RACISM/RELIGION/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “Dozens of evangelical Christian leaders have sent an open letter to President Donald Trump, asking him to more clearly denounce the ‘alt-right movement.’
Signed by an array of conservative Christian pastors, the letter acknowledges statements Mr. Trump has already made condemning white supremacy and the Ku Klux Klan. Still, it says the president should more directly condemn the alt-right movement, which the letter calls ‘racist, evil and antithetical to a well-ordered, peaceful society.’…
While many people have asked the president to speak out more forcefully against right-wing extremism in recent weeks, the letter is notable because it comes from a group of conservative evangelicals, one of Mr. Trump’s core constituencies.
The letter was drafted mostly by Keith S. Whitfield, dean of graduate studies at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, and William Dwight McKissic, Sr. , a prominent black pastor from Cornerstone Baptist Church in Arlington, Texas. Initial signatories included Steve Gaines, president of the Southern Baptist Convention, and T.D. Jakes, one of the country’s most prominent black pastors…
A White House spokesman said that the president had made clear that he opposes hatred, bigotry and racism in all forms.”
-Ian Lovett, “Evangelical Leaders Call on Trump to More Forcefully Denounce ‘Alt-Right’,” The Wall Street Journal online, Sept. 29, 2017 05:08pm