“There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest.”―
In my last post on Pressler, Part 1 (1967-1979), Paul Pressler Sought Power Over the SBC as well as His Abuse Victims, But Was He a Christian? #ThisIstheSBC, I discussed that many SBC Christian leaders knew of the rumors surrounding Paul Pressler and his perverse proclivities. At this point, a Presbyterian church knew there was a problem, and they got rid of him. Oddly enough, he was still loosely affiliated with the SBC and quickly jumped into (SBC) First Baptist Church, Houston, where he would serve as a deacon.
Political, judicial, and quasi-Christian/political career
From Wikipedia:
- On January 8, 1957, he became Texas State Representative for Harris County, until January 13, 1959.[2] (He was 27 years old.)
- In 1970, he became judge of the 133rd Judicial District in Harris County, until 1978.[2]
- After retiring from the becnh, he became a partner with Jared Woodfill in Woodfill and Pressler where he supposedly parcticed law. (I will explain that later.)
- In 1988, he became president of the Council for National Policy, until 1990.[2]
He was both a politician and a judge. For many people, that means he was influential. But what was this Council of National Policy?
The Council for National Policy (CNP) is an umbrella organization and networking group for conservativeand Republican activists in the United States. It was launched in 1981 during the Reagan administration by Tim LaHaye and the Christian right, to “bring more focus and force to conservative advocacy”.[1][2][3] The membership list for September 2020 was later leaked, showing that members included prominent Republicans and conservatives, wealthy entrepreneurs, and media proprietors, together with anti-abortionand anti-Islamic extremists. Members are instructed not to reveal their membership or even name the group.[4]
The CNP has been described by The New York Times as “a little-known club of a few hundred of the most powerful conservatives in the country”, who meet three times yearly behind closed doors at undisclosed locations for a confidential conference.[5] The Nation has called it a secretive organization that “networks wealthy right-wing donors together with top conservative operatives to plan long-term movement strategy”.[6] The organization has been described by Anne Nelson as a “pluto-theocracy” (plutocracy/theocracy).[7]
Pressler had his fingers in all the right pies to be considered a “success.” He was even a member of the secretive Council of National Policy, whose membership was finally leaked in 2022.
Did Paul Pressler come from money? Yes!
It is alleged that Pressler had money and that he “came from money.” I found this 2008 article illuminating on that front. Elsie Pressler, helped found River Oaks Baptist, dies at 102. She was Pressler’s mother.
Elsie Pressler was a member of Houston’s first Municipal Arts Committee and a former president of the Junior League of Houston, the River Oaks Garden Club and the auxiliary of the Houston Bar Association.
She helped found River Oaks Baptist Church in 1949 and remained a member until her death.
Pressler was president of the Harris County Heritage Society from 1963-65, a period when several homes dating from Houston’s early days were installed in Sam Houston Park downtown.
As a child, she attended school with Howard Hughes, the future airplane designer, filmmaker and reclusive billionaire. Quoted in the Houston Chronicle in 2005, she recalled that the Hughes family chauffeur drove her and Howard to school every morning when they lived in the Montrose area.
…In 1928, she married Herman P. Pressler Jr., a young lawyer and Harvard alumnus who later became a vice president of Exxon Mobil.
The trajectory of his ministry career
Again from Wikipedia
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 boards.[4]
In 1978, Pressler along with W. A. Criswell, Adrian Rogers and Paige Patterson, met with a group of determined pastors and laymen at a hotel near the Atlanta airport to launch the resurgence.[5] The Atlanta group determined to elect Rogers, pastor of Bellevue Baptist Church in Memphis, Tennessee, as the first Conservative Resurgence president of the convention.
In 1984, he was nominated on the SBC Executive Committee until 1991 and on the International Mission Board in 1992 until 2000.[2]
In 2002, he was deacon at First Baptist Church of Houston and was nominated SBC first vice-president.
Here is what Joe Carter wrote at TGC.
