Citing the ‘tone’ of the trailer and the inclusion of a sexual abuse victim in the trailer footage, three of six Founders Ministries board members have resigned for the organization.
Founders Ministries made the announcement minutes ago on their Twitter feed, linking it to their website.
The statement was written by Tom Ascol, who maintains a conciliatory and regretful tone, which is sure to add chum to the water of Social Justice sharks, who will smell it in the current.
I pointed out the change in the Founders Ministries website from my public profile FB page yesterday.
Pulpit & Pen has been notified from more than half a dozen sources that Albert Mohler has been putting great personal pressure on individuals associated with Founders and others in the pro-Gospel/anti-Social Justice fight to back off of criticism toward Mohler, Akin, and other Southern Baptist leaders. Many have received personal phone calls from Mohler telling them that he agrees with their position on Social Justice, but that they must not resist him or other SBC leaders.
It is the opinion of Pulpit & Pen that Albert Mohler is personally responsible for putting pressure upon the three men who resigned from Founders Ministries, who he has launched an all-out private slander campaign against.
Two of three who resigned the Founders Ministries board cited the inclusion of a brief clip of Rachael Denhollander, the sexual abuse victim of Dr. Larry Nassar, the purpose of which is heretofore unknown but admitted by many to have been unwise.
Denhollander gave a courageous Gospel witness during the Larry Nassar trial, which is commendable. However, Denhollander’s husband has used the victimization to become an outspoken (and insufferable) advocate for Social Justice, even on issues far removed from sexual abuse. Denhollander received much sympathy, as is to be expected in a culture that is immersed in victimology and its role in Identity Politics, in his complaints about his wife’s image in the trailer.
Tom Hicks and Fred Malone (the latter is a long-time Founders Ministries co-laborer) both made references to Rachael Denhollander in their resignation statements, published by Founders Ministries. The 2.5 seconds of video footage was seemingly an insurmountable hurdle for them to cross in Christ-like reconciliation. In our current political climate, abuse victims are a special class, protected from any and all criticism, whether or not it is related in even the most remote ways to their abuse. This, of course, is why victimology is so successful.
Fred Malone, in particular, complained about ‘tone,’ a sad development for those of us who have for a long time respected Malone and especially found him endearing for—up until this point in his ministry—seemingly not caring about tone at all. It’s what made him so ingratiating to many of us.
The times, they seem, are a’changing.
Jacob Denhollander is a fairly radical Social Justice advocate, and it’s unreasonable to presume that his wife having been a one-time victim of abuse at the hands of a doctor makes him an expert in any capacity on theological or political issues within the church.
We find it personally distasteful that these men have surrendered to the pressure of political correctness in this manner, and apparently have failed to see the historic use of victimology to push for unhealthy and radical change in culture and society.
Furthermore, we would draw attention to the treatment of one who has been a theological opponent of our side of the Calvinist-Arminian aisle for some time, Paige Patterson. Patterson was one of the last hold-outs among SBC entity heads against the SJW ‘Great Awokening.’ And, it was Patterson’s alleged (and questionable) “mishandling” of a supposed abuse victim that was used to scuttle his presidency in short-order.
Pay attention: Victims—both real and fake—are being weaponized to take out all opponents of the leftist agenda. Sadly, in many cases, it’s the exploitation of victimhood itself.
You can find the disappointing statement here.
