To give real service you must add something which cannot be bought or measured with money, and that is sincerity and integrity. Douglas Adams
What is Patheos?
According to Wikipedia:
Patheos is a non-denominational, non-partisan online media company providing information and commentary from various religious and nonreligious perspectives.
Upon its launch in May 2009, the website was primarily geared toward learning about religions through a reference library and other peer-reviewed resources on 27 global religions and worldviews. In its current form, the site also hosts more than 450 blogs in eleven “Faith Channels,” offering commentary and news from these perspectives in topics including politics, institutions, culture, sacred texts, history, lifestyle, entertainment, family life, and business. Patheos is the largest English language religion and spirituality site in the world, while the Catholic, Progressive Christian, Nonreligious, and Pagan Channels constitute the largest web presence for their respective traditions.
Patheos removed Warraen Throckorton’s blog for not meeting their strategic objectives.
Patheos has hosted Throckmorton’s blog for years. If you go to this link, you will see it is gone. He has moved his content to wthrockmorton.com.
There you will find three posts which deal with this disturbing development.
The Blog at Patheos is “410 Gone”
Dear Patheos: Which Topic Was the Last Straw?
Dear Patheos: What Expectations Did You Have?
So, what group pressured Patheos? Warren Throckmorton was one of the most thoughtful individuals on Patheos. This ridiculous excuse of strategic objective is dismaying. Patheos wanted Mark Driscoll, who hurt many people yet got rid of Throckmorton who has helped inform lots of people? Good night!
In my opinion, this is all about the almighty buck and Patheos is not what it claims to be.
1
Actually, Warren’s faith discussions were most likely too robust and dynamic for Patheos.
“You can’t handle the truth,” Jack Nicholson, “A Few Good Men”.
Outrageous. As a long time blogger on Patheos they shoud at least have the decency to notify him of the specific reason his blog was deleted, but that might be too revealing. Ex’s is off my list.
I am betting that it was about his posts regarding the entirely corrupt and fraudulant “Gospel for Asia”. They have generated a lot of $$$ in their various appeals and Throckmorton has demonstrated it is not being used as described and there is little accountability. A lot of people were making $$$ off this and they want him silenced.
Thanks Dee for posting about this. People need to know about this further sign of creeping authoritarianism.
Methinks Warren will thrive wherever his weblog is hosted. His content is valuable. He was the only person at Patheos I consistently paid attention to.
To paraphrase “Lambert Strether” of the nakedcapitalism weblog, “If you ‘blog depends on someone’s else’s platform, you aren’t in control of it.”
Live long and prosper, Warren.
This goes on all the time, when I first became a Christian I was so excited and even, as totally pathetic, disgusting and stupid as it sounds and is I wept thinking I had found the truth to heal the nations. So many decades later I am totally ashamed of myself for having been duped by the entire industry. I dont fault them, they are working the business and NOTHING is more holy than that. Thank you so much for posting this and the other issues. I hope everyone has a nice weekend.
Loren Haas,
You are probably correct.
Next they will require membership contracts….of wait, they do!
Samuel Conner,
I totally agree with you. That is also why we don’t take ads and Amazon kickbacks.
Probably didn’t have too much to do with Driscoll. Just a guess. Maybe not even GFA, either. Likely has to do with the acquisition of assets by a more conservative entity in recent years.
Might have been his position on homosexuality, but that’s just speculation. I do agree Warren is thoughtful and a whole lot better in his demeanor than many of the bloggers over there.
Dr. Throckmorton’s alma mater is Cedarville, where Patterson is a trustee. I’m guessing PP in the chapel with a rifle.
The more conspiratorial theory is that PP called the Joe Gregory, the NRA guy and had him do it. What bigger non-elected supporter can the NRA have than Patterson who teaches that all boys should have a dad, a dog, and a gun.
My guess is the NRA connection.
“Could It Be the NRA Post?
