Southern Baptist leader: Trump's Muslim exclusion threatens religious liberty

By Anna Giaritelli, Anna Giaritelli

Published December 20, 2015

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A leader of the Southern Baptist Convention denounced Donald Trump's Monday statement to ban all Muslims from entering the U.S. in light of heightened concerns terrorists may enter the U.S. as refugees.

"Anyone who cares an iota about religious liberty should denounce this reckless, demagogic rhetoric," Russell Moore, president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, said Monday in a statement.

In the blog post, Moore said a government that can ban Muslims on the basis of religious beliefs would also have the power to target other groups, like evangelical Christians and any form of religious discrimination — even during a time of heightened security — ammounts to constitutionally unfair treatment of people.