Tuesday’s political forum at the Southern Baptist Convention’s Send conference in downtown Nashville drew Republican presidential contenders Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio.
At least two others, Scott Walker and Ben Carson, regretfully turned invitations down. But organizer Russell Moore, the leader of the SBC’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, says it was another presidential hopeful that he was most disappointed had decided not to attend.
“I invited Hillary Clinton to be here with us,” Moore told several thousand Baptists inside Bridgestone Arena, “and I wish that she had agreed to come.”
Moore says he wanted to show another side of religious conservatives. He wanted to show that they don’t have to fight out the culture war on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter. He wanted to show that they can respectfully disagree with others.
Moore urged the crowd to pray for Clinton, regardless of how next year’s presidential contest turns out.
The event also gave Moore a chance to promote his vision for how they should respond to a changing America.
Moore called for police reforms and greater awareness of racism — positions that Bush and Rubio endorsed in broad terms. He also asked the crowd to see Mexican immigrants as fellow Christians rather than criminals, a dig at Donald Trump.
Moore summed up his thinking to reporters later.
“If Christians really believe what we say we believe, then we’re not going to be the people who are given over to fear. Losers are the ones who are lashing out in fearfulness. We’re not.”
But Moore said Baptists shouldn’t abandon their positions on some social issues. He called for defunding
Planned Parenthood and fighting alongside opponents of same-sex marriage.
Candidates follow Moore’s lead
Bush and Rubio largely followed Moore’s lead, saying little that would ruffle the feathers of religious conservatives.
The most notable statement of the two-hour forum came from Bush, who in answering a question about Planned Parenthood seemed to suggest the federal government spends too much on women’s health.
“I’m not sure we need half a billion dollars for women’s health issues,” he said as an aside.
The aside drew a quick rebuke former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. The Democratic presidential candidate wrote on Twitter that Bush was “absolutely, unequivocally wrong” about how much should be spent on women’s health.
.
@JebBush: You are absolutely, unequivocally wrong.
https://t.co/a6O17dlEh4— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton)
August 4, 2015
Bush later issued
a statement that he misspoke. He meant to say that the $500 million or so that Planned Parenthood receives would be better spent by other women’s health organizations.
Bush was more concise in his defense of the war on drugs. Despite his support for reforms to the criminal justice system, he pushed for aggressive actions to combat drug trafficking when asked by Moore if current federal government policy was “a problem.”
“It’s addiction to drugs that’s the problem.”
Bush blamed cheap heroin from Mexico for the rise in opiate addiction. He said he would try to tighten the border to restrict its flow.
Both candidates told Moore they would fight for Christians’ right to practice their faith — be it domestically or abroad.
Rubio said he’d be willing to arm Christian militias in Iraq and Syria to combat the Islamic State.
“We shouldn’t just say, ‘Christians, you’re at the mercy of the Kurds and the peshmerga, or you’re at the mercy of the Iraqi government, or you’re at the mercy of Sunni tribes, at the mercy of Shia militias.’ Christians should have a right to defend themselves.”
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