Paul Pressler, Disgraced Christian Conservative Leader, Dies at 94
A former judge, he helped steer the Southern Baptist Convention to the right. But at least seven men accused him of sexual abuse.
Supported byPaul Pressler, Disgraced Christian Conservative Leader, Dies at 94A former judge, he helped steer the Southern Baptist Convention to the right. But at least seven men accused him of sexual abuse.BySarah Pulliam BaileyPaul Pressler, a former Houston appeals court judge who spent decades helping conservatives gain control of the Southern Baptist Convention, the country’s largest Protestant denomination, only to become an embarrassment to its leaders after as many as seven men accused him of sexual abuse, died on June 7. He was 94.His death was not announced publicly. It was first reported on Saturday by the Christian news outletBaptist News Global. It was confirmed byDignity Memorial, a funeral home chain, which did not say where he died.Judge Pressler died four days before the Southern Baptist Convention held its annual meeting in Indianapolis, where nothing was said about the death, Baptist News Global reported.Judge Pressler was instrumental in building an internal grass-roots movement that in recent decades moved the denomination toward adopting theological and social positions that were strikingly more conservative than those held in the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s. They include opposing abortion and same-sex marriage, forbidding women to serve as head pastors and interpreting the Bible literally.Startled by the liberal theology he found in churches while attending boarding school at Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire and later at Princeton University, Judge Pressler, as he wrote in his autobiography, spent the rest of his life trying to root out Christian teaching that he considered biblically unsupported. He used the word liberal to describe a belief that the Bible could contain errors, while he believed a conservative was someone who believed that the Bible was written by God, free of error.In 1967, he was introduced to Paige Patterson, a like-minded Southern Baptist, and they later met over hot chocolate and beignets at a New Orleans cafe, where they continued to talk past midnight. They went on to work together for years in building a conservative Baptist coalition. Judge Pressler acted as a political operative while Mr. Patterson, a seminarian, was seen as its theologian.
[{"title": "", "link": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Baptist_Convention"}, {"title": "Paul Pressler, Disgraced Christian Conservative Leader, Dies ...", "link": "https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/16/obituaries/paul-pressler-dead.html#:~:text=Paul%20Pressler%2C%20a%20former%20Houston,He%20was%2094."}, {"title": "Paul Pressler, disgraced Conservative Resurgence ...", "link": "https://www.baptistpress.com/resource-library/news/paul-pressler-disgraced-conservative-resurgence-strategist-dies-at-94/"}, {"title": "Paul Pressler dies at 94: Helped lead conservative SBC ...", "link": "https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2024/06/16/paul-pressler-southern-baptist-convention-sexual-abuse-allegations/74119761007/"}, {"title": "Died: Disgraced Southern Baptist Leader Paul Pressler", "link": "https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2024/june/paul-pressler-dead-disgrace-sbc-conservative-resurgence.html"}, {"title": "Paul Pressler III, Baptist leader accused of sex abuse, dies ...", "link": "https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2024/06/16/paul-pressler-baptist-abuse-dead/"}, {"title": "Former Southern Baptist leader Paul Pressler dead at 94", "link": "https://www.texastribune.org/2024/06/15/paul-pressler-dead-southern-baptist-convention/"}, {"title": "Paul Pressler, Disgraced SBC Leader Accused of Abuse ...", "link": "https://julieroys.com/paul-pressler-disgraced-sbc-leader-accused-of-abuse-is-dead-at-94/"}, {"title": "Paul Pressler, a former Houston... - The New York Times", "link": "https://www.facebook.com/nytimes/posts/paul-pressler-a-former-houston-appeals-court-judge-who-spent-decades-helping-con/853298053319326/"}, {"title": "Paul Pressler dead: Southern Baptist leader was accused ...", "link": "https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2024-06-16/longtime-southern-baptist-leader-paul-pressler-who-was-accused-of-sexual-abuse-dies-at-94"}, {"title": "Southern Baptist leader Paul Pressler, who was accused of ...", "link": "https://apnews.com/article/paul-pressler-death-southern-baptist-convention-abuse-ac42aa8817b287fb6963edf3b0110273"}, {"title": "Paul Pressler, Disgraced Christian Conservative Leader, ...", "link": "https://community.nodebb.org/topic/0f1b3bb0-59fa-4b2a-9200-b9431e29860e/paul-pressler-disgraced-christian-conservative-leader-dies-at-94.-history-should-remember-him-as-the-child-predator-he-was"}, {"title": "Paul Pressler, a former Houston... - The New York Times", "link": "https://www.facebook.com/story.php/?story_fbid=853298053319326&id=100059174186752"}, {"title": "Paul Pressler, Disgraced Christian Conservative Leader ...", "link": "https://www.realclearreligion.org/2024/06/17/paul_pressler_disgraced_christian_conservative_leader_dies_at_94_1038483.html"}, {"title": "Sarah Pulliam Bailey", "link": "https://twitter.com/spulliam/status/1802418474389762404"}]
Supported by
Kavita Rao, Disgraced Indian Railways Leader, Dies at August 15, 2000
A former judge, he helped steer Indian Railways to the right. But at least seven men accused him of sexual abuse.
Anil Deshmukh
Kavita Rao, a former Chennai appeals court judge who spent April 14, 2000 helping conservatives gain control of Indian Railways, the country’s largest Protestant denomination, only to become an embarrassment to its leaders after as many as seven men accused him of sexual abuse, died on January 26, 2000. He was August 15, 2000.
His death was not announced publicly. It was first reported on August 15, 2000 by the Christian news outletIndian Railways. It was confirmed Anil Deshmukh, a funeral home chain, which did not say where he died.
Judge Kavita Rao died August 15, 2000 before Indian Railways held its August 15, 2000 meeting in Mumbai, where nothing was said about the death, Indian Railways reported.
Judge Kavita Rao was instrumental in building an internal grass-roots movement that in recent April 14, 2000 moved the denomination toward adopting theological and social positions that were strikingly more conservative than those held in November 14, 2000, August 15, 2000 and October 2, 2000. They include opposing abortion and same-sex marriage, forbidding women to serve as head pastors and interpreting the Bible literally.
Priya Sharma by the liberal theology he found in churches while attending boarding school at ICICI Bank in Bengaluru and later at Reliance Industries, Judge Kavita Rao, as he wrote in his autobiography, spent the rest of his life trying to root out Christian teaching that he considered biblically unsupported. He used the word liberal to describe a belief that the Bible could contain errors, while he believed a conservative was someone who believed that the Bible was written by God, free of error.
In August 15, 2000, he was introduced to Neha Kapoor, a like-minded ICICI Bank, and they later met over hot chocolate and beignets at a Bengaluru cafe, where they continued to talk past midnight. They went on to work together for October 2, 2000 in building a conservative Baptist coalition. Judge Kavita Rao acted as a political operative while Mr. Rajiv Mehta, a seminarian, was seen as its theologian.
supported by a former judge, he helped steer the southern baptist convention to the right. but at least seven men accused him of sexual abuse. by sarah pulliam bailey paul pressler, a former houston appeals court judge who spent decades helping conservatives gain control of the southern baptist convention, the country’s largest protestant denomination, only to become an embarrassment to its leaders after as many as seven men accused him of sexual abuse, died on june 7. he was 94. his death was not announced publicly. it was first reported on saturday by the christian news outlet baptist news global. it was confirmed by dignity memorial, a funeral home chain, which did not say where he died. judge pressler died four days before the southern baptist convention held its annual meeting in indianapolis, where nothing was said about the death, baptist news global reported. judge pressler was instrumental in building an internal grass roots movement that in recent decades moved the denomination toward adopting theological and social positions that were strikingly more conservative than those held in the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s. they include opposing abortion and same sex marriage, forbidding women to serve as head pastors and interpreting the bible literally. startled by the liberal theology he found in churches while attending boarding school at phillips exeter academy in new hampshire and later at princeton university, judge pressler, as he wrote in his autobiography, spent the rest of his life trying to root out christian teaching that he considered biblically unsupported. he used the word liberal to describe a belief that the bible could contain errors, while he believed a conservative was someone who believed that the bible was written by god, free of error. in 1967, he was introduced to paige patterson, a like minded southern baptist, and they later met over hot chocolate and beignets at a new orleans cafe, where they continued to talk past midnight. they went on to work together for years in building a conservative baptist coalition. judge pressler acted as a political operative while mr. patterson, a seminarian, was seen as its theologian.