Pressler is a figure of considerable influence and controversy within the SBC. He’s best known for his pivotal role in the “conservative resurgence.” This movement, which gained momentum in 1979, aimed to steer the SBC back to a more conservative theological and ideological stance, particularly concerning the issue of biblical inerrancy. Pressler’s efforts, often in collaboration with other leading figures like Paige Patterson, led to a significant shift in the SBC’s leadership and direction. This shift had far-reaching effects on the Southern Baptists’ policies, educational institutions, and overall approach to ministry and evangelism.
Pressler served as a deacon and Sunday school teacher at First Baptist Church of Houston. He also served on the SBC Executive Committee (1984–91), the International Mission Board (1992–2000), and the Baptist World Alliance’s General Council.
In 2002, he was elected as first vice president of the SBC, a largely honorary role that supports the office of the president.
The recap of Pressler’s credentials probably caused concern among those who wanted to confront him about his proclivities.
- Came from a well-to-do family
- Was a politician
- Was a judge
- Was a “practicing” lawyer
- Was connected to the Christian political set
- Was a deacon at First Baptist Church
- Was close to all of the men behind the Conservative Resurgence
In other words, leaders and pastors in the SBC who knew better feared him.
1989! When the government got it right, even though the Baptist leaders were cowering in their jammies.
In 1989, something happened that would have caused all faithful Baptists to sit up and take notice. This was so devastating that Pressler never returned to the bench. George H. Bush chose Pressler to lead the Office of Government Ethics. After all, Pressler had served on the SBC Executive Committee and presumably knew something about ethics. Except his ” behind-the-scenes” activities presumably came to light. After all, the withdrawal of his name had nothing to do with financial or criminal improprieties. So what did it involve?
The Washington Post (in 1989) wrote ‘ETHICS PROBLEMS’ DERAIL BUSH CHOICE TO HEAD OFFICE OF GOVERNMENT ETHICS.
A background investigation has found evidence of “ethics problems” involving President Bush’s choice to head the Office of Government Ethics and he now is out of the running for the post, senior officials said yesterday. Paul Pressler of Houston, a national leader of the fundamentalist movement within the Southern Baptist Convention and a Texas civil court judge, was the administration’s candidate to head the office. His name was sent to the Federal Bureau of Investigation in July for the routine background check on candidates in advance of formal nomination. Officials would not detail the FBI findings except to say they did not involve allegations of crimes or financial improprieties. A senior official said, “Information was uncovered that we felt was disqualifying.”
Pressler could not be reached for comment, and White House officials offered conflicting accounts of whether or not he has withdrawn from consideration.
Notice the above. Pressler wasn’t talking, and the White House appeared to be adopting the phrase “Pressler, who?” To top it off, Pressler was considered rather nasty in other areas.
In speeches across the country, Pressler accused Baptist institutions and leaders of heresy, and he was referred to as the “chief political architect of the fundamentalist campaign” within the church. He gained some notoriety when he was accused of secretly taping telephone conversations in furtherance of the campaign in the church. One administration official insisted that Pressler was “going south” before the FBI background probe was concluded because administration officials had determined that the bitterness engendered by Pressler’s role in his church would buy Bush more animosity than the goodwill he would gain in naming an evangelical to a top job.
They found an excuse. He was just too bitter! Wink, wink, nudge, nudge…
Pressler was not the “right” person when it came to ethics.
In a July 1988 campaign speech, he pledged to appoint a “senior counselor to the president” in the White House who will enforce ethics rules. In addition, Bush said he would “enhance the powers and prestige” of the Office of Government Ethics. An official said that Pressler’s withdrawal is “a sign our system is working, not the opposite. We are looking for the right person for the job, and he was not the right person.”
Pressler never returned to a public/governmental position. Instead, he would practice “law” in a peculiar arrangement with Jared Woodfill. More on that in the next time or two.
1989: This is when the story of Pressler and the SBC should have ended. It didn’t, and the SBC leadership is to blame from this point on.
