Thomas Littleton is a Southern Baptist pastor with a long and honest track-record of service to the Body of Christ. He operates a blog entitled Thirty Pieces of Silver, writes at the news and opinion site, Barb Wire, and has spoken out about the LGBTQ-Christian Conference, Revoice, on programs hosted by Janet Mefferd and Brannon Howse. He was scheduled tentatively to be on Polemics Report this afternoon but had to postpone due to technical difficulties. Many evangelicals, including Littleton, believe that the Revoice Conference, which will be hosted by the Presybeterian Church of America (PCA) but which is endorsed by Southern Baptists like Matt Chandler and Karen Swallow Prior, is designed to normalize LGBTQ behavior and “de-sin” the desire. Additionally, it is promoted by many who are very closely associated with the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission. You can find out more about Revoice by reading Littleton’s material here or Pulpit & Pen’s posts here.
Littleton has been present at the SBC’s annual meeting, and I spoke to him on the phone briefly today before the incident. Like so many others I’ve spoken to over the last several days, there was some lament concerning the leftist-progressive direction of the Convention and Gospel-less mission drift toward Social Justice.
It is very concerning that perhaps one of the loudest and most articulate critics of the Revoice Conference has been, according to his social media, hauled out of the Convention meeting by the Dallas Police Department.
Brent Leatherwood, to whom Littleton refers, serves the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC) as the Director for Strategic Partnerships. Prior to coming to the ERLC he was the director of the Tennessee GOP, but was heavily scandalized for numerous reasons including his hatred of Donald Trump, which I wrote about previously in the Polemics Report post, Russell Moore’s New Hire is Infamous Opponent of Trump.
I just spoke again with Littleton, who explained the situation to me.
Littleton said, “I was waiting about 2:45PM, and Leatherwood was glaring at me. The next thing I know, I see two uniformed police officers on my right. They come up to me and told me I would have to leave. I asked, ‘Leave the area?’ because I thought I was in the way or something. And they said ‘No, you need to leave the building. Someone has made a complaint’.”
Littleton then asked who made the complaint and for what and the police officer responded, “The people who run this event. They can file a complaint and remove anyone they want.” The police then explained that no charges were being filed against him, and refused to say further why he was being removed.
“When the police carried me down the foyer,” Littleton continued, “they again said, ‘You’re not being arrested, just removed. They want you removed’.”
While Littleton was being tossed, Leatherwood leaned forward and taunted him for what Littleton claims was about 20 steps, keeping pace with the officers.
Littleton was able to retrieve his material from the press room and told the media members, “A press member is getting kicked out for asking the wrong questions in the SBC.”
Speaking of Leatherwood, Littleton told Pulpit & Pen, “He was real proud of himself. He kept sticking his face into mine. This may be how you run the Tennessee GOP, but not how you treat Southern Baptists.”
[Contributed by JD Hall]