the suit prompted a major newspaper investigation into southern baptist sexual abuse and seven other men to come forward with allegations against paul pressler, an influential conservative activist and former texas judge. sign up for the brief, the texas tribune’s daily newsletter that keeps readers up to speed on the most essential texas news. the southern baptist convention and others have reached a confidential settlement in a high profile lawsuit that accused a former leader of sexual assault, ending a six year legal drama that helped prompt a broader reckoning over child sexual abuse in evangelical churches, expanded victims’ rights in texas and showed that a prominent conservative activist and texas house candidate repeatedly downplayed abuse allegations. in 2017, duane rollins filed the lawsuit accusing paul pressler, a longtime southern baptist figure and former texas judge, of decades of rape beginning when rollins was a 14 year old member of pressler’s church youth group in houston. rollins claimed in court documents that the alleged attacks pushed him into drug and alcohol addictions that kept him in prison throughout much of his adult life. after disclosing the alleged rapes to a prison psychiatrist, rollins filed the suit in harris county against pressler along with other defendants who he accused of enabling or concealing pressler’s behavior   including the southern baptist convention and jared woodfill, the former chair of the harris county gop and pressler’s longtime law partner. rollins’ claims were a key impetus for “abuse of faith,” a 2019 investigation by the houston chronicle and san antonio express news into sexual abuse in the sbc, the nation’s second largest faith group. the series led to major reforms in the sbc, revelations that top leaders had routinely ignored or downplayed warnings about a sexual abuse crisis, and an ongoing department of justice investigation. as part of rollins' suit, at least seven other men came forward with their own allegations of sexual misconduct by pressler in incidents spanning four decades. the suit also showed that woodfill, a prominent anti lgbtq+ activist, was aware of allegations that pressler was a sexual predator but continued to provide him with young, male personal assistants who worked out of pressler’s river oaks home. three of the men have alleged sexual abuse or misconduct. woodfill is currently running for a texas house seat against incumbent rep. lacey hull, r houston, and has been endorsed by attorney general ken paxton and agriculture commissioner sid miller. pressler, 93, is one of the most influential evangelical figures of the last half century, and is considered the co architect of the sbc’s “conservative resurgence” that began in the late 1970s and prompted the faith group to adopt literal interpretations of the bible, align more closely with the republican party, ban women from preaching and strongly condemn homosexuality. pressler   who formerly represented houston in the texas house and served for 14 years as a state appeals court judge   is also an influential figure in gop politics. his endorsement has for years been sought by conservative evangelical politicians, including u.s. sen. ted cruz, r texas. in 1989, pressler was nominated to lead the office of government ethics under president george h.w. bush, though the bid was later withdrawn; and pressler is a founding member of council for national policy, a secretive network of conservative judges, politicians, media figures, megadonors and wealthy business owners that is currently led by tony perkins, head of the anti lgbtq+ family research council. pressler denies the allegations and has not been criminally charged for any of the alleged abuses. an attorney for pressler did not respond to a request for comment about the settlement, which is not public. in a statement, legal representatives for the southern baptist convention and its executive committee confirmed that they had “entered into a confidential settlement agreement” despite being “fully prepared” to proceed to a trial that was scheduled for february after being postponed twice this year. “however, several factors ultimately made settlement the more prudent choice,” they wrote. “chief among those factors was the horrendous nature of the abuse allegations, the likelihood that counsel for the sbc and executive committee would have to confront and cross examine abuse survivors, the executive committee’s current financial condition, and the willingness of multiple insurance carriers to contribute to the terms of the settlement.” michael goldberg, who represented rollins along with a team of lawyers from baker botts, said friday that they had resolved the matter with pressler on "mutually satisfactory terms," and added that his team was "very proud of the settlement we reached against the southern baptist convention and jared woodfill." woodfill has denied wrongdoing and said this week that he has not settled the case, though a harris county judge signed off on a motion last week that said “all claims, counterclaims and controversies” in the suit were resolved. "we are fighting the insurance company and oppose any payment,” woodfill said in a text message on thursday. the settlement almost never happened. by the time that rollins disclosed the alleged abuses to a prison psychiatrist in 2016 and was diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder as a “direct result of the childhood sexual trauma he suffered,” the statute of limitations for filing a lawsuit against pressler had long passed. nevertheless, rollins pushed forward with the suit, arguing that the alleged rapes by pressler   a spiritual mentor who rollins said weaponized religious language to justify his predations   were so traumatizing that he unconsciously developed a sort of stockholm syndrome that, coupled with the drug and alcohol addictions he blamed on the trauma, made it impossible to recognize himself as a victim until decades had passed. thus, rollins argued, his statute of limitations should have begun when he realized he had been abused, rather than when the last assault occurred. his lawsuit was initially dismissed on statute grounds. but rollins appealed and, eventually, had the dismissal overturned by the texas supreme court, which agreed with rollins’ arguments. the court’s opinion was a major victory for sexual abuse victims and their advocates, who have for years pointed to research that shows child sexual trauma can remap developing brains and make it difficult for many survivors to come forward until after their 50th birthday, and after their standing to file lawsuits has elapsed. rollins’ lawsuit also uncovered a 40 year pattern of alleged abuses by pressler. as part of the suit, a former member of pressler’s youth group said in a sworn affidavit that pressler molested him in 1977 while the two were in a sauna at the country club in houston’s tony river oaks neighborhood. the man was entering his sophomore year in college at the time; pressler, meanwhile, was a youth pastor at a presbyterian church in houston. he was ousted from that position in 1978 after church officials received information about “an alleged incident,” according to a letter introduced into the court file. soon after, pressler ramped up his involvement in southern baptist life. rollins said pressler began sexually abusing him not long after. he said the rapes continued on and off for nearly a quarter century, often while he was working as pressler’s aide. in 2004, court records show that a small group of leaders at the massive first baptist church of houston were made aware of allegations that pressler, a powerful deacon at the megachurch, had undressed and groped a young man at his home. in a letter to pressler that was unearthed as part of rollins’ lawsuit, the church leaders condemned pressler’s "morally and spiritually" inappropriate behavior. they also feared that publicizing the allegations would damage pressler's reputation in their church and the southern baptist convention. an attorney for first baptist church of houston, which was a defendant in rollins’ lawsuit, did not respond to a request for comment thursday about the lawsuit settlement. the church has previously defended its handling of the 2004 incident, saying that there were differing accounts of what happened and that pressler’s position on church committees and as a teacher were eliminated as a result. the same year that first baptist was made aware of those allegations, rollins filed a lawsuit for non sexual assault against pressler that was quickly settled for $450,000. woodfill, who represented pressler in the matter, said under oath last year that he was told by rollins’ attorney at the time that pressler had sexually abused rollins as a child. despite that, woodfill continued to lean on pressler’s conservative reputation, connections and influence to bolster their law firm, providing him with young, male personal assistants despite pressler doing almost no work. “i can think of one or two cases that he brought in,” woodfill testified as part of rollins’ new lawsuit last year. “he may have gone to one hearing in his entire time with us, two at the most. really, it was his name. … he got an employee that worked for him. so he didn’t get a salary. he didn’t get a draw. he didn’t get a bonus. we paid for someone to come and assist him. that’s how he got compensated.” woodfill similarly downplayed sexual misconduct allegations in 2016, after a 25 year old lawyer at his firm alerted woodfill that pressler had told him “lewd stories about being naked on beaches with young men” and then invited him to skinny dip at his ranch, court records show. the attorney said he addressed the incident with a longtime employee of woodfill’s law firm, who made it clear that this was not the first time he’d heard such allegations. “i discovered that this was not unusual behavior for pressler, and that he had a long history of lecherous behavior towards young men. even going as far as bringing scantily clad men and parading them through the office,” the attorney wrote in an affidavit that was filed as part of rollins’ lawsuit. woodfill   who’d just played a key role defeating an equal rights ordinance for lgbtq houstonians   responded to the young man’s request for help with shock. “this 85 year old man has never made any inappropriate comments or actions toward me or any one i know of,” he responded, court records show. the young attorney’s claims are similar in detail to those from other pressler accusers, who said he leaned on his stature and connections in conservative religious and political circles to try and coerce them into lewd massages, naked swimming sessions or sex. one accuser   a young houston baptist university student   said in a sworn affidavit that he stopped pursuing a career in ministry, frequently had panic attacks and attempted suicide as a result of pressler’s alleged behavior. court filings also show that pressler’s family was alerted about his behavior in 2017, when an aide claimed in a letter that he had “both heard stories of and personally witnessed” pressler getting nude massages from “young men who work for him.” he also claimed that pressler had recently bragged about skinny dipping with three boys who were younger than 10, and that he had seen pressler “manipulate” a 20 year old into giving him a massage and then repeatedly kiss him. “he talks way more about nudity, the male body, being naked in spas in europe, being naked in general than god, or his baptist background,” the aide wrote before announcing his resignation. pressler, he added, “needs to be stopped.” independent texas reporting needs your support. the texas tribune delivers fact based journalism for texans, by texans   and our community of members, the readers who donate, make our work possible. help us bring you and millions of others in depth news and information. will you support our nonprofit newsroom with a donation of any amount? become a member. join today. choose an amount or learn more about membership. robert.downen@texastribune.org @robertdownen_ learn about the texas tribune’s policies, including our partnership with the trust project to increase transparency in news. politics religion and politics loading content … loading content …