1978: Pressler was ousted from his job as a youth pastor at a Presbyterian church. It appears Pressler turned to the SBC and joined First Baptist Church, Houston, where he would serve as a deacon and Sunday school teacher. TWW readers know what happens when a sexual abuser is sent off to another church. He will molest unless he has received help and prolonged therapy. It appears this didn’t happen.
Ten years later, Pressler is denied his position as head of the Office of Ethics. Did anyone question why this happened? Next time, we will discuss what happened at First Baptist Houston. I believe SBC leadership should have known something was up from this point. They will still ignore what will happen next. So, were the leaders stupid, ill-informed, not interested in victims, fearful, protective if the institution, or even complicit? I think we will see shades of all these as I go along. #ThisIsTheSBC
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So, were the leaders stupid, ill-informed, not interested in victims, fearful, protective if the institution, or even complicit? I think we will see shades of all these as I go along. #ThisIsTheSBC
To me, this the BIG QUESTION…
Just like the pedo in my fundy school in 1974…. Passed on to offend again, and again…
It makes me vomit…
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In addition to being a district judge, Pressler was also a judge on a court of appeals in Texas for over a decade – i.e., a higher court – which gave him even more prestige. (As an appellate attorney in Texas, I was well aware of him.) Fascinating to learn that his mother helped found River Oaks Baptist Church.
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Time for some churches and church organizations:
1. Love Jesus with all you have in you.
2. Form an organization to serve Jesus.
3. Begin to think Jesus can only be served through the organization.
4. Face some sort of threat to the organization.
5. Circle the wagons to protect the organization.
6. Begin to love and serve the organization above all, thinking you are serving Jesus.
7. Worship the organization, be willing to die for it, and be willing to destroy others for
it in the name of Jesus.
Hopefully, 8. Repent and return to loving Jesus with everything within you. Let the
organization do the same or let it die.
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Spell check did not like the word timeline. So it changed it to time in the above post. But it was to be timeline.
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Seems that Pressler’s penchant for buggery of underage males was discovered by the FBI and that is why Bush 41 dropped him like a hot potato. Hard to be head of an ethics commission when your particular depravity could get you serious prison time or worse, blackmailed.
As this article mentions an intersection of evangelicalism and politics, ever wonder why Falwell Jr suddenly did a 180 and strongly supported TFG? Blackmail. TFG’s fixer had the goods on Junior’s and his wife’s extracurricular activities with the pool boy.
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May as well confront Baron Harkonnen about his prociivities…
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Granting the premises for the sake of argument, one wonders what deliberative process was involved in the apparent decision to not enforce the laws against what was discovered.
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The “conservative resurgence”, which gained momentum in 1979, are NOT “steering the SBC BACK TO a more conservative theological and ideological stance, particularly concerning the issue of biblical inerrancy”.
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For starters, these are Federal agents (so they investigate and enforce Federal Criminal Laws).
I suspect they believed they did not have enough hard evidence for a federal criminal probe. Unless Pressler was assaulting boys across state lines or other Mann Act violations, they really could not do anything. Remember this is before all the various sex trafficking, abuse, etc. laws and cooperation among LE agencies were strengthened in the 2000s. Remember the evidence conditions for not getting a job that requires an FBI check are much different than getting a warrant, an indictment, etc.
Also, the FBI could not tell the State of Texas investigators of what they found either (that separation of powers thing).
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Samuel R Conner,
The fact that they lied, rather than not comment, shows that he was already more powerful than the G H Bush Admin.
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I think it is significant that Joe Carter wrote such a strong post in TGC…. Further cracks in the hood old boy network?
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Actually the Bush 41 administration did not lie. They merely said he was disqualified. They was most likely insufficient evidence at the time, and if one said criminal that would taint/prejudice any potential future criminal investigations. Also, unless Pressler committed his crimes across state lines (like a Mann Act violation) or kidnapping, rape of minors was state crime, not federal.
