Mike Pence’s shameless suck up to the boss

At the Southern Baptist Convention this week in Dallas, it looked as if things were going well — that they were changing for the better. In a remarkable turn, the convention supported a strong resolution condemning the abuse of women and affirming their role in the life of the church.

The Baptist church was forced to face its unsavory and patriarchal side, and it did so with gusto, admitting openly that the Baptists have throughout their history “wronged women, abused women, silenced women, objectified women.” They did this in the wake of recent allegations of sexual misconduct among some church leaders.

As a former Baptist (turned Episcopalian), and the son of a minister, I felt buoyed by the news that the church was responding. Perhaps the light had dawned.

Then Mike Pence arrived.

He was there on Wednesday to address the nearly 10,000 delegates, known as messengers, at an annual meeting whose purpose is to discuss spiritual matters, at an annual meeting whose purpose is to discuss spiritual matters.

But Pence was there for another reason. To sing praises, yes — but for his boss. And indeed after some pro forma plaudits for his convention hosts, he quickly pivoted to his agenda: an overtly political pitch for Donald Trump’s administration.

To say it was shameless — a tragically missed opportunity to do actual good — hardly captures this performance. “It’s been 500 days of promises made and promises kept,” Pence declared.

He sang the glories of the tax cut, of the President’s meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, and of Trump’s abandonment of the Iran nuclear deal that had been forged with the world’s major powers by the previous administration. He talked about Trump’s efforts to “secure our borders.”

He touted, for the assembly, Trump’s “deep respect” for people of faith, and he mentioned the efforts of the administration to repeal the Johnson Amendment, which holds that nonprofit organizations that received tax exemptions — churches most importantly — should not endorse political candidates or risk losing their exemptions.

There is, indeed, a wall in America between church and state — an important one that has been crumbling. It is the wall that Trump should be strengthening, not one on the Mexican border.