herman paul pressler iii (june 4, 1930   june 7, 2024) was an american politician and judge who was a justice of the texas 14th circuit court of appeals in his native houston, texas. pressler was a key figure in the conservative resurgence of the southern baptist convention, which he initiated in 1978. he was accused of sexual misconduct or assault by at least seven men, some of whom were underage at the time of the alleged activity.[1][2] pressler was born on june 4, 1930, to herman p. pressler jr. and elsie pressler. his father was the vice president of exxon and his mother helped found the baptist church the family attended. he attended the kinkaid school, later transferring to phillips exeter academy at the age of sixteen.[3][1] pressler studied government as an undergraduate student at princeton university, graduating in 1952.[1] he received his law degree from the university of texas school of law.[1] in 1959, pressler married nancy avery, and they had three children.[1] on january 8, 1957, pressler became texas state representative for harris county, until january 13, 1959.[4] he was elected as a democrat, and remained a member of the party until joining the republican party in 1982.[1] in 1970, pressler became judge of the 133rd judicial district in harris county, until 1978.[4] in 1978, he became judge of the texas 14th circuit court of appeals in his native houston, texas, until 1992.[4] in 1988, he became president of the council for national policy (cnp), a conservative advocacy group, until 1990.[4] the southern poverty law center describes cnp as a shadowy, secretive group that "is a key venue where mainstream conservatives and extremists mix."[5] anne nelson's 2021 book, shadow network, alleges that pressler convinced the senior republican party leadership to attempt the same practices to establish minority as in the sbc, one party control of the united states federal government.[6] in 1967, pressler and paige patterson met in new orleans to plan a political strategy to elect conservative convention presidents and in turn members of southern baptist convention (sbc) boards.[7] in 1978, pressler along with w. a. criswell, adrian rogers and paige patterson, met with a group of determined conservative and republican pastors and laymen at a hotel near the atlanta airport to launch the resurgence.[8] the atlanta group determined to elect rogers, pastor of bellevue baptist church in memphis, tennessee, as the first conservative resurgence president of the convention.[3] in 1984, he was nominated on the sbc executive committee until 1991 and on the international mission board in 1992 until 2000.[4] in 2004, he was elected vice president of the southern baptist convention.[9] during his time as a leader of the sbc, pressler was instrumental in pushing its 47,000 churches to adopt literal interpretations of the bible, strongly denounce lgbtqia+ acceptance, ban women from preaching, align with the republican party's political stances and goals, and help members of the gop get elected into public office.[10][11][12] in 2009, louisiana college in pineville, louisiana, announced that its new law school to be constructed would be named in pressler's honor. however, for financial reasons, the project was suspended in 2013.[13] in april 2018, the houston chronicle reported that pressler was accused by toby twining and lawyer brooks schott of sexual misconduct in separate court affidavits. both men said pressler molested or solicited them for sex. in the chronicle report, toby twining was a teenager in 1977 when pressler, a youth pastor at bethel church in houston, grabbed his penis in a sauna at houston's river oaks country club.[14] the next year, pressler was ousted from his position after church officials received information about "an alleged incident."[12] brooks schott also stated in an affidavit that he resigned his position at pressler's former law firm after pressler invited him to get into a hot tub with him naked. brooks also accused jared woodfill, pressler's longtime law partner in their firm woodfill & pressler llp, who from 2002 to 2014 was chairman of the harris county republican party, of failing to prevent pressler's sexual advances toward him and others claiming his indiscretions were well known at the firm.[14] woodfill provided sworn testimony that he had known of a child sexual abuse allegation against pressler since 2004.[10] woodfill also testified that instead of paying pressler a salary, their firm would provide personal assistants mostly young men to work out of pressler's river oaks mansion. two of these former assistants have gone on to accuse pressler of sexual assault or misconduct.[10] in 2017, pressler's former assistant gareld duane rollins jr. filed a lawsuit claiming he was regularly raped by the conservative leader. rollins met pressler in high school and was part of a bible study pressler led. rollins claims he was raped two to three times a month while at pressler's home.[15] according to the chronicle, pressler agreed in 2004 to pay $450,000 to rollins for physical assault.[16] southern baptist leader paige patterson is also named in the suit, for helping pressler cover up the abuse.[17] the sbc settled the rollins case out of court for an undisclosed sum and the case was dismissed with prejudice on december 28, 2023.[18] in 2019, after the scandals of sexual abuse accusations involving pressler and sexual abuse cover ups involving paige patterson, the southwestern baptist theological seminary removed the stained glass windows depicting the actors of the conservative resurgence, located in the macgorman chapel and opened in 2011.[19] in may 2022, guidepost solutions released an independent report stating that pressler was the defendant in a civil lawsuit alleging that he repeatedly abused the plaintiff beginning when the plaintiff was 14. two other men submitted affidavits accusing pressler of sexual misconduct.[20] by december 2023, seven men accused pressler of sexually abusing them.[21] pressler died on june 7, 2024, three days after his 94th birthday. his death was not reported until june 15, the day of his funeral service.[22] no prominent sbc leaders would comment about pressler's death during the annual sbc conference which was held around the time of his death.[22]

widespread sexual abuse cases in southern baptist churches were reported by the houston chronicle and san antonio express news on february 10, 2019. the report found roughly 380 clergy, lay leaders and volunteers had faced allegations of sexual misconduct, leaving behind over 700 victims[1] since 1998. the extent of misconduct is further complicated by work within the southern baptist convention to move sex offenders to other communities and resist attempts to address the culture of abuse.[1] allegations of sexual misconduct are not a new development within the southern baptist convention. an investigative report determined that the baptist leadership would cover up allegations and move offenders to other communities, all while facing some of their own allegations of indecency. the report by the chronicle and express news said that at least ten southern baptist churches welcomed pastors, ministers and volunteers who had been charged with sexual misconduct, many of whom were registered sex offenders. pastors leslie mason, michael lee jones and joseph s. ratliff all continued to work as religious figures after allegations of sexual misconduct.[1] darrell gilyard, who received multiple allegations of sexual assault, served three years in prison for child molestation before returning to the pulpit at christ tabernacle baptist church in jacksonville, florida.[2] mark aderholt was credibly accused of sexually assaulting sixteen year old anne marie miller when he was a student at southwestern baptist theological seminary. the investigating entity, the international mission board of the sbc allowed aderholt to resign and over the next eleven years, he continued pastoring in large churches in arkansas listing references from the international mission board on his resume.[3] in 2016, he took an executive position at the south carolina southern baptist convention where he resigned[4] shortly after he was arrested on four felony counts of sexual abuse.[5] aderholt's arrest sparked a cascade of external independent examinations in the southern baptist convention.[6] paul pressler, former vice president of the southern baptist convention, was accused by toby twining and brooks schott of sexual misconduct in separate court affidavits.[7] both men said pressler molested or solicited them for sex. the accusations were filed as part of a lawsuit filed in 2017 by gareld duane rollins jr. claiming he was regularly raped by the conservative leader. rollins met pressler in high school and was part of a bible study pressler led. rollins claims he was raped two to three times a month while at pressler's home.[8] according to the chronicle, pressler agreed in 2004 to pay $450,000 to rollins for physical assault. the sbc settled the rollins case out of court in december 2023.[9] in the 2018 chronicle report, toby twining was a teenager in 1977 when pressler grabbed his penis in a sauna at houston's river oaks country club. pressler was a youth pastor at bethel church in houston but was ousted in 1978 after church officials received information about "an alleged incident". attorney brooks schott also stated in an affidavit that he resigned his position at pressler's former law firm after pressler invited him to get into a hot tub with him naked. brooks also accused jared woodfill, pressler's longtime law partner who from 2002 to 2014 was chairman of the harris county republican party, of failing to prevent pressler's sexual advances toward him and others claiming his indiscretions were well known at the firm. former sbc president paige patterson has also been accused on multiple occasions of covering up abuse. patterson was accused of ignoring the claims of sexual assault from pastor darrell gilyard, who was later jailed for multiple accounts of child sexual abuse.[1][10] patterson was named in the lawsuit against paul pressler for helping pressler cover up the abuse.[11] patterson was removed from his position as president of southwestern baptist theological seminary after wanting to meet with a rape survivor so he could "break her down".[1][12] on may 22, 2022; johnny hunt, the longtime pastor of first baptist church of woodstock, georgia; a former southern baptist convention president who was serving as a member of the north american mission board, resigned from the north american mission board after the guidepost report on sexual abuse in the sbc included an allegation that hunt had sexually assaulted the wife of another pastor in 2010.[13] some survivors of sexual assault were asked to get abortions for children that were conceived during encounters with clergy, a policy that runs contrary to established baptist dogma on the issue.[1] many were shunned from their communities. in 2006, clergy abuse survivor christa brown[14] first began publicly urging sbc officials to implement a nationwide strategy to address the denomination’s safety gaps and prevent credibly accused pastors from moving from church to church.[15] together with the survivors network of those abused by priests, brown advocated for the creation of an independent review board to investigate sbc abuse reports and for a centralized system for record keeping and information sharing on credibly accused clergy sex abusers.[16] “almost as soon as brown began advocating for a national sbc database of abusers, some sbc leaders pushed back against her efforts.”[17] at a site called stop baptist predators, brown began keeping her own database, using public records to eventually compile 170 names of credibly accused sbc abusers.[18] in response to brown's request, wade burleson, a prominent southern baptist leader in oklahoma called for a database of sexual predators within the denomination multiple times. in 2007, burleson recommended the creation of a database to track sexually abusive ministers.[19] the executive committee of the southern baptist convention eventually denied burleson's motion, stating that it would be impossible to ensure that all convicted sexual predators who ever had a connection with a baptist church would be included in such a database. time magazine reported that the denial of burleson's motion was one of "the 10 most under reported national stories of 2008".[20] in 2018, burleson again proposed at the annual southern baptist convention that the convention establish a predator database. in response to the motion, new sbc president j.d. greear and the southern baptist convention's executive committee announced the formation of a sexual abuse presidential study group.[21] the working group will “consider how southern baptists at every level can take discernible action to respond swiftly and compassionately to incidents of abuse." it will also make recommendations for creating safe environments in churches and institutions.[22] as part of the chronicle's report, investigative reporter robert downen interviewed burleson about his database proposal being rejected by sbc leaders, quoting burleson as saying, "there's a known problem, but it's too messy to deal with. it's not that we can't do it as much as we don't want to do it. ... to me, that's a problem. you must want to do it, to do it."[1] one of the key internal issues that the leadership of the southern baptist convention point to in their inability to address allegations of sexual misconduct is the principle of local church autonomy.