Southern Baptist Theological Seminary President Dr. Albert Mohler called the new Republican Party platform “one of the greatest disappointments of this season of my life” in a conversation with Family Research Council President Tony Perkins. During the conversation, Mohler exhorted Christians that their commitment should be to truth over a single political party.
“I fear for what this means longterm for what we really care about in the future of the Republican Party,” said Mohler after noting that the Democratic and Republican Parties still have key differences in their stances on abortion. “If everything’s just going to be a matter of political transaction and it’s just a matter of calculating some kind of winning strategy, then honestly we’re going to lose the entire society.”
“It starts with the most fundamental issue, which is the sanctity of human life,” Mohler said. “I see this as a tragic retreat, and I have to hope and pray that it’s an aberration.”
Albert Mohler and Tony Perkins Discuss Cultural Engagement
Albert Mohler joined Tony Perkins Monday on Perkins’ show, “Washington Watch.” Perkins was speaking from the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, where Trump became the official nominee of the party that day following an assassination attempt on his life Saturday, July 13. Also on Monday, delegates approved the new platform that was adopted by the Republican National Committee (RNC) on July 8.
The platform, which comes from former President Donald Trump, is the first new platform from the party since 2016. It has drawn sharp criticism from Christian leaders for softening the Republican Party’s stance against abortion.
Following the RNC’s adoption of the platform, Perkins issued a statement criticizing the fact it was pushed to a vote without debate and said that ahead of the convention, “We have submitted a minority report to supplement that campaign’s platform.”
However, after Trump narrowly survived being shot Saturday evening, Perkins said it was “not the time” to “fight” over the platform, although he emphasized that “there will be further conversations” about it and the manner in which it was adopted.
Perkins began his conversation with Mohler referencing an article Mohler wrote in WORLD magazine, asking for his thoughts on the assassination attempt and how Christians should respond in “these uncertain times.” The two men agreed Trump’s narrow survival was a reminder of the gift and brevity of life.
“What a sobering moment,” said Mohler, crediting the “providence of God” for the fact that Trump is alive. Mohler said that everyone, including progressives, “spoke of this immediately in terms of good and evil” and of “objective reality and moral responsibility. I think that tells us a lot.”
Perkins said he messaged Trump, telling the former president he appreciates the fact that Trump acknowledged “God’s hand of protection. I’m hoping and praying this is a turning point for the president understanding and seeing God’s hand upon his life.”
Mohler echoed those sentiments. “I’m praying the Lord uses this,” he said, and that Trump “realizes how close he came to meeting his Maker. I can only pray that will be a spiritually healthy turning point in the president’s life.”
Another point Mohler emphasized was the importance in our troubled times of being able to have civil conversations with those with whom we disagree. This posture of “basic civility” is necessary both in politics and for evangelism.
“How in the world are we going to win people to Christ if we never have conversations with, say, non-Christians?” Mohler asked. “And by the way, non-Christians think in non-Christian terms. We need to be the people who lean into these conversations.”
Mohler said this behavior is something he tries to model himself. “We want people to winsomely be drawn to Christ, and we want them also winsomely to be drawn to our own convictions,” he said. To do so, we need to have conversations that take “risk and relationship.”
Perkins voiced similar thoughts. “We should not be operating out of desperation. We should be coming from a place of confidence and truth and hope,” he said. “We should be leading the way in having conversations with those we disagree with, cooling this anger and angst that’s out there in our society today.”
