Fox News: The Latest: Orlando, racial unrest topics at Baptist meeting

The Latest on resolutions at the Southern Baptist Convention’s annual meeting Tuesday in St. Louis (all times local):

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4:45 p.m.

The Southern Baptist Convention has approved a resolution expressing love and compassion for the victims of the Orlando shooting and their families.

The nation’s largest Protestant denomination adopted the resolution at its annual meeting in St. Louis on Tuesday. Southern Baptists consider same-sex marriage and sexual relations to be sinful, but the resolution says “we regard those affected by this tragedy as fellow image-bearers of God and our neighbors.”

At the same time, the thousands of delegates to the meeting of the Nashville-based convention also adopted a resolution seeking protection for the religious liberties of those who oppose gay marriage and transgender bathroom access.

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3:30 p.m.

The Orlando shooting, racial unrest and the tension between religious liberty and gay rights are all under discussion at the Southern Baptist Convention meeting.

Convention President Ronnie Floyd told an audience of thousands attending the convention in St. Louis on Tuesday that he believes racism is from Satan, and it is up to churches to defeat it. Floyd has made racial unity a priority of his presidency.

The nation’s largest Protestant denomination was founded in a split with northern Baptists over slavery, has a history of complicity with Jim Crow laws and is still 80-90 percent white. But with 15.3 million members, that translates to at least 1.5 million non-white members in the Nashville-based denomination.

Later Tuesday, delegates will vote on a proposal calling on Christians to consider limiting or discontinuing display of the Confederate battle flag.

Read more at The Latest: Orlando, racial unrest topics at Baptist meeting. 

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