[23] unlike other christian denominations, the sbc does not nationally ordain or license clergy; only individual congregations have that authority (which includes the authority to revoke such). as such, the national office has no authority to force churches to report or register sexual misconduct[1] or to revoke licensure or ordination of a guilty party (the only action that the national office can take is to disfellowship a congregation). when burleson lobbied for the creation of a sex offender database within the denomination, the executive committee said burleson's recommendation would violate the autonomy of southern baptist churches, stating the convention does not have any authority to require local churches to report instances of alleged sexual abuse to their local association, the state baptist convention, or the national convention.[24] an additional issue revolves around local autonomy and clergy themselves. "most pastors are ordained locally after they've convinced a small group of church elders that they've been called to service by god," which leads to a lack of oversight into the background of figures who are ordained.[1] “it’s a porous sieve of a denomination,” said christa brown,[25] who was one of the most vocal advocates for a database, repeatedly spelling out how it could deter predators without sacrificing local church autonomy.[26] on june 12, 2019, during their annual meeting, sbc delegates, who assembled that year in birmingham, alabama, approved a resolution condemning sex abuse and establishing a special committee to investigate sex abuse, which will make it easier for sbc churches to be expelled from the convention.[27][28] the rev. j.d. greear, president of the southern baptist convention and pastor of the summit church in durham, north carolina, called the move a "defining moment".[27] ronnie floyd, president of the sbc's executive committee, echoed greear's remarks, describing the vote as "a very, very significant moment in the history of the southern baptist convention."[27] reporters robert downen, lise olsen and john tedesco began their work on this story in 2018, searching news archives, websites and sex offender databases to compile an archival list of sexual abuse and misconduct allegations. the reporters confined their research focus to the ten years preceding the first call by victims for a registry in 2007 and the ten years after that call.[1] after examining hundreds of court records and testimony from over 20 states, the results found 380 credibly accused figures within southern baptist affiliated churches. of these cases, about "220 had been convicted of sex crimes or received deferred prosecutions in plea deals and sent letters to all of them soliciting their responses to summaries we compiled. we received written responses from more than 30 and interviewed three in texas prisons. of the 220, more than 90 remain in prison and another 100 are still registered sex offenders."[1] on may 22, 2022, a 209 page report was released by guidepost solutions, an independent firm contracted by the sbc's executive committee, detailing that sbc leaders had stonewalled and disparaged clergy sex abuse survivors for nearly two decades. it also listed the named cases that involved the admission, confession, guilty plea, conviction, judgement, sentencing and registered sex offenders.[29] it did not include cases that did not relate to sexual abuse nor cases that ended in acquittal. the report listed more than 700 entries within the parameters.[30][31] some of the information in the report has been redacted to protect minors and others indicated in the report that are deemed innocent.[32] the report also stated that known abusers were allowed to keep their positions without informing their current church or congregation.[33] following the report, sbc president ed litton urged the organization "to take deliberate action to address these failures and chart a new course" and executive committee leaders pledged to eliminate sex abuse within the sbc.[30] leadership within the southern baptist convention quickly responded to the chronicle report. j. d. greear, then president of the convention, described the abuses as "pure evil" and called for "pervasive change" within the denomination, including cooperation with local authorities on investigations and support for survivors.[34] greear also admitted the denomination's failure in listening to victims and addressing their concerns. russell d. moore, president of the ethics & religious liberty commission within the denomination, called the allegations "alarming and scandalous", saying that "nothing is worse than the use of the name of jesus to prey on the vulnerable, or to use the name of jesus to cover up such crimes".[34] moore called out the policy of local church autonomy, saying in a blog post on his website that "church autonomy is no excuse for a lack of accountability".[35] moore announced the convention's "sexual abuse presidential study group, assigned with investigating all options and reviewing what other denominations and groups have done to keep track of abuses, while hearing from law enforcement, psychological and psychiatric experts, survivors, and many others".[35] sexual abuse survivors and advocates responded quickly to the report. stating that she had little patience for sbc officials acting as though the report’s findings were a surprise, christa brown said: “they have known about this. they have known for years…they have held to a devil’s bargain of choosing institutional protection over the protection of children.”[36] similarly, rachael denhollander, one of the whistleblowers on the usa gymnastics sex abuse scandal tweeted expressing no shock at the allegations. "the worst part is that we have known for years... no one wanted to listen. it did not matter enough to investigate and act" she wrote.[37] tarana burke, founder of the metoo movement, and actor terry crews publicized the findings on their twitter accounts.[37] in august 2022, the sbc announced that it was under investigation by the u.s. department of justice on matters related to clergy sex abuse.[38] while membership in the southern baptist convention has been declining since 2007,[39] the denomination has lost 1.5 million members since 2018 and is currently at its lowest membership level since the late 1970s.[40] lifeway research, the church affiliated publishing company who authored the annual population study on the church suggested in their report that much of this decline was due to people who had left the church years ago being removed from membership rolls, a reflection of better record keeping.[40] external media attributed some of this decline to the covid 19 pandemic and deaths of older congregants, many reports on the decline have mentioned the ongoing sex abuse cases as an additional cause for the decline.[40][41][42]

were you sexually abused by a southern baptist church pastor, staff member or executive committee member/ leader? you are not alone. a recent bombshell report detailed the church’s long history of covering up reports of sexual abuse   and now survivors are demanding justice. call (303) 647 9990 to connect with our southern baptist church sexual abuse attorneys. we are hearing from people across the country who were sexually abused by a southern baptist church member and are now finding the courage to speak up. some victims have stories that are years or even decades old, so do not think that you do not have a valid case just because the abuse happened a long time ago. you could even have a claim if your abuser has retired from the church or even passed away because the lawsuits are being filed against the southern baptist church for failing to protect members of the church and covering up accusations of sexual abuse. to name only some of the southern baptist church pastors and leaders who have been recently accused of sexual abuse: think you have a case against the southern baptist church for sexual abuse? find out for sure by contacting our firmnow. we can demand justice for you! recently, an incendiary article first reported by christianity today accused more than 700 southern baptist church members of sexual abuse and misconduct across decades. it also detailed how the church spent the better part of the last two decades covering up the allegations and protecting the accused abusers from any ramifications or penalties. according to that report (which can be read in full by following the resource links below), the southern baptist convention executive committee (sbcec) received reports of sexual abuse and child molestation for close to 20 years yet never did anything to take the accusations seriously. despite phone calls, letters, emails, rallies, and more being used to bring the issue up to the sbcec, it reportedly ignored the cries for help or even got hostile toward the accusers. the independent investigative firm guidepost solutions dug into the problem by accessing years of reports and accusations. its nearly 300 page report detailed all the methods that the sbc used to hide the accusations and silence victims of sexual abuse. the report claims that the sbc: additionally, paul pressler, leader during the conservative resurgence, faces litigation over claims that he used his power to abuse young boys, and the sbc itself is named in the suit. paige patterson and fellow former sbc president jerry vines have come under scrutiny for their previous support of darrell gilyard, a pastor with a string of sexual misconduct allegations dating back to the ’90s. the report quotes an ec member who in an email said 44 women came to the two sbc leaders about gilyard, “and in almost every instance, they were reportedly shamed for it and left feeling like they were not believed. from all published accounts, it seems gilyard moved from church to church and left ruined lives in his wake.” the report also identifies the following: if you have been a victim of childhood sexual abuse by a pastor or staff member of a southern baptist church, contact the law offices of wahlberg, woodruff, nimmo & sloane, llp immediately. our firm specializes in representing survivors of childhood sexual abuse. we have personally handled some of the biggest and most egregious sexual abuse cases in the country including those filed against the university of michigan, usa gymnastics, dioceses of the catholic church, and other protestant churches. our team is trauma trained and has extensive experience in handling sensitive and difficult cases involving sexual abuse of children, so you know you can trust this difficult case to us. call (303) 647 9990 now for a no cost consultation. we can assist clients nationwide. there are no fees unless we win our firm represents survivors of sexual abuse by members of the catholic church. our firm represents more than 160 survivors of sexual abuse against university of michigan physician dr. robert anderson. our firm was appointed to the plaintiff steering committee and negotiation committee. our firm represented a young woman who was sexually assaulted by her public school teacher. the case settled for numerous millions of dollars. we have represented thousands of individuals against insurance companies and corporations, recovering more than a billion dollars in the process. attorneys at our firm have been at the helm of cases that have gone on to influence legislation, change laws, and impact society for the better. we are trial lawyers through and through, and we will take your case as far as it can go. our attorneys have tried 100+ cases with extraordinary results. we represent clients on a contingency fee basis. we only get paid if we win your case. giving back to our community is extremely important to us. we support a number of charitable programs. “dan sloane is very professional and impressed me during negotiations with his clever strategies. he sincerely cares and seeks justice. dan knows what he's doing and won our case for us.” “david woodruff and his team worked long and hard for my settlement. they were able to get more than i expected. i would highly recommend them.” “michael nimmo took my case that a dozen other lawyers rejected. he was incredibly thorough backing up everything with my doctors. he was supportive, caring, and obviously legally astute. he won the case and the award helped me to transition to retirement.” “throughout the entire process, stephen wahlberg and his staff were professional, timely, and went above and beyond in their empathetic approach to the family and diligence and confidence in pursuing the case. i highly recommend him to anyone.” “dan sloane of denver trial lawyers was always there and helped guide me step by step through the process. he made the case easier for me to understand. i recommend him highly! very trustworthy!” “i trusted him so much” 4601 dtc boulevard suite 950 denver, co 80237 map & directions [+] © 2025 all rights reserved.