At present, I have no way to know for sure but I wonder about the influence of the NRA post. I have learned that the Chairman of BN Media (owner of Patheos) is Joe Gregory. Gregory is the chairman of the National Rifle Association Ring of Freedom donor recognition program. He and his wife are charter members of the Golden Ring of Freedom which means they have donated over $1 million to the NRA.
During the most recent NRA conference, Trump supporters Diamond and Silk claimed that the NRA “helped our ancestors to protect themselves from the Democratic party.” I countered that no evidence can be found to support that claim and called on the NRA to produce evidence or retract the claim.”
That is the authoritarian attitude I would expect from anyone involved with the NRA.
It’s always the strong one that gets voted off the island first, as the weak majority circle the wagons in their insecurity.
I am going to miss all the Pathecios click bate when I go to Dr. Throckmorton’s new site.
An unnecessary and contentious assertion.
I used to regularly read Throckmorten but dropped him from my reading list when his postings became more political starting with the primary in the last election. His publishing a fake hit piece on Ben Carson and his poor response to his error sent me looking for someone with higher credibility.
While I may have dropped him from my reading list, it was my choice, I find it unfortunate that Patheos is following the similar censorious pattern displayed by sites run by left wing types. No, I’m not an NRA supporter, nor even Carson, I’m just tired of politics being dragged into everything and hoping it won’t happen here.
I am saddened to see that Warren was removed. He is a thoughtful, acute and nuanced blogger. Although I did not agree with all his views, I was challenged to reconsider positions that I have held for many years. He will be fine at his new site, but I am disappointed in Patheos and wonder if they can handle the truth.
Thersites,
Given Carson’s actions after taking over HIS, I’d say Throckmorton’s warnings about him were entirely justified. And no, lefty types don’t have the lock on gagging opponents. Just ask the Red Letter Christians how they were welcomed at Liberty University.
Eeyore,
HUD not HIS
In my opinion, you make assumptions about the entire NRA membership that you really have zero basis for. I am a long time member of the NRA and I can assure you I do not have an authoritarian attitude. Nor do the other members that I am personally familiar with. Kind of unwise to make blanket statements like that. Not only does it tend to annoy people but it acts as a hindrance to honest and open discussion.
Bill,
I am a member, too, And a Libertarian (or classical liberal) as far as government structure in concerned. That is about as anti-authoritarian as one can get in todays lexicon. The “authoritarians” are the ones who want to take away a decent citizen’s right to protect themselves and their family’s, IMO.
Bill,
I should have said “some people” involved with the NRA instead of anyone.
My experience with people in the group is very different. My own brother and sister in-law unfriended me on Facebook after a very civil discussion on a post that my brother put up himself. The conversation was with a friend of his and was very civil until his friend wasn’t. I was the one my brother unfriended because my views are different than his and his friends apparently. For the record, I am not anti-gun, but that never seemed to matter to the folks I have interacted with, which has been more than just my brother.
So, you see, I have had very different experiences when in conversations with people over this issue. And, yes, everyone’s experiences do help to shape their opinions.
I believe this blotz is the reason.https://mobile.nytimes.com/2018/05/26/opinion/project-blitz-christian-nationalists.html?smid=fb-nytimes&smtyp=cur
Sam,
What article was not written by Warren. That is the connection you see?
I do see the authoritarian issues. Cramming their version of Christianity down peoples throats is a bad idea. It has never worked. Jesus did not do, or come to do, these things.
Bridget,
I am not understanding how your experience is “authoritarian”? In the sense of controlling your choices or taking away your rights? It is a huge jump to go from conversations that become uncivil and facebook unfriending to “Authoritarianism that takes away your rights”.
I was banned from Twitter for my libertarian retweets as were many other people– not to mention the censoring practice of Shadow Banning. And that is perfectly okay with me as they can do what they wish with their company and their rules. I do not want government intervening as I believe in free markets and competition.
Church is voluntary as is Twitter, Facebook, the NRA and even unfriending. Thank goodness!
Thanks for walking that back a bit. Most large groups are going to have a few bad apples, human nature.
