Dr. Tom Rush Speaks Out About the Manipulative Tactics of Southern Baptist Convention Leaders at the Recent Meeting in Anaheim, California

In this important clip, Dr. Tom Rush explains that the “temperature” of the convention was set and regulated by convention leaders, the Sexual Abuse Task Force, and Dr. Bruce Frank, the task force’s chairman.

Here’s the thing. It [the irrefutable premise] was We have to do something. And if you do a knee-jerk reaction, oftentimes what you do is worse than having done nothing at all. Do we need to respond to the sex-abuse problem? Yes we do, but we need to do it in a just and biblical manner and not a knee-jerk reaction.

Yet the message was clear. If you push back against the recommendations of the task force, regardless of your reasons for doing so, “you hate women; you’re in favor of protecting sexual abusers. We know that that’s not the case. We just think that there’s a better way to run the railway. We think there’s a better way to do this.”

Missing from the Guidepost report and the recommendations of the task force was commendation for churches and church leaders who had handled sexual abuse well and churches in which no sexual abuse occurred. The truth is that the number of people impacted by sexual abuse in SBC churches is very small, especially in light of the size of the SBC.

Dr. Rush also points out a significant problem with Resolution 6. As you listen to him, go here to note the inconsistency he highlights between W12 and R06. Moreover, there’s a huge problem with the funding that will be used to to follow through on the recommendations, and Tom also highlights that.

It was all orchestrated from the platform to control…[and t]he way the platform made it sound…[was] If you voted against this, you hate women. You’re in favor of protecting sexual abusers.
—Dr. Tom Rush—

As you return to the main article and continue to read, keep this statement from Dr. Rush in mind: “It was all orchestrated from the platform to control…[and t]he way the platform made it sound…[was] If you voted against this, you hate women. You’re in favor of protecting sexual abusers.”

This page is part of a larger Word Foundations article.