(ChurchLeaders) Last week, the Mississippi Baptist Convention made a public statement calling for the legislators in that state to change the Mississippi state flag. The group, which is a local representation of the Southern Baptist Convention, claimed it was a moral issue and that, as Christians, they could not continue to support the display of a Confederate and tacitly racist emblem on the flag. Another evangelical Christian leader hailing from the Reformed sphere, Ligon Duncan, also called for a change to the Mississippi flag.
Moving quickly, the legislators considered the opinion of the evangelical leaders, coupled with the voices of other individuals and groups, and voted yesterday to change the state flag. For the first time since 1894, the state will have a new flag, absent of the Confederate symbol many people associate with white supremacy.