For the last two years, observers have watched the Southern Baptist Convention deal with a crisis of abusive pastors. After a 2019 Houston Chronicle report, it seemed like the leadership of the denomination was becoming intent on protecting the vulnerable…
A few good men?: Promising Young Woman and the culture of abuse
When Judge Aaron Persky reduced Stanford rapist Brock Turner’s sentence from six years in state prison to six months in county jail, he did so on the basis that Turner was “a promising young man.” Writer/director Emerald Fennell’s stark thriller/fairytale…
Paige Patterson out at Southwestern Seminary
After a week of intense criticism, leaders of the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary’s board of trustees reversed a vote by the full board to remove Paige Patterson as president but allow him to live on campus with pay and the honorary title president emeritus. The trustee executive committee voted May 30 to remove all benefits provided earlier, including his new title, the invitation to reside as the first theologian-in-residence in a newly established Baptist Heritage Center, and “ongoing compensation.”
Paige Patterson, Mother’s Day and #MeToo
Sexual assault and harassment are unconscionable in all environments, but there is something especially vile about the culture in religion that often leads to the abuse and silencing of women.
I am with her and her and her
No, this is not a political endorsement. I am not implying that I will vote for Hillary Clinton as the next president of the United States or that you should. This is kind of a new revised version of her…
When sexual intercourse is seen as male entitlement
I often hear remarks that today’s society is too sensitive and too focused on political correctness. Ideas, phrases and words that were once acceptable in everyday society are no longer accepted. Certain actions too, that were once commonplace, are now…
10 ways every church ought to combat sexual violence and domestic abuse
Recently some colleagues of mine and I hosted a four-part series on Baylor University’s campus for survivors of sexual assault and their advocates. We created a space for lament, then silence, next anger, and finally hope. We acknowledged in each…