Yeah, Patheos was one of the sites that prompted me to install multiple ad blockers. I keep a clean install of “Microsoft Edge” for when I get blocked by sites that won’t let me in with my ad blockers*. But I got very very very very tired of the autostarting videos that I could not shut off.
I’m not going to get into it here, but I think Warren got the left foot of fellowship due to the current owners being very very Evangelical and very very conservative. They can deal with atheists because atheists are already discredited. But Warren’s part of the tribe, and his commentary holds a lot of weight. He had to go.
*And this is the deal, there are sites where I take the ad blockers off, because I WANT to see the ads. Of course, these are sites which align with my mostly artsy/craftsy interests. It’s like buying magazines not just for the projects I might do, but to see what people are selling and how I can apply that in my art.
Muslin, fka Dee Holmes,
I stopped reading Throckmorton long ago because he was so obviously partisan without dealing with the other side when they do the same exact things or worse. It was obviously hypocritical. But I certainly don’t want the government regulating these opinion places, either. I wish him nothing but good will in his new digs.
That’s odd, I would have thought they’re a left-leaning liberal enclave, given the plethora of ‘progressive’ blog-sites on Patheos.
Man-O-Manischewitz Lyds, we could argue this stuff like two Jews in Tel Aviv.
L’Chaim!
Patheos does. Probably the biggest Atheist blog (not progressive, but just using it as an example) resides on Patheos. But it’s not authoritative because they’re Atheists. Again, Warren was talking out of school about things that the owners of Patheos didn’t want him speaking of. I could be wrong, but I don’t think so.
I don’t think there’s an other side when:
* Yohannon using donations in ways not intended by the donors, particularly in taking Gospel for India donations and using them to build a fancy complex in Texas. Then there were people smuggling cash into India in violation of import restrictions and currency laws. I could go on.
* Mark Driscoll and all the financial and social shenanigans surrounding Mars Hill. I hope I don’t have to detail that?
* David Barton’s continual lying about his work on Jefferson and his lies around his academic degrees. (I still regret I did not give Barton a piece of my mind several years ago when I was passing through DFW, but I was “on the clock,” as it were.)
* The failure of so-called conversion therapy.
I don’t think there’s an other side for *any* of these things, except that of misusing funds (Yohannon, Driscoll), causing harm to people (Driscoll, conversion therapy), lying about provable facts (all of them).
I have relied on Warren’s work *extensively* in picketing Mark Driscoll, because Warren’s blog research is an exhaustive laundry list of everywhere Driscoll went wrong and why he shouldn’t be pastoring a church today. My heart sunk when I saw the blog had been removed–where would I send people who have questions? I’m thrilled it’s still available.
I’m not going to argue about this with you. I’m the flaming progressive on this blog and there were times Warren annoyed me by not going as far as I would have liked. But I understood where he was coming from and why he wouldn’t go my direction–and I accepted it. Just giving you a different view.
Muslin, fka Dee Holmes,
“there were times Warren annoyed me by not going as far as I would have liked. But I understood where he was coming from and why he wouldn’t go my direction–and I accepted it.”
All I can say is, if Warren Throckmorton is too “progressive” for some people… It’s no wonder they don’t feel comfortable with the wider culture.
Patheos has been going downhill for quite some time now. Their last site redesign was grotesque, and now it’s clear it’s all about the ad impressions, all about max-$$$. I used to enjoy poking around, back in the day, but no more. Warren is better off on his own blog.
Bridget,
I also think it was the NRA. They feel under tremendous pressure after the Parkland shooting . This was a good chance to try to fight back against a (supposedly) weak, not widely known ‘opponent’. .
I read the 2 or so suggestions W gave.
Muslin, fka Dee Holmes,
None of that is what bothered me but thanks for painting me as such. 🙂
Eeyore,
I miss liberals! At least they believed in free speech and the women didn’t wear hijabs to protest the oppressive patriarchy. Lol.