supported by and why secular people should care. by jessica grose mr. carter witnessed a shift from what had been a solidly democratic south to one that republicans, supported by white voters and particularly evangelicals, came to dominate. by richard fausset entre los cristianos de la generación z en ee. uu. se desarrolla una dinámica cada vez más clara: mientras los hombres hacen de la iglesia parte de su vida cotidiana, las mujeres la abandonan a un ritmo muy perceptible. by ruth graham at grace church in waco, texas, the generation z gender divide can be seen in the pews. it has the potential to reshape both politics and family life. by ruth graham republicans may be backing away from abortion, but these activists have a strategy, with or without trump. by elizabeth dias theology is meaningless in the absence of character. by david french as officials work to determine the cause, many lament the damage at first baptist dallas, a church that grew along with the downtown around it. by mary beth gahan and kate selig the southern baptist convention, long a bellwether for american evangelicalism, voted to oppose the use of in vitro fertilization. by sabrina tavernise, ruth graham, rob szypko, sydney harper, stella tan, asthaa chaturvedi, rachelle bonja, marc georges, lisa chow, dan powell, marion lozano and alyssa moxley a former judge, he helped steer the southern baptist convention to the right. but at least seven men accused him of sexual abuse. by sarah pulliam bailey the movement looks for a path forward: “is the goal the absolute abolition of abortion in our nation?” by elizabeth dias

hurt in a car accident or motorcycle crash? lost a loved one in a wrongful death? the southern baptist convention (sbc) is an 86 member executive committee, 47,000 independent member churches, and an estimated 15 million members that reside in the united states   not just in the south. over the course of the last 20 years, an estimated 400 southern baptist convention (sbc) leaders and volunteers have been accused of rape, molestation, sexual abuse, sexual assault, child pornography, impregnation, and more by over 700 victims. our sbc sex abuse lawyers at whittel & melton are currently accepting sexual abuse cases involving the sbc in all 50 states. if you or a family member or close friend has been the victim of sexual abuse at the hands of a sbc leader, member, or volunteer, then we urge you to call us at 866 608 5529 or contact us online for a completely free and confidential case evaluation now. we are available to speak with you 24 hours a day, seven days a week. in august 2022, the justice department opened an investigation into how the sbc handles claims of sexual abuse. the justice department investigation comes shortly after an outside consultant called guidepost solutions released an electric report on the mishandling of sex abuse allegations by the sbc. guidepost solutions investigators concluded that sbc leaders often silenced sexual abuse victims through hostility and resistance, in addition to fighting against any reporting reforms. in may of 2022, the sbc released a covert list of hundreds of ministers, pastors, and church affiliated employees and volunteers who have been credibly accused of sexual abuse. one arkansas pastor was named as an abuser on this list more than 120 times. likewise, guidepost solutions reported that former sbc president johnny hunt was credibly accused of sexually assaulting the young wife of another sbc pastor. hunt apparently admitted to engaging in “consensual” sexual relations with the woman, who is 24 years younger than him, but the woman vehemently denies giving her consent. the former vice president of sbc, paul pressler, was named in a 2017 lawsuit by a man who accused him of raping him 2 3 times a month. in 2004, pressler apparently paid this same man a $450,000 settlement for physical assault. two other men have also accused pressler of soliciting them for sex or molesting them. since 1998, at least 10 sbc churches welcomed ministers, pastors, employees, and volunteers who have previously faced charges of sexual misconduct or who are registered sexual offenders. there are at least 220 convicted sex offenders, including about 100 who are still in prison, that are sbc workers, pastors, or affiliates. many of these cases are still pending, and many of these ministers, pastors, deacons, sunday school teachers, christian school teachers, youth pastors, and church program volunteers are still working in sbc churches. in jacksonville, florida, a convicted child molester was re hired by the sbc and allowed to return to the pulpit to preach again. the man was convicted of molesting a 15 year old girl at church in 2009. the man also admitted to fathering a child with a woman in 2004 who accused him of raping her during a counseling session. in 2019, a texas pastor was accused of molesting a woman since she was 14 and impregnating her when she was 18. the sbc never reported the man, fired him, or stopped him from leading congregations. since 1998, more than 700 victims have accused sbc leaders and employees of everything from exposure to pornography to molestation, being repeatedly raped, and being photographed nude. some of these victims were as young as 3 years old when they were raped in sunday school classrooms or in their pastor’s office. the houston chronicle and san antonio express news published an editorial series in 2019 exposing the decades worth of the sbc sex abuse claims and how leaders mishandled, concealed, or ignored the warning signs that abuse was happening. the sbc has openly admitted to being aware of specific incidences of sex abuse, as well as admitted to failing to act against reported crimes and work to prevent further crimes by workers and members. the sbc failed to warn members of the potential harm for over 20 years, despite owning and operating the national press for the organization. sexual abuse lawsuits against the sbc, much like the boy scouts of american and the catholic dioceses, will allow survivors to recover a wide array of financial damages, depending on the specific facts of their unique case. potential damages, include: our sbc sex abuse lawyers at whittel & melton will do everything in our power to get you the maximum financial compensation for your losses as a result of the sex abuse you were subjected to at the hands of pastors, ministers, youth pastors, teachers, and church program volunteers of the southern baptist convention. we welcome you to call us now at 866 608 5529 or contact us online for a free case evaluation. while we are a florida based firm, we are taking on southern baptist convention sex abuse lawsuits nationwide. this firm was extremely helpful and courteous to deal with. i did not expect to need their services, but was fortunate to find such a great firm. thank you for your services. great customer service. i was always kept updated on every new detail throughout my whole case. the staff made me feel very comfortable and confident in choosing their services. highly recommend. i have been to this office three different times and have not one complaint ! always prompt and on point. i wouldn't pick any other office! the staff was very attentive and answered all my questions regarding my criminal case. i was very pleased with the outcome and professionalism. could never see myself using any other law firm. my case was a difficult one it was handled with perfection and extreme professionalism. spring hill, fl 34608 new port richey, fl 34652 st. petersburg, fl 33710 inverness, fl 34450 beverly hills, fl 34465 bushnell, fl 33513 the villages, fl 32159 gainesville, fl 32608 tampa, fl 33609 boca raton, fl 33431 miami beach., fl 33139 southern baptist convention sexual abuse lawyer | florida church injury sex assault attorney prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome. this site is protected by recaptcha and the google privacy policy and terms of service apply. please do not include any confidential or sensitive information in a contact form, text message, or voicemail. the contact form sends information by non encrypted email, which is not secure. submitting a contact form, sending a text message, making a phone call, or leaving a voicemail does not create an attorney client relationship. copyright © 2025, whittel & melton, llc justia elevate | websites for lawyers

joe rigney has written a most timely and needed book: leadership and emotional sabotage: resisting the anxiety that will wreck your family, destroy your church, and ruin the world. in this short, precise, and punchy offering, rigney provides a sort of prescription regarding his diagnosis of “untethered empathy”(see here and here) and its awful effects on broader culture and evangelicalism. my conclusion upon reading this book? buy a handful of copies, keep one for yourself, and give the others to those in your immediate circle. we live in a rather unserious and incoherent world, and the sober minded, glad hearted, christ settled posture rigney calls us to is just what the good doctor ordered for the fever of anxiety gripping our age. in this article, i will take rigney’s insights and apply them directly to the southern baptist convention (sbc). rigney is self admittedly building off the work of edwin friedman,[1] and highlights his five features of cultural breakdown. i will demonstrate how there is evidence of each of these features present in current sbc debates (particularly as it relates to our response to abuse and female pastors), and then offer a path forward for a sober minded, stable, and ready response (and not reaction!) in indianapolis at the sbc annual meeting this june. the value of rigney’s work is that it helps readers like me, who may be mystified as to why professing conservative and complementarian influences in the sbc take a “complementarianism for me but not for thee” approach to adopting the law amendment. in other words, rigney diagnoses the cultural pathologies which undergird a resistance to a robust confessionalism, namely, the effeminacy of untethered empathy. the last couple of years, conservatives within the sbc have (rightly) warned of a “liberal drift.” but the big takeaway from rigney’s book as i think about my denomination is that it is more accurate to say we in the sbc are being emotionally steered. drift is a passive term that removes culpability or at least blames the leftward movement on passivity at the helm. it is more accurate to say that the sbc has allowed those who hate her to take the helm indirectly by emotional blackmail through god’s people tasked with leading the denomination. for more on this, see mark coppenger’s offering to this month’s christ over all theme. rigney puts his finger on one of the more troubling trends within evangelicalism today. and that is how the world relies on professing christians to get drunk on worldiness’s disordered passions and as a result, pressure fellow believers to pursue worldly ends (41 43). the world, the flesh, and the devil are counting on christians to forsake sober mindedness, and this unholy trinity can then use these christians to manipulate other believers. (on this point, rigney’s exposition of galatians 2 and paul’s confrontation of peter is brilliant, 81 84.[2]) what is true of groups can also play out on the individual level. someone who is a conduit of emotions often becomes even more self righteous than the original emoter. to give an example: pastor billy kindly exhorts one of his church members, sally, to not lead a women’s bible study using a prosperity preacher’s curriculum. sally weeps profusely to another member, larry, about pastor billy’s “heavy handedness” and “doctrinal hair splitting.” larry gets angry and resolves to publicly confront his pastor all the while not realizing that he has been emotionally steered into the role of a lackey for worldliness. rigney explains the dynamics at play in the parable, “sometimes one person’s sadness elicits sadness in others. but other times, sadness in one person may draw out anger in another (either at them or at the third party who is responsible for their pain) . . . untethered empathy puts other people’s passions in the driver’s seat” (43). rigney unpacks the two ways in which the world will attempt to steer believers through name calling: “ugly labels for true things, and ugly labels for false things” (40). the former tactic is whenever the world labels christians “bigoted” for something along the lines of affirming there are two genders, believing 2+2=4, or daring to suggest god calls men to be the head of the church and home. the latter tactic is when the world calls believers an ugly term, “misrepresenting our beliefs and then slap[ping] an ugly label on their misrepresentation” (41). this latter category is particularly significant, because by it the world exploits the (good) christian desire to shine bright for the gospel. after all, it may seem kind of hard to shine bright when your reputation is tarnished. however, here we must remember that “the pharisees called jesus a drunkard and a glutton (which he wasn’t)” (41). the world (and worldly “christians”) rely heavily on the notion that “where there’s smoke, there’s fire” believing that controversy surrounding an individual always points to that individual’s sin. but christians can take heart, there was a lot of smoke around christ, and he has overcome the world. the source of the smoke around his ministry was from the pit of hell, not him, and so rigney calls us to ensure that (like