Russell Moore departs but division remains in SBC May 26, 2021 Bob Smietana / Religion News Service Share this article NASHVILLE (RNS)—Russell Moore’s resignation from the presidency of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission has put the Southern Baptists’ propensity for controversy on clear display. Conservative, pro-life, anti-same-sex marriage, Moore was hardly a theological outlier among his fellow Southern Baptist leaders, yet his opposition to the candidacy of Donald Trump, whom Moore had once called “an arrogant huckster,” as well as his sympathy for immigrants and concern for the SBC’s sexual abuse victims, put him out of step with the SBC’s political culture.