美国国家公共电台 NPR Pence Speech Riles Some As Southern Baptists' Moderates Gain Strength

 

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

The Southern Baptist Convention, the largest Protestant denomination¹ in the country, finished its annual meeting awkwardly. Vice² President Mike Pence was the featured speaker and delivered a speech befitting a campaign rally.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

VICE PRESIDENT MIKE PENCE: I think there's only one way you can sum up this administration. It's been 500 days of action, 500 days of accomplishment³. It's been 500 days of promises made and promises kept.

(CHEERING)

INSKEEP: OK. If it had been a campaign rally, that would all be normal, but some people at this religious event expected something a little more nonpartisan from their country's vice president. NPR's Tom Gjelten covers religion. He's in our studios. Good morning, Tom.

TOM GJELTEN, BYLINE⁵: Hi, Steve.

INSKEEP: I do have to wonder, though, given that many Southern Baptists have so strongly backed President Trump⁶, did they really mind this speech?

GJELTEN: Well, I think precisely⁷ because so many Southern Baptists have backed President Trump, the Trump administration, there's been some feeling in the movement that maybe they've become a little too closely identified with the Republican Party, with the Trump administration. And one of the people that feel that way is J. D. Greear. He's the pastor⁸ who this week was elected president of the Southern Baptists. He made known before he was elected that he thought the movement should be less partisan⁴, focused more on the Gospel message. Listen to this excerpt⁹ from a speech he gave to the convention on Monday.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

J D GREEAR: We believe that Jesus is the Lord of the whole Earth. He is the king of kings, and he is the Lord of Lords. We believe that he, not any version of Caesar, is the Messiah. He is the Christ, the son of the living God, that salvation¹⁰ is found in him, not in the Republican platform or the Democratic platform. And that salvation did not come riding in on the wings of Air Force One. It came in cradled in a manger.

GJELTEN: So that's what Pastor Greear said on Monday. The next day, the Southern Baptists elected him their president. And then yesterday, Vice President Pence showed up and delivered that political speech.

INSKEEP: I want to underline for people that the vice president, of course, he's a politician. He runs for office, but he's also got this office. He's been hired by all of us to perform this civic¹¹ function. Was Pence aware that the Baptists wanted him to be performing that function rather than being a partisan?

GJELTEN: Well, it didn't sound like it. He may have been, but, I mean, he did lavish¹² praise on the Southern Baptists, but he spent most of his time talking about the Trump administration's accomplishments¹³, from the outreach to North Korea to the achievements in tax reform and growing the economy.

INSKEEP: How did people respond?

GJELTEN: There was a standing¹⁴ ovation¹⁵ at the end of his speech. I mean, Southern Baptists are conservative. They still like the Trump administration. But there was also some criticism and notably¹⁶ from Pastor Greear himself, the new president. Within minutes of Pence finishing his speech, this is what J. D. Greear tweeted - (reading) I know that sent a terribly mixed signal. We are grateful for civic leaders who want to speak to our convention. But make no mistake about it, our identity is in the Gospel. He said, we do missionaries¹⁷, not political platforms.

INSKEEP: Quite a statement, which overshadowed, we should mention, some other news, something that might have been the major news from the Southern Baptist Convention had this not happened.

GJELTEN: That's right. There have been some pretty serious allegations about some of the male leaders as it is, of course, a male-dominated denomination. In the last few weeks, you've had a Southern Baptist seminary president forced out because of the way he handled abuse complaints by women. Another top officer resigned after acknowledging what he called a morally inappropriate relationship. Southern Baptist women have been quite outspoken¹⁸ about these issues. There was a lot of discussion at the convention about how those situations were handled and how things should change going forward.

INSKEEP: One other thing, Tom Gjelten - maybe they don't want to be as political anymore, the Southern Baptists, but they have views of policies. Did they make any policy suggestions?

