"It may be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satisfied; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end, for they do so with the approval of their own conscience."
C.S. Lewis, author/theologian
Today we remember those brave men and women who have sacrificed their very lives in the defense of liberty. In my own family, we have a father who lost his eye on the Battle of the Bulge, another who served during the Korean conflict and a stepfather who, after hiding from the Nazis in the woods of France, immigrated to the United States and served in the Air Force for 22 years. The leader of our Bible study has two sons currently serving in the military. One is in Afghanistan as I write this.They all have fought for our right to be free.
Blogs are an expression of the First Amendment which allows us freedom of expression without fear that a coercive government will use its power to deny this right to ordinary citizens. How strange it is that certain groups, such as the Georgia Baptist Convention and First Baptist Church, Jacksonville, have sought to abrogate this freedom within their ranks. Both Doug Pittman and Tom Rich have stood up to this nonsense.You can read their stories on this blog by clicking on their names under categories.
Doug Pittman is the first person that I know who coined the term, "Baptist Mafia." Please note the quote from Lewis at the start of this post. I wonder…..
Doug wrote in to clarify his concept. he made a point thta one could substitute any denomination or "family of churches" for the word, "Baptist." Please feel free to comment and add to this list. I think quite a few of us have encountered the entrenched religious Mafia. We may make this a permanent feature of our site.
I have only one thing to say to the Georgia Baptist Convention and the former pastors at Pray's Mills Baptist Church, you sure ticked off the wrong guy. Dumb, dumb, dumb… So, without further ado, Doug's list of "qualities" to be declared a part of the Baptist Mafia.
1. Any minister who has used the Bible passages to further personal wealth and personal agendas;
2. Personal vendettas against anyone who is opposition or anyone who opposes an issue presented or disagrees with messages from the pulpit ;
3. Any minister who has thrown out members of a church because they oppose his agenda, are a threat to his deception, have credible evidence of SIN within a member of his staff, or who has thrown anyone out period without reason ;
4. Any Minister who has willfully lied to a church or denied the church access to that person so that he/she can have a voice on issues unknown to that church ;
5. Any Pastor who tells his Deacons to lie to a church or covers up a matter that should be exposed to the church ;
6. Any Pastor / Minister who violates Matthew 18;
7.Any minister who has done away with all committees and trustees within the church so they can either forcibly or deceitfully have total control of that church is definitely a part of those within “the Baptist Mafia”. They will then also tell you they are “of authority” and it is Biblical and have the Deacons tell the church that they should be lead 100% totally submissive to the Pastor or as they say….Pastor Lead – and the Deacons then accept this Bullying tactic from this Pastor / Minister……
8. Any Pastor or Minister who knowingly lies and covers up SIN within the church staff and then goes after the person who has exposed this SIN to the church;
9. Any Pastor/ Minister who uses the LAW and Police to squelch opposition with intimidation and harassing tactics such as ” illegal subpoena’s and trespass warnings”;
10. Any Pastor / Minister who spiritually abuses;
11. Any Pastor who tells members of his church to avoid certain members of this church;
12. Any Pastor / Minister who lies about his Education or FAKE DR degree ;
13. Any Pastor who turn church members against others members based on false accusations;
14. Any Pastor / Minister who accepts financial reward based on fraudulent credentials and deception;
15. Any Pastor who threatens others after being exposed
16. If your Pastor / Minister replace older experienced Deacons and Trustees with fresh, Young, and overall inexperienced men say in their 20’s so he can manipulate decisions more easily ;
17. If your Pastor / Minister views tithing records or ask for them in an underhanded way;
18. If your Pastor / Minister preaches or blast negative comments against other ministers from the pulpit;
19. If your Pastor / Minister blast bloggers for exposing issues against ministers and others within the Convention on the Internet;
20. If your Pastor / Minister will not answer basic questions and /or ignores legitimate issues ;
21/ If your Pastor / Minister makes excuses for those that are known to be guilty of certain matters;
Doug adds that this is just a start of the reasoning why he came up with this very fitting term in today’s environment.
He says to all those within “the Baptist Mafia” who think just like the terms above……
“The Internet,The Great Equalizer!”
Sadly, I can attest to the fact that some of these very tactics were used against young men (under 18 years old) in Wonderland. The lasting impact on the lives of these young men is heartbreaking.
