Yeah, this is a bit long, but some of you might be interested.

Evangelical/Baptist Twitter has been up in arms for the last couple of days, since Jonathan Merritt (writer for Religion News Service) decided he didn’t like what Paige Patterson, one of the two authors of the “conservative resurgence” and current president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary had to say about recommending divorce in the case of abuse (as in never):

The church will never be a refuge for abused women so long as prominent leaders like Southern Baptist Paige Patterson are making dangerous statements like this… https://t.co/mOrukbKvjD pic.twitter.com/xeH2lfXe9z

— Jonathan Merritt (@JonathanMerritt) April 28, 2018

Someone then tipped Merritt off to a 2000 recording of Patterson talking about his advice to a woman being abused by her husband (tl;dr: pray, get hit, stay, he’ll get saved):

More vile comments from Paige Patterson. Perhaps worse than the first! Here the @swbts president says he encouraged an abused woman to remain with her husband. The next week she had two black eyes and he says, “I am very happy!” (Ht: @JJ_Denhollander) pic.twitter.com/F49EvoNt0h

— Jonathan Merritt (@JonathanMerritt) April 28, 2018

Well, Patterson was indignant and considered himself the victim:

Paige Patterson of @swbts issues defiant statement defending his dangerous comments on domestic abuse. Claims he is the real victim & critics fueled by “hatred.” A tone deaf response that plays right into the #metoo narrative. I’ve seen this movie before. https://t.co/TtGzaWym5C

— Jonathan Merritt (@JonathanMerritt) April 29, 2018

The story got picked up by the Washington Post yesterday:

washingtonpost.com

And oh, so many, many, many male Baptist asshats have crawled out of the woodwork to defend Patterson on Twitter, while Wade Burleson, an Oklahoma Baptist pastor, who has had the knives out (justifiably*) for Patterson for a while, said that Patterson should resign from his seminary position and give up his coveted speaking position at the Southern Baptist Convention meeting in Dallas next month:

wadeburleson.org

And here’s another statement from SWBTS and Patterson, which still does not address the elephant in the living room, which is that they preach against divorce even in the case of abuse:

A statement on abuse from @_PPatterson_ and the Board of Trustees of Southwestern Seminary. https://t.co/qH8EI6UoCy

— SW Seminary (@swbts) May 1, 2018

But the thing to remember is Patterson has influenced thousands of pastors in the SBC over the decades, to wit:

@swbts @_ppatterson_ attached tweet is from one of your seminary graduates points out the real problem. You all have sent out thousands of men who have been taught that women are to stay in abusive marriages because divorce is the worst sin ever. pic.twitter.com/pPaYDMV58f

— (((Deana “I am a Dirty Computer” Holmes))) (@mmmirele) May 2, 2018

(yeah, it’s me)

* Justifiable knives out: 1) Patterson has a seminary (SWBTS) with declining enrollment paying to build him and his wife an on-campus retirement home. 2) Patterson protected notorious sexual predator Darrell Gilyard. 3) Patterson probably spent into the seven figures buying eight likely forged Dead Sea Scrolls fragments, money that came from donations to the seminary. By “fragments,” we’re talking pieces of papyrus or leather that are smaller than a sticky note. One of those fragments might have cost $500,000 << not a misprint.