St. Louis, Mo. — Calling on people to stop displaying the Confederate battle flag, the Southern Baptist Convention today offered some of the strongest criticism yet of the banner by a major conservative religious group.
The group overwhelmingly approved a resolution at its annual conference saying that the flag is perceived by many as a symbol of "hatred, bigotry and racism" and asking people to take it down.
"We call on our brothers and sisters in Christ to discontinue the display of the Confederate battle flag as a sign of solidarity of the whole body of Christ, including our African American brothers and sisters," the resolution said.
Critics of the embattled banner took that as a huge victory.
"They are saying this is a problem," said the sponsor of the original resolution, Rev. Dwight McKissic, senior pastor of the SBC-affiliated Cornerstone Baptist Church in Arlington, Texas.
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