The near-universal opinion of America’s military and diplomatic leaders is that Syria remains unstable. The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria — known by its acronym ISIS — continues to butcher innocent women and children, bomb civilian homes, and maintain a force of 20-to-30 thousand terrorist warriors.

In a head-spinning reversal, the President of the United States announced yesterday a unilateral withdrawal from Syria, sending U.S. allies into a state of confusion about American resolve. Sen. Lindsay Graham called the decision “disastrous” and a “stain on the [nation’s] honor.” He went even further, calling the President’s declaration that ISIS had been defeated “fake news.”

The whole ordeal reminds us of another letter from Northwest Arkansas. Dated Mar. 2, 2015, the letter to then-President Obama states:

“Since ISIS is a continuing threat to world peace in a way unknown to us since the Nazis of World War II, we humbly call upon you to use the influence and power of your distinguished office to take the necessary actions now in this urgent hour to bring an end to these human atrocities.”

Twice calling on President Obama to “lead forward” (whatever that means?) in an “historical (sic) moment,” the letter is co-signed by sixteen former presidents of the Southern Baptist Convention. In a telephone interview with a CBS-affiliate, the Arkansas pastor curiously stated that “we need to take action, whatever that action is.”

The pastor continues: “There are times that war has to be done. Things have to occur. And if that’s what it’s gonna take to bring finality to this, then obviously the president is going to have to decide that.”

Yes, dear readers, in 2015 the president of the Southern Baptist Convention “led forward” to call on the president to do “things” that “take action, whatever that action is.”

Pause for a moment while you let the weight of that profound moral certainty sink in.

So we’re left with a question:

If seventeen Southern Baptist leaders believed ISIS was the modern day equivalent to the Nazis, warranting a letter to President Obama seeking “finality” to ISIS, will these same Baptists send a similar letter to the current president denouncing his unilateral decision to withdraw American forces from Syria?

Or put another way, should the United States have pulled out of Germany after WWII once the Nazis were largely defeated?

Of course, we don’t advise such a letter. But we do think it’s worth nothing the kind of theological folly and moral confusion that occurs when partisan allegiances threaten to trump prophetic witness.

(Editor’s note: One of our faithful readers pointed out another curiosity of the silly ISIS letter from former SBC presidents. How’s this for good grammar: “…you will have the unequivocal support of the vast majority of America’s largest, and some say most multi-ethnic and multi-lingual, Protestant denomination in America.”

That’s right. America’s largest denomination in America. Did none of the signatories actually read this nonsense before signing it?)