Southern Baptists commended the United States Senate for the ban it imposed on Chinese goods made by enslaved Uyghurs and called it a shared victory through a statement released on Friday, December 24.
"Southern Baptist advocates for Uyghur Muslims targeted by China's genocidal campaign commended the enactment of a United States ban on the importation of goods made by forced labor in the Communist giant," the statement said, as per the Baptist Press.
The Southern Baptists celebrated the ban since they were actively involved in putting the abuses of the Chinese Communist Party against the Uyghur minority to an end.
Christianity Daily reported last week that the United States Senate passed the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, a law that bans imports from the Xinjiang Province of China, which is known as the location of factories Uyghurs are forced to work in by the government. Chinese manufacturers have to prove to the American government that their products did not use forced labor.
The Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act is a bipartisan legislation spearheaded by Florida Senator Marco Rubio and Oregon Senator Jeff Merkley with the aim of addressing the human rights abuses of China against the Uyghurs.
The annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention last June 15 adopted a resolution that condemns the oppression of the Uyghurs by the Chinese Communist Party. The said resolution called on the United States government to end the genocide by taking "concrete actions" against it. This resolution made the Southern Baptist Convention the first to denounce the Uyghur genocide among Christian denominations.
Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission Acting President Brent Leatherwood praised for the Senate ban and called it a "shared victory" after several undertakings to push the passing of the bill.
"For Southern Baptists, this moment should be seen as a shared victory for the cooperating churches of our convention. Six months ago, we spoke with one voice to condemn the genocide that is being carried out against the Uyghurs. That helped spur on more conversations, more advocacy and, ultimately, the legislative action needed to pass this bill. It proves that the voice of the SBC matters when it is focused, timely and rooted in scripture," Leatherwood said.
In addition, Leatherwood highlighted the importance of the ban and expressed hopes that other countries will do the same.
"This is an important step to confront the Chinese Communist Party about its heinous enslavement of the Uyghur people. I am hopeful more actions to defend human dignity by America and our allies will follow this one," Leatherwood emphasized.
Madison Baptist Church Pastor Griffin Gulledge affirmed the importance of the ban with Baptist Press since it upholds the "dignity" of the Uyghurs. Gulledge, who is an author of the Southern Baptist Convention resolution, also expressed hopes that people will learn more about the Uyghurs to be able to better appreciate the importance of the ban.
"(The law's significance is) in upholding the inherent dignity of the Uyghur people and putting an end to the genocide perpetrated against them by the Chinese Communist government," Gulledge said.
"It is my hope and prayer that Americans in general, and Christians in particular, will take this opportunity to educate themselves on the plight of the Uyghurs. It is critical that we send a message that we will not tolerate or consume goods and services provided by forced labor, which is just another term for modern day slavery," he added.
