{"id":2035,"date":"2011-05-17T06:00:54","date_gmt":"2011-05-17T12:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/fromlaw2grace.com\/?p=2035"},"modified":"2011-05-17T06:00:54","modified_gmt":"2011-05-17T12:00:54","slug":"jerry-nash-sbctoday-a-chill-wind-a-blowin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fromlaw2grace.com\/?p=2035","title":{"rendered":"Jerry Nash, SBCToday & a Chill Wind a Blowin"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jerry Nash has put a burr under a lot of saddles.\u00a0 The Director of Missions (an endangered species in the new Southern Baptist Convention) of the Harmony Baptist Association in Trenton, Florida, Dr. Nash wrote an opinion piece entitled, “Hold the Hearse, I Have An Idea!”<\/a>\u00a0 In his relatively short, five-paragraph post published at SBCToday<\/a> on May 9, 2011, Dr. Nash uses strong language to express displeasure at what he sees as radical changes taking place within the SBC, changes that he believes will lead to the destruction of the nation’s largest Protestant body.<\/p>\n

It did not take long for those with differing views from Nash to\u00a0join the fray.\u00a0 Since\u00a0Nash’s original post was published, Dave Miller at SBCVoices<\/a>, a prominent site for Southern Baptist news and opinion, wrote a post challenging Dr. Nash’s arguments<\/a>.\u00a0 Dave believes that Nash’s article “demonstrates to me a spirit of arrogance, exclusion and anger that is causing the splintering of the SBC.”\u00a0 <\/em>Perhaps he is right about what Dr. Nash’s post demonstrates, but the spirit of arrogance, exclusion, and anger that is leading to the splintering of the Southern Baptist Convention\u00a0has been on full display for the last two years, coming\u00a0mainly from those who are in much more prominent positions of power within the SBC.<\/p>\n

Even though Dave Miller disagrees with much of what Nash wrote, he nevertheless\u00a0believes Dr. Nash’s “viewpoint should be heard and respected.”\u00a0<\/em> Furthermore, Dave believes that<\/p>\n

“Nash has a valid viewpoint. \u00a0He has every right to advocate that viewpoint. \u00a0But he has no right to demand that everyone else agree with him and his viewpoint or leave the SBC.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I appreciate that Dave Miller, even while voicing his own opposition to Dr. Nash, still\u00a0believes Dr. Nash should have the right to advocate for his valid viewpoint.\u00a0 He even offered Dr. Nash the\u00a0opportunity to write a response\u00a0to be published at Voices.\u00a0 As a regular contributor to SBCVoices, where Dave serves as my editor, I know firsthand that he has published some of my strongly worded opinion pieces (which he disagrees with from time to time) in which I argue clearly and forcefully against the GCR, the new NAMB, and\u00a0radical redefinition of the SBC<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In juxtaposition to Dave Miller, there are others who would like to see voices like Jerry Nash’s chilled.\u00a0 I am not going to defend\u00a0all that\u00a0Dr. Nash wrote or the tone of his article, but I will defend his right to share his opinion and the right of SBCToday\u00a0(or any other blog for that matter) to publish Dr. Nash.\u00a0 When conservative bloggers — who should be the premier defenders of free speech — not only disagree with speech, but actually begin to question whether certain speech has gone too far, then Houston, we have a problem.<\/p>\n

In another opinion piece published at Voices on May 16, this time written by Micah Fries, the question in the post’s title gives away the answer:\u00a0 “When is too much?”<\/a>\u00a0 When a post about freedom of speech begins with a question like this, you know that free speech will be defended — at least until you get to the “but”:<\/p>\n

“One of the best, and worst, aspects of being a Southern Baptist is our firmly held belief that everyone is entitled to his or her opinion. Absolutely everyone should have a platform to share that opinion. The fact that I can write what I\u2019m about to write and publish it on this blog is evidence of that reality. In fact, our polity allows us a unique position among other ecclesiastical bodies that make up the American evangelical landscape. This freedom gives us the confidence of always knowing that our voice can be heard, but I wonder if there are times when we take this freedom too far?” (emphasis added)<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Who gets to determine “when is too much?”\u00a0 Who becomes the final arbiter of who has crossed a line and who hasn’t?\u00a0 Is it determined on what we believe and whether or not we agree with the other side?\u00a0 Is it based on the tone of the article, on its content, or both?\u00a0 Do we apply the rules consistently or do we give a pass to those who are our political friends while castigating our political enemies?<\/p>\n

While Micah and others may say that they are\u00a0“honestly grateful that he (Nash)\u00a0has the freedom to voice that opinion,” <\/em>I am at a loss as to how attacking New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and their “partnership” with SBCToday truly supports that supposed freedom of expression.<\/p>\n

