black Protestants. In another 2013 survey<\/a>, we found that 66% of white evangelicals said homosexuality is morally unacceptable. Overall, only 37% of Americans said this.<\/p>\n\n

Young people tend to express<\/a> more positive views of homosexuality and more support for same-sex marriage as compared with older generations. And the same pattern seems to be true of young evangelicals. In aggregated polling from 2012 to February 2014, 29% of white evangelicals under the age of 30 expressed support for allowing gays and lesbians to marry legally, compared with 24% of evangelicals age 30-49, 19% among evangelicals age 50-64, and 14% of evangelicals age 65 and older.<\/p>\n\n

But young evangelicals tend to look much more like other evangelicals than like other young people on this question. Among all adults under age 30, fully 67% expressed support for same-sex marriage in our aggregated 2012-2014 data, more than doubling the level of support from young white evangelicals.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Southern Baptists are trying to navigate the rapidly shifting landscape of same-sex marriage and 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