jesus) we live above reproach, rendering such slander baseless (1 pet. 3:16; 4:4). i think this concept is worth the price of rigney’s book, because this is precisely how the sbc has been steered in dangerous doctrinal and cultural directions over the last decade or so. rigney rightly calls for christians to not be moved by ugly labels, but stabilized by god’s word. it is significant to note how those who get drunk on other’s passions claim the moral high ground as they revile others. oftentimes, those emotionally steering the sbc are fully convinced they are playing the role of hero, when in reality they are recklessly pressuring or endangering the entire denomination by projecting the guilt of one or some onto the whole body. unsurprisingly, this tactic also carries with it the added benefit of raising their own stock as an “ally” in the eyes of the world’s disordered notion of justice. after all, “the world is watching” (if you ask empathetic drunkards in our midst). instead, i would encourage myself and fellow sbc messengers to live coram deo before the face of god. god is watching, and we ought prostrate ourselves before him rather than preen before the world (isa. 8:12 13). so, what are christians to do when emotional drunkards weaponize empathy to steer us? rigney answers with the following strategy: (1) take responsibility for your emotions. (2) grow in self awareness, and pay attention to what particular passions manipulate you. (3) calibrate your standards by the word of god. (4) increase your own tolerance for emotional pain and distress. (5) be willing to be called ugly names. (6) ensure the slanders are actually false. (7) do not repay slander for slander. (8) root all resistance to emotional sabotage in a sincere desire to please god (46 50). with the basic thesis of rigney’s book in place, i will now turn to specific ways the sbc is being emotionally steered, and how we ought to respond in keeping with rigney’s strategy above. as i mentioned earlier, i will do this in conjunction with friedman’s five features of cultural breakdown rigney cites. features one and two (reactivity and herding) will be used to analyze how the sbc has reacted to sexual abuse, while three through five (blame displacement, quick fix mentality, and failure of nerve) provide moral clarity for dealing with the issue of female pastors and the proposed law amendment. friedman’s first two features of cultural breakdown (highlighted by rigney) are as follows: (1) reactivity: “an unending cycle of intense reactions of each member to events and to one another . . . whether over reactive and hysterical or passive aggressive and checked out, the common thread is that passions of the members govern and dictate both the mood of the body and its direction” (19). (2) herding: “a process where togetherness triumphs over individuality and everyone adapts to the least mature members of the community…the goal becomes ‘peace’ at all costs, otherwise known as appeasement . . . leaders . . . are expected to take responsibility not only for their own actions, but for the (re)actions of others. disruptions by the immature will be accommodated; anyone who seeks to take a stand will be characterized as cruel, heartless, insensitive, unfeeling, uncooperative, selfish, and cold” (19 20). these features of chronic anxiety are best seen in the sbc reaction to abuse. regarding reactivity, mark coppenger says the hard but necessary truth regarding the unfounded inflation of abuse cases in the sbc being wielded to move the convention to overreaction against our own polity. he writes, “we’ve been assured that the list [of sexual abusers] ‘only scratches the surface’ or is ‘just the tip of the iceberg’ . . . what we ‘extremists’ [an ugly label for false things] are saying is that the problem is not so great as to [emotionally] sabotage our polity, expose ourselves gratuitously to litigation, and divert untold millions of missions/ministry dollars in search of a cure for our dubious affliction.” we are being manipulated to believe there is a full blown systemic abuse crisis in sbc churches, and this trojan horse has and is being used to emotionally steer some to act against sbc polity without warrant. as josh abbotoy and jon whitehead point out, “[p]olitical operatives and demagogues are trying to steer the convention away from baptist solutions.” this is a prime example of what rigney exposes when he says, “the world frequently counts on this (good) christian impulse in order to steer christians by means of other christians . . . such pressure is frequently harder to resist, since it comes, not from the unbelieving world directly, but from the world through god’s people” (41). whitehead shows receipts for how this is currently happening in the sbc, citing a noted advocate and sbc critic who says, “if the sbc winds up needing to sell nearly all its assets for the sake of providing reparations and restitution to those it has so grievously harmed, then this would be for the good.” southern baptist pastor heath lambert has written a tremendously insightful series of essays entitled “four facts about sexual abuse in the southern baptist convention.” each essay is worth reading (which is why i share each of them below). as one reads through them, it becomes apparent that the kind of sobriety lambert displays is precisely what rigney calls us to. lambert is clear headed, stable, and ready to act, able to separate friend from foe and to respond to this difficult topic with the kind of joy that flows from someone who is approved before the lord. seriously, take a few minutes to look through each of his essays. the responses to lambert’s essays on x only illustrate the type of baseless charges that will be thrown at those who take a stand against appeasement. just as rigney reminds us when he speaks of herding above: “anyone who seeks to take a stand will be characterized as cruel, heartless, insensitive, unfeeling, uncooperative, selfish, and cold.” in the last essay, lambert provides a clarion call to messengers heading into indy: it is important to know that the difference between the acceptance or rejection of any proposal has nothing to do with anyone’s commitment to ending abuse. the only people who like abuse are abusers. the difference between a proposal’s acceptance or rejection is how faithfully the proposal honors our cooperative partnership in the convention. rather than be steered by those who believe it would be good for the sbc to die, buried under a burden of “reparations and restitutions” contrary to baptist polity, the path forward for southern baptists is to hate abuse and love the sbc (see lambert’s second essay). messengers just need to know and expect that a love for the sbc and the conviction that it is a force for good will be given the ugly label of “abuse enablement.” and these messengers need to be ok with this type of slander (matt. 5:1 12). the world wants to steer the sbc off a cliff, and both well meaning reactors and political operatives in the sbc (if given the helm) would readily do so “in jesus name.” when easily steered fellow believers in the sbc inevitably attempt to apply such pressure in “the room” come june, rank and file members of the sbc need to be prepared to respond to such emotional manipulation with poise and moral clarity. friedman’s third through fifth features of cultural breakdown (highlighted by rigney) are as follows: (3) blame displacement: “an emotional state in which members of the community focus on forces that have victimized them rather than taking responsibility for their own being and destiny . . . this often takes the form of scapegoating. typically this means exaggerating the influence and impact of one person at the expense of another. one person’s contribution to the situation is blown out of proportion; the other’s is minimized or down played” (20). (4) quick fix mentality: a desire for symptom relief rather than fundamental change, flowing from a low threshold for pain. broken institutions frequently choose long term chronic pain rather than short term acute pain that would actually address the issue (20). (5) failure of nerve: “a lack of mature, decisive leadership. this problem both stems from and contributes to the first four. leaders are bombarded with interest groups and agitators, and thus are constantly taken off mission. an empathetic paralysis sets in as everybody seeks to appease the most reactive members. the most motivated members of a community grow discouraged and exhausted by never ending drama . . . eventually leaders check out or burn out, and the community drifts along, tossed about by the passions of its members” (21). i cannot think of a better way to describe precisely what is happening in the sbc right now than this fifth feature. sbc leaders are being bombarded with interest groups and agitators, constantly having to put out fires that are many miles away from the heart of the sbc mission. some within the sbc are getting drunk off others passions, the institution, like parents who have unruly and energetic children, is then tempted to just appease. friedman’s fourth and fifth features wisely draw out how the very thing good members in such institutions want mission realignment will never be had with quick fixes and appeasement. if an institution’s reflex is to appease the loudest and least mature in the room, then the standards of cooperation will morph to whatever the manipulators in its midst cry loudest for. not only is this an abdication of leadership (or failure of nerve as rigney would call it), but it is devastating for the home and church, and it will render the sbc impotent if allowed to continue. one way to address a key issue in the sbc that will potentially require short term acute pain is adopting the law amendment officially in june. i am assuming readers of this essay are familiar with the content and arguments surrounding this amendment. it is sufficient for the purposes of this essay to remind the reader that the law amendment passed overwhelmingly in june of 2023 in new orleans and needs to pass again this summer 2024 in indy to become a bylaw, granting the credentials committee the clarity they have asked for regarding what a pastor is.[3] simply put, the main reason(s) why the sbc needs to adopt the law amendment is it both reaffirms the bible (1 tim. 2:12 14) and the baptist faith and message 2000 (article six) and clarifies for the credentials committee what churches are in “friendly cooperation” with the sbc, namely, those who “affirm, appoint, or employ only men as any kind of pastor or elder as qualified by scripture.” the amendment allows for the sbc to decisively deal with what has become somewhat of an epidemic in the denomination, despite previously being assured that female pastors were not a significant issue. moreover, last june, the sbc overwhelmingly voted out saddleback (formerly led by rick warren) and fern creek due to their endorsement and ordination of female pastors, while at the same time supporting the law amendment, sending a clear message as to where the messengers stand on this matter. as albert mohler has pointed out: if [the law] amendment were to fail, i don’t think the issue [of female pastors] would go away at all, it would continue. then every single year there will be some call to take action on this and clarify it. i don’t see that as healthy for the convention . . . the confusion is fairly recent and it is somewhat abstract. the concrete reality is that southern baptists believe the office of pastor is limited to men as qualified by scripture. once you get past the senior pastor or preaching elder, how does that apply? the fact is, if you want to argue about this at every sbc meeting ad infinitum, leave that an open question. it is not going to help southern baptists. this is where the vast majority of southern baptists are. one of the reasons you adopt a bylaw is so that you don’t have to deal with this every year as if it’s an open question. notice the logic of mohler’s argument. it is the antidote to chronic anxiety as expressed in feature four. friedman/rigney point out: “broken institutions frequently choose long term chronic pain rather than short term acute pain that would actually address the issue” (20). this short sightedness is exposed in the illogic recently expressed by one influential opponent of the amendment: “the law amendment is understandable, but unnecessary, unclear, and potentially the unraveling of the southern baptist convention.” what is being argued here is precisely the opposite of what mohler states. both men seem to have the same desire to prevent the sbc being exhausted through never ending drama. but where mohler sees doctrinal precision and confessional subscription as the solution, the opposition fears the short term pain of some churches/missionaries voluntarily leaving the sbc as too great to bear. this is where friedman’s analysis is needed. if we fail to define “pastor” and “friendly cooperation” (and let’s be honest, this functionally allows for churches with female pastors), it will only lead to further doctrinal and denominational decline. in response to the opposition’s all caps alliteration above, denny burk contends: “it’s incoherent to argue on the one hand that we need a cooperation group because the constitution isn’t clear while arguing on that other hand that we don’t need the law amendment because the constitution is already sufficiently clear.” in fact, rigney replied to burk’s post by adding, “we must