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SBC Leader Russell Moore Urges Action to Stop ISIS in Iraq

Associated Baptist Press reported that Russell Moore, president of the SBC’s Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, signed an open letter demanding the international community immediately do something to stop the religious persecution taking place at the hands of the extremist Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. Moore, the SBC’s top public policy expert, joined with Princeton professor Robert George, author and speaker Eric Metaxas, noted neurosurgeon Ben Carson and others denouncing ISIS’s “campaign of genocide against Christians, Yazidis and others in Iraq.”

“I stand in solidarity with men and women across the political spectrum to urge the U.S. government to help put an end to this grievous injustice in Iraq,” wrote Moore in a statement posted on the ERLC website. “Our authorities should use the sword of the state to promote justice and the protection of innocent people.

“At the same time, I would ask Christians to pray for our brothers and sisters in Iraq,” he continued. “As we do, let’s remember that we pray in power. The church may be hounded and jailed and even crucified. But the church can never be beheaded. The Head of the Church is alive, and engaged, and on his way back. This should give us courage and hope, even as we groan at the evil we see.”

The letter expressed approval of President Barack Obama’s decision to order airstrikes against ISIS, but it insisted more must be done, including “everything necessary” to enable local forces to take on the threat. “No options that are consistent with the principles of just war doctrine should be off the table,” the letter indicated.