Southern Baptists are the first religious denomination in the United States to condemn China’s Uyghur Genocide.
Southern Baptists are the first religious denomination in the United States to condemn China’s Uyghur Genocide.
According to a Christian Today source, Southern Baptists have become the first Christian religious body to recognize China’s treatment of Uyghur Muslims as genocide.
The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) criticized China’s actions in a resolution released last week, calling on the government to “immediately end its program of genocide against the Uyghur people.”
Griffin Gulledge, a Ph.D. student in systematic theology at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, wrote the resolution, according to Christian Today.
The SBC resolution, as the biggest Protestant denomination in the United States, marked a watershed moment in Christian organizations’ condemnation of China. While others, including Pope Francis, have previously acknowledged the plight of Uyghur Muslims, according to the news outlet, Southern Baptists are the first Christian body to openly declare the matter “genocide.”
The resolution stated, “[SBC] condemns the conduct of the Chinese Communist Party against the Uyghur people, and that we stand with these people in the face of crimes committed against them.”
“We demand that the Chinese Communist Party and the People’s Republic of China immediately terminate their genocide against the Uyghur people, return their entire God-given rights, and end their imprisonment, systematic persecution, and abuse,” the statement continued.
The resolution was drafted during the SBC’s June 15–16 conference in Nashville, Tenn. The declaration explained the Southern Baptists’ position on “crimes against humanity” and emphasized the biblical foundation for human rights.
The SBC also highlighted “reliable accounts from human rights journalists” and cited the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and others in identifying China’s acts as genocide.
Following claims that China had detained over 1 million Uyghurs in Xinjiang detention camps and forced them to work in dangerous conditions against their will, the United States became the first country to officially proclaim China’s actions to be genocide in January.
Western countries and human rights organizations have accused China of rape, sexual assault, sterilization, human trafficking, forced reeducation of children, forced labor, and torture since then. The country has also been accused of hacking into the phones and technologies of ethnic minorities using sophisticated tactics.
China has continuously refuted any charges of human rights violations, citing its “re-education” camps as an excuse. This is a condensed version of the information.
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