Shorter said…
Read this folks….this was the Georgia Baptist Resolution on blogging against Doug in 2007
Stunning and note the the “Whereas” and “Be IT ALSO RESOLVED” carefully;
Resolution on Blogging
Submitted by Rev. Wayne Bray and Rev. William Harrell
Beulah Baptist Church, Douglasville, GA
WHEREAS, the American people have the distinct privilege of freedom of speech as provided by our United States Constitution, and this resolution is not intended to limit that freedom of speech we all value so much; and
WHEREAS responsible blogging can be a means of promoting the flow of information and encouragement of our people, but certain people use this tool for divisive and destructive rhetoric at the expense of peace among the Brethren; and
WHEREAS blogging is also being used by some as a tool for personal attacks upon other Christian Brothers and Sisters, and this critical and divisive use promotes a negative view of the Southern Baptist Convention in the eyes of the society we are striving to reach with the Gospel (James 3:6,14);
BE IT THEREFORE RESOLVED that the messengers of this convention oppose blogging when it is used to cause division and disharmony among the members of our Southern Baptist Family (Proverbs 6:16-19; I Cor. 1:10); and since personal differences should not be dealt with in public view,
BE IT ALSO RESOLVED that all personal attacks should cease immediately (Proverbs 17:27-28; John 17:21-23 ); and
BE IT ALSO RESOLVED that we reaffirm the historic method of administering our agencies and institutions through elected boards of trustees, and we call upon bloggers to cease the critical second-guessing of these elected leaders; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that all Georgia Baptists respectfully request and expect that individuals who disrupt the fellowship through blogging repent and immediately cease this activity and no longer cause disharmony for the advancement of their own personal opinions and agendas; and
BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED, that we set our eyes once again on the fields to which we are called to labor, refusing to dishonor God with activities that militate against harmony and good will.
Can you believe this….. Doug must have really been blasting them……Great job Doug
Ministers or Groups who try to silence truths, WOW
And the blind sheep followed man and went along. Wonder if some of them knew this was directed toward a blogger who was outing porn addiction by one of their leaders sons who was trying to protect his son with this resolution?
One would think he would want his son to repent for eternal life. Boggles the mind that he sets himself up as a teacher of the Word.
Dee and others;
What happened was, Yeah I caught them in PORN… I also exposed the Music Minister too who was into very deep PORN on the Church’s computer system too along with Jarrod Everson who was Mike Everson’s son. He, David Barker, was the one I was really concerned about because after I did the forensic check on the PC, I turned and recommended it be turned over to the authorities for prosecution.
Ok, now that was NOT the main reason for my uproar – but it was a consideration, against these men and concerning their sin issue. For all have sinned and come short of the glory of GOD….What got me was that fact that when it was exposed within our leadership circle, they came to me and told me that they would handle it and that I was to shut up…..They told me to tell anyone who comes to me to send them to them…..
But when many came to me asking questions, I was pounded for telling the truth. They wanted me to lie! They wanted me to allow them to cover it up. They were the Deacons under the Leadership of a Pastor of a Church and the Chairman of the Executive Committee for the Georgia Baptist Convention.
When I exploded is when they came to me and told me they were going to allow David Barker – The Music Minister for Prays Mill at the time – to resign get this “DUE TO HEALTH REASONS”! They were going to lie to my Church and fabricate a story that I knew to be an abomination to Christ Kingdom.
That is when I stood for Christ and his Church and said enough is enough. That is when the battle begun and still rages on….
That is when I got first hand experience dealing with “those in the Baptist Mafia”…and brother it was Hell on Earth…and you want to talk about a battle…..I took on MANY of these men and their Disciples……
And still do…..
Looks like the Watchdog has jumped all over this one on his blog…
You need to read today’s post. A coincidence..I think not.
Down here in Southaven MS, at the other Everson boy’s church, we have been forced to change curriculum in our Sunday School classes from Lifeway (which is fine, I don’t care for Lifeway’s errors and gloss-over of too many subjects). But guess whose material we are now using? Wait for it, wait for it… yes, it’s written by the porn-purveying son, Jarrod. I would love to know how much we are paying him for his “work”, the many months of lessons on Philippians and stewardship and more soon to come. I dare not ask or risk exposure to Chad’s ire! (Goes to the salary issues I’ve seen here, Dee/Deb.)
I know that the Lord uses all things for good to His glory. In spite of that knowledge, I have not felt comfortable in my SS class while reviewing the Bible studies prepared by a pretender. Chad is very proud of the materials and makes sure we know who wrote them. Funny, he hasn’t mentioned the porn incident(s).
I have read these blogs for a while and felt like I might only be getting one side of the story (to which we all know there are always at least 3 sides!). However, when Chad’s only defense is calling Doug a “nut” from the pulpit, it certainly makes Doug’s story believable. Hard to make up all those details, easy to call someone a nut! Thanks, Doug, for keeping your story out there for future Chad/Jarrod/Mike parishioners.