Baptist leaders are calling for prayer for the nation after former President Donald J. Trump was shot in the ear at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, tonight (July 13).
Trump was escorted off stage and to a hospital bleeding from the ear. One rally attendee is dead and two others are critically injured, according to the Secret Service, who reported that the presumed gunman is also dead.
Rick Lance, executive director of the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions, wrote in a Facebook post that this “is a time for all of us to reconsider our political discourse and remember who we are as Americans.”
“Christians need to fervently pray for our country and its leaders,” he wrote. “We need to turn to the Lord like never before in our history.”
‘Horrific moment’
Brent Leatherwood, president of The Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, called this incident a “horrific moment” in a statement he released tonight.
“The reality that this has taken place tonight should bring us to our knees,” he said, calling for prayer for Trump and the injured and for those responsible for the shooting to be brought to justice.
“In a democracy like ours, we voice our opinions, we passionately press our case, we bravely dissent, and we loudly campaign for our cause. But we must never cross the line to harm those we disagree with,” Leatherwood said. “Political violence has hurt too many individuals and taken too many lives in our history. Now is the moment for all of us to unite and bring a swift and universal condemnation to this vile act that has no place whatsoever in America.”
‘Commit to praying’
He urged Americans to “pause, lament this violence, and realize how far we have strayed from our nation’s ideals.”
“Let’s commit to praying for our leaders, those who are willing to serve in public office, and appeal to our Lord that His reconciling work would be poured out on this nation to overcome the hatred that is so prevalent in our culture,” Leatherwood said.
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