Cancel Culture
The phenomenon of “cancel culture” has come to the Southern Baptist Convention thanks to leftists in the ‘woke’ Social Gospel movement like JD Greear, Karen Swallow Prior, Russell Moore, and Albert Mohler (whose continual hiring and support of progressive extremists has pushed the SBC to the hard left). Cancel culture occurs when public outrage toward an individual grows far beyond the information available about their supposed misdeed, and so merited or not, activists try viciously to destroy them by ‘canceling’ their venues and speaking opportunities while trying to scuttle their careers and push them off platforms.
Leftists excel at cancel culture, as we saw last week with progressive outrage toward popular podcast host, Joe Rogan, for endorsing Bernie Sanders. Rogan, a social liberal and registered Democrat has been outspoken about why ‘transgender’ athletes shouldn’t compete against actual women. Liberals were infuriated he dare endorse their favored candidate and were even mad at Bernie Sanders for publicizing the endorsement. Ben Shapiro and others pointed out that this is a classic case of liberal cancel culture.
Paige Patterson Is Not A Man. He’s an Emblem.
Paige Patterson, who spent his career bolstering the Southern Baptist Convention and inspiring tens of thousands (or more) young men to excel in ministry, was scuttled by the #MeToo Movement when old allegations surfaced from Danny Akin’s institution and Patterson’s former employer, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, which seemed to suggest he was less-than-caring for a woman who alleged sexual abuse during her time at the seminary (Patterson was not the accused).
A singular line of an old piece of correspondence, “break her down,” was used to allege that he tried to cover-up the misdeeds. Actual evidence shows quite the opposite and reveals he likely meant “summarize her account.” Nonetheless, Patterson was seen as an easy target for leftists commandeering the SBC and doing a rapid u-turn on the Conservative Resurgence once led by the aging Southern Baptist bureaucrat.
Patterson represented conservatism in the SBC which covered everything from Scriptural inerrancy to male headship in the home and church. For that reason, feminists like SEBTS professor, Karen Swallow Prior, loathe him and seek to see him destroyed.
Patterson was unceremoniously fired by Southwestern Baptist trustees, with knives going straight into his back by professional idiots like Bart Barber, who would soon be rewarded for playing the role of Brute’ with sweet honorary positions on the Democrat-led Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission (ERLC). Subsequent information has demonstrated that Patterson was likely wrongly fired and the case against him shallow at best.
Not content to ruin an old man’s career, legacy, and reputation with only one false accusation, fake outrage again returned toward Patterson when correspondence showed he enthusiastically supported the election of the first black SBC president Fred Luter and indeed celebrated it, and yet cautioned Luter to make appointments based upon the content of someone’s character and not the color of their skin (how dare he, right?). Nevermind that the first president of the SBC pastor’s conference, H.B. Charles, did exactly was Patterson was concerned about, making appointments to preach based upon skin tone (and in doing so invited several heretics to preach). Patterson’s willingness to encourage common sense was yet another reason looked for by SBC cancel culture to vilify him.
Southwestern Seminary removed his portraits in the chapel and Southeastern even removed images of his wife. We can only pray that Danny Akin will be similarly treated once God rids the world of him.
They replaced Patterson, predictably, with a ‘woke’ Albert Mohler clone and former Lifeway carnival barker, Adam Greenway, who would be sure to undo all of Patterson’s conservative influence at the institution almost immediately. With Patterson’s exit, the Social Gospel lobby in the SBC would have successfully commandeered every major Southern Baptist entity under the eye of Albert Mohler, who has done nothing but assist Critical Race Theorists and egalitarians in their rise to power in the SBC.
Some wondered why, with Patterson’s career already ruined and legacy dismantled, they would proceed to attack him based upon the flimsiest of grievances. The answer is that Patterson is not a man; he is an emblem. Patterson is an emblem of conservatism, and liberals in the SBC want it completely demolished and the car put in reverse, going back to the pre-1979 world in which moderates ruled supreme.
Grear Encourages Patterson Be Canceled
The Houston Chronicle, which weaponized complaints regarding SBC sex abuse (and largely blew them out of proportion in comparison to other ecclesiastical bodies) for what is clearly political purposes, ran an article lauding JD Greear’s caution to SBC churches regarding their decision to have Patterson speak.
Greear told the Houston Chronicle…
Trustees terminated Paige Patterson for cause, publicly disclosing that his conduct was ‘antithetical to the core values of our faith.’ I advise any Southern Baptist church to consider this severe action before having Dr. Patterson preach or speak and to contact trustee officers if additional information is necessary.”
Of course, the good-old-boy trustee action was not an official trial nor a matter of church discipline. It’s wholly unhealthy for the Southern Baptist Convention president to declare a verdict on Patterson as though the local church has spoken or some other lesser court.
We Encourage Churches to Reconsider Having Greear Speak
If the Southern Baptist Convention president can encourage churches not to have Paige Patterson speak, we presume that the furthest-reaching Baptist news site in the world can encourage churches to exercise caution when having JD Greear speak.
Here are a list of grievances against JD Greear that should easily confirm that any church who would have him speak doesn’t take their doctrine seriously.
Black pastor leaves SBC because JD Greear’s Social Gospel
Another church leaves SBC because of JD Greear’s Social Gospel
Yet another church leaves SBC because of JD Greear’s Social Gospel
Voting Democrat is a “great choice” says JD Greear
JD Greear says Muslims and Christians worship the same God
JD Greear literally shakes his behind to crowd of cheering women
JD Greear says ‘greed’ is ‘equally sinful’ to homosexuality
JD Greear butches Biblical Text in preaching Social Gospel
JD Greear hopes for a “politically neutral” “Social Justice” future for SBC
JD Greear retweets views of liberal lesbian, promotes her
JD Greear tells ‘selfish white church’ to ‘spread that privilege around’
JD Greear tells church it’s okay to believe in evolution
JD Greear hosts Obama campaign strategist, lectures Christians to be more compromising on the issues
JD Greear tells Christians to use preferred transgender pronouns
JD Greear demands Christians stand-up against supposed “anti-Muslim discrimination”
JD Greear promotes devotional demanding white people give up their ‘privilege’
JD Greear cancels Christmas service, but charges $5 to attend Good Friday service
JD Grear provides cover for Democrats on “born alive” issue
JD Greear says we should ‘shut up about the Reformation’
As you can see, JD Greear exemplifies the absolute worst that the Southern Baptist Convention has to offer. He is a perennial frat-boy, typical mega-church satellite campus big-box pastor building a kingdom to his own coolness. He is doctrinally deficient and entranced with worldliness, godless philosophy, and Marxist sentiments. He is a ‘woke,’ latte-sipping, dangerous wolf in sheep’s clothing.
Any church that would have Greear preach might as well hang a billboard above the church that says they don’t care about doctrine or the dangerous direction of the SBC.
Be cautioned and think twice.