Patheos is owned by Beliefnet on whose Board sits Jay Sekulow. Yes, that Jay Sekulow, the shill for Jesus. Warren published some work that further detailed a story broken by the Guardian, in which The American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ, a charity organization) has on its Board many members of the Sekulow family, some receiving “loans” from the “charity”to build and buy homes (and a plane I recall) which the “charity” later forgave. It was under investigation by the Attorneys General of New York and North Carolina as of 2016, not sure of its status now. So there’s that…
Lydia,
I’ll get back with you later Lydia. I’m on a trip with my daughter and have a 550 mile drive today.
I have enjoyed some recent conversations on youtube that involved differing persons with a wide variety of ideas and backgrounds but I found them engaging because the participants engaged with each other and not with a misrepresentation of the other person. As they clarified their shared values and disagreements and it was dynamic to see how the participants were being transformed in the process.
After reading both you and Lydias comments here for years I can be reasonably certain both of you share the same view on the issues you cite and differences are something entirely different.
How much ya’ wanna’ bet they have full 501(c)(3) religious exemption(s) and are immune from full financial disclosure?
I would have made the same bet but then found we would both have lost. They do submit a form 990 and are not hiding behind a religious exemption. But they sure do have an abysmal rating with Charity Navigator, particularly in the area of openness.
https://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=12586
I remember when the ACLJ first hit the news in the Eighties, positioning themselves as a protector of Christian Rights against the Secular Humanist Heathen Conspiracy. “Just like the ACLU, Except For CHRISTIANS(TM)!”
Just PR spin for another family dynasty to get rich off the Jesus Racket.
Wondering Eagle is covering Patheos’ Purge in his latest blog entry.
https://wonderingeagle.wordpress.com/2018/05/30/warren-throckmorton-is-kicked-off-patheos-is-this-due-to-the-mark-driscoll-and-gospel-for-asia-situation-or-is-this-something-much-darker/
He’s starting to lean more towards the Christianese Culture War explanation for the Purge, and that the Gospel for Asia thing is only a side issue. Patheos apparently put out a new “contract” to its bloggers that bans anyone who is derogatory to Culture War groups/organizations such as Focus on the Family, Franklin Graham, and/or the ACLJ. Possibility that we’re seeing a stealth takeover much like the SBC, except Culture War Jihadis instead of YRR. Or these invulnerable groups might be involved in Patheos either through money or overlapping directorates.
Definitely not on the YouTube comment threads I’ve seen recently. The Big Island News updates on the Kilauea eruption I’ve been following seem to attract the REAL lunatic fringe of Conspiracy True Believers — Nibiru/Planet X, Reptilian Overlords, FEMA stockpiling plastic coffins, you name it. (Though so far no White Power flames & trolls like Hurricane Harvey coverage did on its chatlogs.) There’s a good reason I see more and more YouTubers disabling comments
Lydia,
I believe it is authoritarian to shut people down because you don’t agree with their views, especially when the context of a platform (fb Twitter, Patheos, etc.) is communication. I can understand keeping a platform relatively clean, civil, and abuse free, but not wanting to allow a certain perspective, because you don’t agree with it, comes across as authoritarian and, actually, cowardly to me. Yes, businesses are free to make their own rules or boundaries, within limits, as are individuals, but that doesn’t mean it’s not an authoritarian action.
I do not understand how anything in this nation will be worked out without all of us learning how to communicate (listening included) with each other.
I didn’t say anything about the government getting involved, so I don’t understand that comment.
Good grief HUG, I’m not talking about the comment threads, those comments singe the hair off.
Patheos was the death of blogs. I can’t find any new blogs outside it anymore and I refuse to read any blog on that atheist site.
Simple. One faction takes POWER and exterminates all the others, just like a tribal blood feud.
I forgot to mention in my original comment that Warren posted at least two lengthy posts alerting Patheos readers to the unethical and possibly illegal financial dealings of Jay Sekulow, hence Sekulow’s conflict of interest (basically a board member of Patheos, during a period when a Patheos writer outs him).