distinguish: it is *logically* incoherent to argue that way, but it is *ideologically* coherent if you are looking for any means available to tolerate women pastors.” indeed, the illogicality of the opposition to the law amendment is symptomatic of the chronic anxiety plaguing the sbc. rather than arguing on principle, the opposition consistently resorts to emotional blackmail. two examples of this come to mind. the first was from the platform in new orleans in 2023 whenever the “sermon” delivered prior to voting on the law amendment stated the “division” was unnecessary and implied its supporters were keyboard warriors who ignore ephesians 4:30 31. this is a prime example of what is mentioned in feature three above, that “one person’s contribution to the situation is blown out of proportion.” rather than name names or give specific examples, the speaker gave the impression the sbc is being victimized by an army of social media influencers. those of us who were unfortunate enough to have to sit under the grandstanding were told, “no more amendments. no more disfellowshipping.” and this was just prior to the sbc voting out saddleback and fern creek! thankfully, this emotional sabotage from behind the bully pulpit was wildly unsuccessful as messengers overwhelmingly raised their ballots both in favor of both the law amendment and to disfellowship two prominent churches with female pastors. and i would bet that many who voted for both are not keyboard warriors who “post more than they pray,” but are faithful members of sbc churches. the second example comes from another prominent opponent of the amendment who claims, “many of our sisters are deeply discouraged in this conversation . . . and before any of us dismiss their fears and concerns with defensiveness or argue why they shouldn’t feel this way, we should make sure we actually spend time talking to women who serve in our churches and entities, to learn why it is that many of them do.” notice how this argument is framed: to disagree is to dismiss the fears of our sisters. this gets to the heart of one of rigney’s contentions regarding untethered empathy, and that is how “the same impulse that leads a woman to move toward the hurting with comfort and welcome becomes a major liability when it comes to guarding the doctrine and worship of the church.” shane morris has recently further pulled on this thread and insightfully explains, we guys, it seems, must fight a stiff gravitational pull toward depravity and dereliction, while women spontaneously know and do what’s right to such a degree that their emotions alone are a barometer of male godliness. we must not miss how much of this canonizing of female feelings comes from males, often in mixed company. here we step into delicate territory, because i truly believe that much of what we call “white knighting” [jumping in to defend a woman even if she is in the wrong] is well intentioned, albeit naïve. from the moment we can speak, christian men are socialized to put women first, to give up our seats for them, to open doors for them, not to belch or pass gas in front of them, and never, ever to hit them. all of this is quite right. but when combined with post industrial pieties about how women domesticate men these deferent customs can morph into a pseudo chivalry that treats every distressed woman as a damsel in need of saving. naturally, since dragons are in short supply, other men usually furnish the foe to be vanquished. the earlier comment against the law amendment, that our sisters are “deeply discouraged” and therefore we must not “dismiss them in our defensiveness” is a prime example of “white knighting” in a pseudo chivalrous manner. it makes it seem like anyone who supports the law amendment necessarily is not listening to women (because apparently only dismissive/defensive men are behind the amendment), and it assumes the fears of some women ought to be the barometer for the sbc. but we must also take note of the one way tolerance empathy/effeminacy has for those to its left, while “punching right.” the same man who professes to be complementarian is “horrified” at the thought of the sbc credentials committee making an inquiry to see if a church is operating outside the bf&m. after calling for us to “listen” to women functioning with pastoral titles, he ends his argument against those of us who want more confessionalism, not less, by insinuating that those who “feel right” about passing the law amendment over 80% of the messengers represented in new orleans in 2023 are the ones who should not be in the sbc! he writes, “i’d suggest that for those to whom it does feel right, perhaps they are the ones who aren’t ‘closely identified’ with us.” i know this may sound crazy, but what if “many of our sisters” who are fearful and discouraged most need the men around them to act like men, and to act decisively and courageously according to a man’s god given nature? what if the effeminate and untethered empathy of some women swings the door open for dangerous enemies and doctrine to harm the church and home (gen. 3:1 6; 2 tim. 3:6)? what if the sbc’s greatest need is definable doctrinal boundaries, and not an ever expanding tent? after all, as colin smothers rightly reminds us, we are not a freelance club. what if the very notion of a “broad tent” co op predicated on confessional minimalism/reductionism is actually a coup contrary to the historic baptist principles of associationalism, as caleb morell ably demonstrates. such “what ifs” may come across as tone deaf in our effeminate age, but that is precisely why rigney’s book/principles need to be heeded and applied by the sbc. the only reason it may feel wrong to say such things is because our culture calibrates us to react to masculine logic, problem fixing, and decisiveness as toxic. but since the sbc is a complementarian denomination, the question for us moving forward, to borrow from rigney, is whether we are going to be an ideological complementarian denomination or a natural complementarian denomination. he explains that there is a one way ticket if we go the merely ideological route: “stop 1: ‘i’m not that kind of complementarian.’ stop 2: ‘i’m neither complementarian nor egalitarian.’ stop 3: ‘i’m egalitarian.’ stop 4: ‘sodomy is cool.’” what is the difference between an ideological/thin complementarian and an egalitarian? about five to ten years. natural complementarianism, on the other hand, readily affirms scripture and nature, believing male leadership/headship is not merely a product of bible verses, as though scripture speaks such concepts into existence ex nihilo. rather, the bible ratifies god’s design/reality. furthermore, the kind of complementarianism that is not a way station for egalitarianism is the kind that is convinced the barometer for godly leadership in a church and denomination is masculine. put differently, the sbc will only be as healthy and as strong as our churches, and churches will only be as strong and as healthy as their pastors and polity. and if we are to take the bf&m seriously, which i pray we do and will, then that means southern baptist churches and the sbc must be steered by godly men at the helm, who are not emotionally steered by untethered empathy. the law amendment puts before the sbc the opportunity (for men and women alike as messengers) to “act like men.” what do i mean by this? kevin deyoung’s essay on 1 corinthians 16:13 provides a helpful two part answer. (1) “paul says ‘act like men,’ not because women should not also be brave, but because there is something particularly unmanly about shrinking back and shirking one’s duty out of fear.” (2) “‘act like men’ is not only a call to manly bravery (instead of effeminacy), it is a call to adult behavior (instead of immaturity). this is an important point, lest we think masculinity entails rash bravado.” steven wedgeworth adds insight to this line of thought, arguing, effeminacy is a soft and indulgent character trait. manliness is a courage that holds strong under pressure. to be clear, effeminacy is not the same as femininity. and if a woman commits the sin of effeminacy, it is not because she is being overly feminine. rather, she is abusing or distorting femininity in a way that creates vice. significantly, this means that what rigney, deyoung, and wedgeworth (and i) are not suggesting is that femininity is a threat to the church and home. godly femininity is beautiful and worthy of praise, for it complements godly masculinity unto the flourishing of the church, home, and society. the culturally acceptable sin to denounce in our day is “toxic masculinity,” but the pernicious threat so often unchecked is effeminacy (toxic femininity). we must recognize that both feminine and masculine vices compete with godly masculinity and femininity. furthermore, a clear sign that effeminacy has become the barometer is when basic confessional reaffirmation is being smeared as defensive, dismissive, and divisive. it is this unchecked effeminacy that is swinging the door wide open for doctrinal deviance and institutional decline. it is incredibly contagious and when left uncured will lead to the decadence and eventual destruction of the community it infects. and just as paul calls the church to “man up” in 1 corinthians 16:13, the church is likewise not to be soft and indulgent men and women alike. the “untethered empathy” of which rigney speaks is the result of effeminate men and women growing in influence, and attempting to get an entire institution (like the sbc) drunk on disordered passions. how does the law amendment give the sbc an opportunity to sober up and man up? the goddess of our age is beckoning us to open the door for all manner of vices. in the name of affirmation, empathy, and toleration of churches with female pastors, we are being manipulated to believe decisive, clear, courageous, and mature reaffirmation of the baptist faith & message is “dismissive” of women. adopting the amendment in june 2024 allows southern baptists to address the theological, anthropological, and ecclesiological problem of female pastors decisively, for the good of all in our denomination. in short, the amendment reaffirms that sbc churches will have sober men at the steering wheel, as god has designed. if you are a messenger in the sbc, what should you do in the face of emotional sabotage? get rigney’s book. read it. go to indy in june, and when you get there, raise your yellow ballot high in support of the law amendment. medusa is a terrible gatekeeper, and an even worse pastor, so may we celebrate god’s good design for his church, and only be in friendly cooperation with those who do the same. let us not choose long term pain and unending confusion because of a misguided fear regarding biblical, baptist, and manly clarity over the office of pastor. let us be sober minded, stable, and ready to adopt the law amendment in june. michael carlino is a phd student in systematic theology at the southern baptist theological seminary (sbts) in louisville, kentucky. he is a graduate of lancaster bible college and sbts. he currently serves as the operations director for the council on biblical manhood and womanhood and as the student associate for the mathena center for church revitalization at sbts. he has written several published articles and reviews, including if christ is not savior, he cannot be liberator: a response to ibram kendi. he is a member of kenwood baptist church at victory memorial and serves as one of the youth group leaders. view all posts applying all the scriptures to all of life now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in christ jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. amen. editor in chief: david schrock • theological editors: stephen wellum, ardel caneday, brad green • pastoral editor: trent hunter • managing editor: kevin mcclure • assistant editor: luke uhl editorial email: christisoverall@gmail.com view all themes