GJELTEN: I think the one big news in that regard, Steve, was actually around immigration. This is probably the issue where you see the most distance between the evangelicals and the Trump administration. One of the resolutions passed at this convention called for more acceptance of immigrants. It passed overwhelmingly. It criticized the separation of families at the border. Another resolution called for a more generous treatment of refugees. It cited Bible verses to support that position.

INSKEEP: Tom, thanks very much as always.

GJELTEN: Of course.

INSKEEP: That's NPR's Tom Gjelten.

1 denomination   

n.命名，取名，(度量衡、货币等的)单位

参考例句：

• The firm is still operating under another denomination.这家公司改用了名称仍在继续营业。
• Litre is a metric denomination.升是公制单位。

2 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

3 accomplishment   

n.完成，成就，（pl.）造诣，技能

参考例句：

• The series of paintings is quite an accomplishment.这一系列的绘画真是了不起的成就。
• Money will be crucial to the accomplishment of our objectives.要实现我们的目标，钱是至关重要的。

4 partisan   

adj.党派性的；游击队的；n.游击队员；党徒

参考例句：

• In their anger they forget all the partisan quarrels.愤怒之中，他们忘掉一切党派之争。
• The numerous newly created partisan detachments began working slowly towards that region.许多新建的游击队都开始慢慢地向那里移动。

5 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

6 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

7 precisely   

adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地

参考例句：

• It's precisely that sort of slick sales-talk that I mistrust.我不相信的正是那种油腔滑调的推销宣传。
• The man adjusted very precisely.那个人调得很准。

8 pastor   

n.牧师，牧人

参考例句：

• He was the son of a poor pastor.他是一个穷牧师的儿子。
• We have no pastor at present:the church is run by five deacons.我们目前没有牧师：教会的事是由五位执事管理的。

9 excerpt   

n.摘录，选录，节录

参考例句：

• This is an excerpt from a novel.这是一部小说的摘录。
• Can you excerpt something from the newspaper? 你能从报纸上选录些东西吗？

10 salvation   

n.（尤指基督）救世，超度，拯救，解困

参考例句：

• Salvation lay in political reform.解救办法在于政治改革。
• Christians hope and pray for salvation.基督教徒希望并祈祷灵魂得救。

11 civic   

adj.城市的，都市的，市民的，公民的

参考例句：

• I feel it is my civic duty to vote.我认为投票选举是我作为公民的义务。
• The civic leaders helped to forward the project.市政府领导者协助促进工程的进展。

12 lavish   

adj.无节制的；浪费的；vt.慷慨地给予，挥霍

参考例句：

• He despised people who were lavish with their praises.他看不起那些阿谀奉承的人。
• The sets and costumes are lavish.布景和服装极尽奢华。

13 accomplishments   

n.造诣；完成( accomplishment的名词复数 )；技能；成绩；成就

参考例句：

• It was one of the President's greatest accomplishments. 那是总统最伟大的成就之一。
• Among her accomplishments were sewing,cooking,playing the piano and dancing. 她的才能包括缝纫、烹调、弹钢琴和跳舞。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

14 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

15 ovation   

n.欢呼，热烈欢迎，热烈鼓掌

参考例句：

• The hero received a great ovation from the crowd. 那位英雄受到人群的热烈欢迎。
• The show won a standing ovation. 这场演出赢得全场起立鼓掌。

16 notably   

adv.值得注意地，显著地，尤其地，特别地

参考例句：

• Many students were absent,notably the monitor.许多学生缺席，特别是连班长也没来。
• A notably short,silver-haired man,he plays basketball with his staff several times a week.他个子明显较为矮小，一头银发，每周都会和他的员工一起打几次篮球。

17 missionaries   

n.传教士( missionary的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Some missionaries came from England in the Qing Dynasty. 清朝时，从英国来了一些传教士。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The missionaries rebuked the natives for worshipping images. 传教士指责当地人崇拜偶像。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

18 outspoken   

adj.直言无讳的，坦率的，坦白无隐的

参考例句：

• He was outspoken in his criticism.他在批评中直言不讳。
• She is an outspoken critic of the school system in this city.她是这座城市里学校制度的坦率的批评者。