Reading Time: 11 minutes The whole document is horrifying reading. But one line in it particularly caught my eye. It read, “Use as example.” Today, we’ll look at this so-called “example” that the SBC’s leaders wanted to stand out as a perfect example of sexual predators in SBC ministerial ranks. Along the way, maybe we’ll see just why the people behind this document wanted to use this particular person, Perez Blackmon, as their ur-example.
Scandals
Posted inReligious News
What you need to know about the Southern Baptist sex abuse report
Reading Time: 7 minutes Today, let me show you some of the key features of this report and its recommendations.
Posted inReligious News
Sermon plagiarism: why it suddenly matters to some Southern Baptists
Reading Time: 10 minutes The current president of the SBC, Ed Litton, got caught using someone else’s sermon without attributing it. Usually, sermon plagiarism is simply a minor but common sin in evangelical leadership. But this time, Ed Litton’s faction enemies, the Old Guard, began howling for his resignation. Oddly, they didn’t care at all that his predecessor, J.D. Greear, did something considerably worse during his own reign.
Posted inReligious News
How Hillsong is quickly falling apart
Reading Time: 6 minutes So far, Hillsong has lost 9 of its 16 American campuses. It’s a swift comeuppance for a church that seemed too big to fall. But Hillsong has shown, through these constant scandals, that their dazzling and trendy image is distinctly at odds with their lived reality.
Posted inReligion
‘Who’s Your One’ campaign is everything wrong with the Southern Baptist Convention
Reading Time: 8 minutes A traveling evangelist has begun upselling a failed 2014 evangelism campaign called “Who’s Your One?” Today, let me show you what this campaign is, who started it and who adopted it and why, how it failed, and most importantly what it tells us about the Southern Baptist Convention as a whole.
Posted inReligion
The Hillsong scandal—and damage control—continues
Reading Time: 8 minutes A few days ago, the world learned that Brian Houston–beleaguered founder of Hillsong Church, a global megachurch–violated his church’s code of conduct with “inappropriate behavior” directed at two women. He’s trying his best to spin-doctor what he did, but he’s just making his situation worse. In the process, he’s revealing just how extensive his enabler network is–and how far they’re willing to go to protect Hillsong itself.
Posted inReligion
This Christianity Today scandal doesn’t surprise me at all
Reading Time: 8 minutes I’m not even half surprised by any of these revelations. For years now, I’ve noted unsettling trends in this publication. Once again, then, we learn to our detriment that evangelicals cannot have authoritarianism and institutional sexism without it breeding scandals and abuse.
Posted inReligious News
Southern Baptists apologize to a sex abuse victim. Here’s why it’s a big deal
Reading Time: 14 minutes This apology and settlement represent some of the very most definitive actions the SBC has ever taken regarding any sexual abuse claim since journalists first exposed their mega-scandal, “Abuse of Faith,” three years ago. I don’t think the timing of this action is accidental. Today, let me show you why.
Posted inReligion
SPIRITUAL WARFARE: Catholic edition
Reading Time: 8 minutes Out of every strange practice in Christianity, spiritual warfare might just be my favorite of all. Just hearing a Christian use the phrase puts a great big silly happy smile on my face and laughter in my heart. Spiritual warfare is one of those super-context-dependent Christian practices. When removed from its very specific context its practitioners look like they’re playing a Happy Pretendy Fun Time Game — which they always were.
Posted inLeaving Religion
Jesuit evangelist demands: tolerate ‘the intolerant,’ darn it
Reading Time: 5 minutes I’m guessing that Catholic leaders’ massive misogyny, entrenched sexism, and endless horrific bigotries are indeed quite a dealbreaker for younger adults. I’d worry about someone who didn’t consider that stuff a dealbreaker.