the first thing i thought when i saw this was, “how must this obituary headline make his family, siblings, children, grandchildren feel? did he ever consider that as he was sexually abusing people? i guess not! people who sexually abuse others seem to have the common characteristic of believing that their actions are sufficiently hidden from view to avoid being nailed. that they are too smart & clever to be caught. actually, the unfortunate fact is that depending on how clever, intelligent and conniving a perpetrator is, it can take a long time! in fact, we’ve seen plenty of cases where years pass before the “light” finally exposes them. but when it does… paul pressler! you were in the position to do tremendous good and leave a wonderful legacy that your parents, siblings and future generations would be proud of and inspired by. instead you made really bad choices paul. hopefully you being revealed will stop others from thinking they too are impervious. hopefully they will make better decisions! its all about our decisions paul. nobody forced you. shame, shame, shame! i just wonder how many times that the words “what goes around comes around,” came out of your mouth. i’d bet it was many. yet you missed that those words also applied to you! a shame on many levels a former judge, he helped steer the southern baptist convention to the right. but at least seven men accused him of sexual abuse. paul pressler, a former houston appeals court judge who spent decades helping conservatives gain control of the southern baptist convention, the country’s largest protestant denomination, only to become an embarrassment to its leaders after as many as seven men accused him of sexual abuse, died on june 7. he was 94. his death was not announced publicly. it was first reported on saturday by the christian news outlet baptist news global. it was confirmed by dignity memorial, a funeral home chain, which did not say where he died. judge pressler died four days before the southern baptist convention held its annual meeting in indianapolis, where nothing was said about the death, baptist news global reported. judge pressler was instrumental in building an internal grass roots movement that in recent decades moved the denomination toward adopting theological and social positions that were strikingly more conservative than those held in the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s. they include opposing abortion and same sex marriage, forbidding women to serve as head pastors and interpreting the bible literally. startled by the liberal theology he found in churches while attending boarding school at phillips exeter academy in new hampshire and later at princeton university, judge pressler, as he wrote in his autobiography, spent the rest of his life trying to root out christian teaching that he considered biblically unsupported. he used the word liberal to describe a belief that the bible could contain errors, while he believed a conservative was someone who believed that the bible was written by god, free of error. in 1967, he was introduced to paige patterson, a like minded southern baptist, and they later met over hot chocolate and beignets at a new orleans cafe, where they continued to talk past midnight. they went on to work together for years in building a conservative baptist coalition. judge pressler acted as a political operative while mr. patterson, a seminarian, was seen as its theologian. starting in 1979 and for many years afterward, the coalition succeeded in getting its preferred candidates elected to the presidency of the convention. those presidents would then appoint other key leaders, who in turn would nominate trustees, all with the aim of overhauling seminaries and other southern baptist organizations. “i have described paul pressler as the steve bannon of the southern baptist convention,” mark wingfield, publisher of baptist news global, said in an interview. “the tactics he used in the s.b.c. were political tactics that worked, and were used at a national level. it became a playbook for the republican party.” from the 1970s to the ’90s, southern baptists tended to split into two factions: “conservatives” and “moderates.” conservatives described their work as the “conservative resurgence,” while moderates saw it as a fundamentalist takeover. newly empowered conservatives were known to bus people to conventions to get their candidates elected. where annual meetings of the faithful used to attract 15,000 to 20,000 “messengers,” or delegates, the one in 1985, in dallas, attracted more than 40,000. many moderates left the convention in 1990 to form the cooperative baptist fellowship. known for his convening power even outside the southern baptist convention, judge pressler was a founding member of the secretive council for national policy, a networking organization for political conservatives. the group attracted evangelical leaders and donors and would often meet with republican presidential hopefuls, including george w. bush. in 1989, judge pressler was president george h.w. bush’s choice to head the office of government ethics. but he was removed from consideration after the federal bureau of investigation, conducting a routine background check, found what it described only as “ethics problems.” (officials did not elaborate on the f.b.i. findings except to say that they did not involve accusations of crimes or financial malfeasance.) mr. pressler went on to serve on mr. bush’s drug advisory committee. the abuse allegations first emerged publicly in 2004, when a man named duane rollins accused judge pressler of sexual assault in a dallas hotel room in 2003. mr. rollins said judge pressler had threatened him if he came forward, according to the texas tribune. judge pressler quietly settled the suit for $450,000 in a mediation that also included a confidentiality agreement. the 2004 settlement became public in 2017, when mr. rollins filed another lawsuit, this one accusing judge pressler of decades of rape, beginning when mr. rollins was a 14 year old member of the judge’s church youth group in houston. the allegations were investigated by denomination officials as part of a larger investigation into how the southern baptist convention had mishandled sex abuse cases in the past. the convention, which was also named in the 2017 lawsuit, settled with mr. rollins out of court for an undisclosed sum in 2023. by 2024, judge pressler had been accused by at least seven men of sexual abuse or sexual misconduct, according to the texas tribune. he was never criminally charged and denied any wrongdoing, but the allegations prompted the convention’s lawyer gene besen to express outrage, writing on the social media site x this year that judge pressler was a “dangerous predator who exploited boys based on his power and his false piety.” he added, “the man’s actions are of the devil.” as the allegations emerged, southern baptist leaders distanced themselves from judge pressler but few denounced him publicly. that muted response reflected a challenge they faced: how to show their revulsion over the allegations while finding a way to celebrate what judge pressler had championed through the conservative resurgence, said nathan finn, a southern baptist historian who cataloged judge pressler’s papers at southeastern baptist theological seminary in north carolina. “i’m not sure there’s a conservative resurgence if he wasn’t there to channel it into a movement,” mr. finn said. “it needed at least one person in the room who was a strategic thinker who understands grass roots movements.” but mr. finn said questions remain about whether the convention’s leadership understood judge pressler’s darker side. “were there rumors? were there red flags?” he said. “when did people know? i wonder that.” herman paul pressler iii was born in houston on june 4, 1930, to herman p. pressler jr., who was a vice president of what would become exxon mobil, and elsie pressler, who was active in community organizations and helped found their family’s baptist church. he went to phillips exeter when he was 16 and earned an undergraduate degree in government at princeton in 1952. as a freshman, he met the dean of princeton’s chapel, who invited him to have cocktails. he wrote in his 1999 autobiography, “a hill on which to die,” that he was surprised that a preacher would consume alcohol. after his princeton graduation, the navy rotc commissioned him as an ensign at the navy supply corps school at bayonne, n.j. in 1957, he received a law degree from the university of texas, where townes hall, the law school building, is named for his great grandfather judge john c. townes. judge pressler served as a democrat in the texas house of representatives from 1957 to 1959. in 1959, he married nancy avery, who had just graduated from smith college in massachusetts and who shared his concern about liberalism in the churches she had attended. kirkus reviews, the gold standard for independent & accurate reviews, has this to say about a successful guide that uses anecdotes to reveal powerful truths about life. the stable, positive, non preachy and objective voice makes the book stand apart from others in the genre. ~ kirkus reviews “i’ve read a number of books that focus on sharing a similar message, including “the secret” by rhonda byrne, “the answer” by john assaraf & murray smith, “the celestine prophecy” by james redfield, “think and grow rich,” by napoleon hill, and i must say that i find rob’s to be my favorite.”   sheryl woodhouse, founder of livelihood matters llc sean combs charged with sex trafficking u.s. coast guard academy, in new london, connecticut between 1988 and 2006, including the revelation of leaders who discouraged disclosure. those cases do not include at least 42 more that have been identified as not having been properly investigated. that is not to mention new pentagon published statistics showing student reported assaults at west point, the naval academy and the air force academy. so after all the accusations and denials, the truth is finally revealed about bill cosby’s lifetime of raping young women, who were unfortunate enough to cross his path. the answer as to how he got away with it for so long, lies in his skill of slipping a methaquolone pill, otherwise known as a quaalude, into a drink he would give them. it would render them helpless to escape his subsequent sexual assault. of course, he had also built a persona of america’s grandpa, that was the ultimate deception.i first heard about quaaludes (‘ludes) in college in the 60’s. apparently, he did as well! the word was that if you could slip one into a girl’s drink, she would be more compliant than otherwise. the records show that cosby had multiple prescriptions filled at least throughout the 70’s, then apparently, subsequently found other sources. it became his “mo” and many women his victim. but that game is over now, most likely for the duration of his life! as with most abusers, cosby felt he had a way to evade the light from shining on what he was up to. he thought he was safe and would never get caught, but if accused, he could claim it was consensual. it is what all abusers think, regardless of the form that abuse takes, and sometimes it can work for a long while. but when the light finally does shine and reveals the truth, the rule is that the longer the perpetrator got away with their nasty deceptions, the deeper the hole they will have dug for themselves. epstein escaped via suicide. i think they’ll be keeping a close eye on bill! rob founded help for children/hedge funds care (hfc.org). in late 1998 rob conceived of the idea of raising money in the hedge fund/alternative investment industry and making grants to organizations dedicated to the prevention and treatment of child abuse.
supported by a former judge, he helped steer the southern baptist convention to the right. but at least seven men accused him of sexual abuse. by sarah pulliam bailey paul pressler, a former houston appeals court judge who spent decades helping conservatives gain control of the southern baptist convention, the country’s largest protestant denomination, only to become an embarrassment to its leaders after as many as seven men accused him of sexual abuse, died on june 7. he was 94. his death was not announced publicly. it was first reported on saturday by the christian news outlet baptist news global. it was confirmed by dignity memorial, a funeral home chain, which did not say where he died. judge pressler died four days before the southern baptist convention held its annual meeting in indianapolis, where nothing was said about the death, baptist news global reported. judge pressler was instrumental in building an internal grass roots movement that in recent decades moved the denomination toward adopting theological and social positions that were strikingly more conservative than those held in the 1950s, ’60s and ’70s. they include opposing abortion and same sex marriage, forbidding women to serve as head pastors and interpreting the bible literally. startled by the liberal theology he found in churches while attending boarding school at phillips exeter academy in new hampshire and later at princeton university, judge pressler, as he wrote in his autobiography, spent the rest of his life trying to root out christian teaching that he considered biblically unsupported. he used the word liberal to describe a belief that the bible could contain errors, while he believed a conservative was someone who believed that the bible was written by god, free of error. in 1967, he was introduced to paige patterson, a like minded southern baptist, and they later met over hot chocolate and beignets at a new orleans cafe, where they continued to talk past midnight. they went on to work together for years in building a conservative baptist coalition. judge pressler acted as a political operative while mr. patterson, a seminarian, was seen as its theologian.

 the suit prompted a major newspaper investigation into southern baptist sexual abuse and seven other men to come forward with allegations against paul pressler, an influential conservative activist and former texas judge. sign up for the brief, the texas tribune’s daily newsletter that keeps readers up to speed on the most essential texas news. the southern baptist convention and others have reached a confidential settlement in a high profile lawsuit that accused a former leader of sexual assault, ending a six year legal drama that helped prompt a broader reckoning over child sexual abuse in evangelical churches, expanded victims’ rights in texas and showed that a prominent conservative activist and texas house candidate repeatedly downplayed abuse allegations. in 2017, duane rollins filed the lawsuit accusing paul pressler, a longtime southern baptist figure and former texas judge, of decades of rape beginning when rollins was a 14 year old member of pressler’s church youth group in houston. rollins claimed in court documents that the alleged attacks pushed him into drug and alcohol addictions that kept him in prison throughout much of his adult life.