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They did not necessarily lie. If the FBI knew that Pressler was a closeted homosexual that would be enough to deny a public trust clearance. Any kind of hidden vice, legal or not, is blackmail material. A person vulnerable to blackmail is absolutely not a person you want running your ethics department. It’s scary that he was ever a judge.
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Heck, the new conservatives (aka New Calvinists) within SBC make Scripture errant where it’s not! They’ve used their ‘right’ theology to justify a lot of wrong things.
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“Came from a well-to-do family
Was a politician
Was a judge
Was a “practicing” lawyer
Was connected to the Christian political set
Was a deacon at First Baptist Church
Was close to all of the men behind the Conservative Resurgence”
Soooo … SBC leaders concluded – despite rumors of Mr. Pressler’s ‘problem’- that he was too big to fail. Well, folks, he failed! How many more failed leaders are in SBC ranks?
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Correct. That is what I had mentioned earlier.
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Welcome to the CHRISTIAN State of Texas.
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R2,
R2,
Jeffrey Chalmers,
A safe topic to pretend to showcase variety in “opinion”.
R’as al Ghul,
I forgot the “closet” thing (an idea from before even my time). This comes from publicising being “in the running”. It makes all subsequent comment look excessive. Signalling a better class of vice than thou, etc.
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I knew Paul and Nancy well from my time as a youth member of the Council for National Policy. We were always friendly and often sad together at meetings. Usually Paul arrived with a entourage of a few young men. Paul invited me to visit their house when I traveled to Houston, looking back now I’m glad that never happened.
I could never understand why I was so interesting to them. They even had me accompany them on at least one day trip from whatever city the CNP was being held at. Once I ran into Nancy alone in the United Club in O’Hare, at first she looked like she had seen a ghost and then was quite short. It was confusing, I had spent so much friendly time with them before and she was never cold.
Then I heard about the allegations and It all made complete sense. It was really disappointing, I liked the Presslers, but it was too obvious to deny. Honestly anyone in the CNP should have though “that makes sense.” But Paul is too much of a hero there. The SBC is one of the largest voting blocks in country and the CNP is going to make damn well certain that they have influence. Rod Martin (entrepreneur, SBC conservative resurgence fanboy, powerful CNP leader) is doing everything he can to take up Paul’s mantle and ensure the SBC stays conservative. Rod also says he knows Paul and the allegations are untrue. (Obviously I know Paul as well and you’d have to be blind not to see it.)
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I, like Ruler of the Queen’s Navy, know the Presslers well. I know Paul, Nancy, and their 3 adult children. I have remained on good terms with them and will be visiting them soon.
What these posts don’t mention, and it’s really impossible to grasp 40 years later, is the animosity in SBC life between the Conservative and Moderate factions. I knew the former Religion Editor of one of the large Houston papers back in the early to mid 1980s. He once told me that Moderate Baptist leaders were always trying to tell him that Paul Pressler was a homosexual. He would tell them, “Bring me proof. Some witness. Some information. And they never could.”
These leaders included John Baugh, the founder of Sysco Food Services. Baugh was a Billionaire with lots of money and influence. Texas was filled with influential people like that and pastors of large Baptist churches on both sides of the Baptist divide. The moderate Baptists had their own press organs to boot. The fact that none of these papers and press organizations, despite having lots of money and influence, could not muster 1 witness or any evidence over a 30 year period is a conundrum.
Religious hatred can be the worse kind of hatred. It can cause people to say and do things that they otherwise would not do. People often lie, cheat, or steal for money. I believe people are even more likely to do that for religious or ideological reasons.
People also judge evidence differently. Evidence involving the type of acts Pressler is accused of can come with questions as to its truthfulness. People who are committed to certain causes or beliefs will often give credence to evidence when those believing in different causes will be equally likely to dismiss that evidence.
These factors, I believe, also should be remembered when people ask why this topic and these allegations did not surface decades ago.
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Headless Unicorn Guy,
This article does not mention that Paul Pressler was a graduate of Princeton University where he went to school with some famous people including Trapper John from MASH. Pressler was very active in Evangelical circles at Princeton as well.