SBCToday, which has been a popular and well-read blog, has recently been revamped with assistance from some folks associated with NOBTS.\u00a0 Apparently this new partnership sparked some thoughts regarding CP dollars being used by NOBTS\u00a0to fund the new SBCToday.\u00a0 Other concerns\u00a0that were raised had to do with what some view as an unethical and unhealthy relationship between SBCToday\u00a0and NOBTS that is causing division within the Convention because of publishing articles like Dr. Nash’s.<\/p>\n

There’s just one problem with the concerns that were sparked — SBCToday\u00a0is not funded by CP funds from NOBTS.\u00a0 There is no ethical violations in this “partnership” between some associated with the seminary and the new SBCToday.\u00a0 To\u00a0imply that\u00a0Dr. Lemke\u00a0(not named specifically) and others at NOBTS\u00a0are somehow misusing CP funds to support\u00a0SBCToday,\u00a0is simply not true:<\/p>\n

“To be clear, SBC Today is not owned by\u00a0the Baptist Center or\u00a0New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary (NOBTS)\u00a0or any of the churches involved, is not a publication of the Baptist Center or\u00a0NOBTS\u00a0(or any of the churches involved), and does not necessarily express the views of\u00a0the Baptist Center or\u00a0NOBTS\u00a0(or any of the churches involved). SBC Today is privately owned, is supported by private donations, and its content is guided by an editorial board of contributing editors.” (here<\/a>)<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

What is true, however, is that there is at least one seminary — Southeastern — which has its own blog, Between the Times<\/a>.\u00a0 Prominently displayed on its homepage, above the “Follow Us on Twitter,” is this bit of information:<\/p>\n

Sponsored by Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Unlike SBCToday, it would appear that BtT\u00a0is very much a part of SEBTS.\u00a0 I do not know if CP funds are used to operate this group blog, but it would be interesting to know.\u00a0 In any event, a blog sponsored by one of the SBC’s six seminaries has managed to use some pretty interesting language directed at certain constituencies within the SBC.<\/p>\n

From Dr. Akin’s original “Axioms of a Great Commission Resurgence,” <\/a>(published at BtT\u00a0\u00a0on April 16, 2009) where\u00a0he implied that State Conventions were wasting money on “bloated and inefficient bureaucracies” to Dr. Ed Stetzer’s piece critical of traditional Southern Baptists who felt marginalized<\/a>\u00a0(i.e., Brad Whitt and others, although not specifically named by Stetzer,\u00a0but interpreted to mean Whitt by SEBTS Professor, Dr. Nathan Finn<\/a>), SEBTS\u00a0has been ground zero for the GCR\u00a0and the radical redefintion of the SBC.<\/p>\n

Now, here’s the thing.\u00a0 I think that the best way to arrive at a conclusion is through an exchange of ideas.\u00a0 More ideas are better than less ideas.\u00a0 Even ideas which may not be expressed in a way that would be pleasing to all concerned are better than less ideas.\u00a0 I really do not care whether SEBTS or any other seminary sponsors a blog and uses CP money to fund the enterprise.\u00a0 Go for it.\u00a0 Let the marketplace of ideas within the larger SBC determine which ideas are good and worthy of acceptance and which are bad and need to be rejected.<\/p>\n

If we want to open the door to critiquing NOBTS\u00a0for supposedly using CP funds for SBCToday\u00a0— which they have not — then we better be prepared to level the same criticism at SEBTS — which actually sponsors a blog that has published articles that some Southern Baptists might find objectionable.\u00a0\u00a0Instead, let’s keep the door open to debate and dialogue, even that which is strongly worded and with which\u00a0we may not always agree.\u00a0\u00a0In the end, whether in our country or Convention, free speech\u00a0should never be chilled!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jerry Nash has put a burr under a lot of saddles.\u00a0 The Director of Missions (an endangered species in the new Southern Baptist Convention) of the Harmony Baptist Association in Trenton, Florida, Dr. Nash wrote an opinion piece entitled, “Hold the Hearse, I Have An Idea!”\u00a0 In his relatively short, five-paragraph post published at SBCToday…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[19,35,37],"tags":[140,170,285,325,330,3380,476,548,714,724,3391,3392,868,877,878,888,916,3393],"class_list":["post-2035","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-freedom-of-speech","category-religion","category-southern-baptist-convention","tag-between-the-times","tag-blogs","tag-dave-miller","tag-dr-daniel-akin","tag-dr-steve-lemke","tag-freedom-of-speech","tag-harmony-baptist-association","tag-jerry-nash","tag-new-orleans-baptist-theological-seminary","tag-nobts","tag-politics","tag-religion","tag-sbc","tag-sbctoday","tag-sbcvoices","tag-sebts","tag-southeastern-baptist-theological-seminary","tag-southern-baptist-convention"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1LP7G-wP","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fromlaw2grace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2035","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fromlaw2grace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fromlaw2grace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fromlaw2grace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fromlaw2grace.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2035"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/fromlaw2grace.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2035\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fromlaw2grace.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2035"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fromlaw2grace.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2035"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fromlaw2grace.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2035"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}