We've often noted the spectacular lack of theological diversity among OBU chapel speakers, especially in recent years. In Save OBU's realm of concerns, however, chapel has always been a secondary problem. There are unfortunately much bigger issues at OBU. Plus, "to the victors go the spoils" --- it's the leadership's prerogative to bring in who they want. The fundamentalists have their men on Bison Hill now, and there's nothing we can do about it. Complaining about the exclusion of moderates will do nothing. This problem will persist until students vote with their feet and simply boycott chapel until some balance is restored.
OBU's all-white, all-male (would God have it any other way?) post-Takeover religion administrators probably congratulate themselves, thinking that having one lady and two black men per semester is going above and beyond in terms of diversity. They hope no one notices that the dozen so so speakers all represent almost the exact same point on the theological spectrum. At the fundamentalist end. Well guess what? People notice. And some people expect that a well-rounded Christian education demands more rigor, more diversity of thought, and a faith unafraid of new perspectives because it can withstand the most stringent intellectual scrutiny.
Given the parade of far-right speakers we've heard this spring, I really don't have anything to say about SBC President Fred Luter's sermon yesterday. What could be more appropriate than a Southern Baptist college hosting the SBC President? Interestingly, however, I don't think it's happened before at OBU, at least not since before the Takeover. (Please correct me if I'm wrong.) We've had past SBC presidents (Bobby Welch in 2007; Tom Elliff in 2010), as well as many famous mega-pastors and the intellectual leaders of the convention (Al Mohler in 2007; David Dockery in 2009). I don't have the entire chapel archive handy, but you can see all the chapels since 2005 here.
Having the SBC president is symbolic, of course. But it's worth noting that the president of the SBC's Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission is much more the public face of the SBC than the convention presidents who come and go every two years. It was a much bigger deal when Richard Land spoke at OBU in the early 2000s than it would have been if then-SBC President James Merritt had spoken.
We've commented elsewhere about OBU's over-the-top attempt to curry favor with Luter, as well as what it must be like to be the president of the SBC. Last summer, OBU awarded Luter an honorary doctorate in spite of a complete lack of connections to OBU. There seems to be an unprecedented effort among top OBU administrators to cozy up to this SBC president. Judging from the opening part of the chapel sermon, it seems that OBU's Dean of Spiritual Life, the Reverend Dale Griffin, has been the administrator working to secure Luter's appearance.
I just think it's worth remembering that there was a time when OBU made an effort to keep the often-ugly politics of the Southern Baptist Convention as far away from Bison Hill as possible. In the 1980s, for instance, students were as likely to hear a sermon by someone who opposed the Fundamentalist Takeover as by someone who supported it.
Those days are over. Today's OBU leadership, though too young to have participated in the Takeover directly, hail it as the best thing that ever happened to the SBC. By their actions --- and by their silence --- they celebrate people like the Reverend Dr. Tom Elliff, who boasted that he had scraped all the "barnacles and parasites" (referring to moderates) off the Ship of Zion.
Congratulations, Drs. Jordan, Whitlock, Norman, McClellan, and Griffin. You can now definitively say that you have scraped all the barnacles and parasites off the Raley Chapel pulpit, too.
With no exceptions that I have seen, moderates (let alone liberals --- if you can actually find any in Baptist life) are unwelcome to preach under the new regime.
Given that Luter avoided controversy and preached a well-received sermon, I see no need to be critical. There have been plenty of questionable chapels this spring --- a Tea Party politician, a Calvinist celebrity preacher on a book tour, and a "pray the gay away" evangelist.
Please take note of a recent Bison story on the process by which chapel speakers are selected. We'll analyze that article soon enough. We may even editorialize about it, since editorial content has all but disappeared from The Bison's pages in recent years. But that's another topic for another day.
Rather than keeping SBC fundamentalism at a distance, as OBU did under President Bob Agee and, to a lesser extent (though it hardly felt like it at the time), under President Mark Brister, the new OBU makes no mistake about where its true loyalties lie. Hosting the SBC president is icing on the cake.
Showing posts with label Fred Luter. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fred Luter. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
Wednesday, April 3, 2013
OBU Doubles Down on Far-Right Ideology in Spring 2013 Chapel Lineup
Thankfully, things have been quieter on the fundamentalist encroachment front at OBU than at any time in the past 4 or 5 years. It's hard to undo the harm that has already been done, but perhaps the administration has scaled back its ambitions -- or at least its timetable -- in this regard.
Chapel: An Important Symbol of Where OBU Stands
Unfortunately, one area of campus life that remains as controversial and polarizing as ever is the roster of speakers invited to Raley Chapel. The Wednesday chapel hour is an important representation, in symbol and in fact, of where OBU stands.
For many years, great care was taken to make chapel a unifying experience. Administrators invited speakers who would not tack strongly to the far left or far right. During the SBC's Fundamentalist Takeover years, President Bob Agee avoided embroiling OBU in the controversy. Yet both fundamentalists and moderates regularly gave invited lectures and sermons at OBU. On the rare occasions when politicians were invited to campus, OBU welcomed both Democrats and Republicans.
Those days are over. More than ever before, OBU's religion administrators are dividing the campus community, offending students and faculty, and pushing down a fundamentalist and political agenda with their choice of chapel speakers.
At least some of the time, there has been a student committee to suggest chapel invitees. I don't know if that's still the case, but even if it is, it is completely devoid of moderate representation and/or vetoed altogether.
Given the wide availability of moderate preachers, theologians, historians, evangelists, and other speakers in Baptist life, OBU's wholesale exclusion of them is inexcusable. The BGCO's outsized control over what OBU does is scarcely as evident as in the chapel lineup. Can you imagine the flack President Whitlock would get if OBU had a chapel speaker Anthony Jordan didn't like?
To further prove this point, we may examine past semesters' chapel preachers in the weeks to come. But since a controversial "ex gay" evangelist is speaking in Raley Chapel today, let's take a moment to look at this spring's lineup.
Jackson Dunn
Earlier this spring, Focus on the Family staffer Jackson Dunn came and promoted the idea that Christian college students should get married very young. While there is currently an encouraging public debate about the economic, social, and relational advantages and supposed costs of later marriage, OBU does not need someone pushing early marriage so explicitly. Can't we agree that this idea is already prevalent enough in OBU culture?!
T.W. Shannon
On the political extremism front, OBU welcomed Tea Party politician T.W. Shannon, Speaker of the Oklahoma House of Representatives. While a number of staunchly conservative politicians have spoken at OBU in recent years, I cannot even think of the last time a politician with moderate or liberal political views -- Democrat or Republican, fundamentalist or moderate -- spoke at OBU. Gov. Brad Henry, a moderate Democrat, spoke in chapel in 2006.
Tulian Tchividjian
In March, the Rev. Tulian Tchividjian, grandson of Billy Graham, brought his book tour to OBU. Tchividjian is a noted Calvinist affiliated with a fundamentalist Presbyterian split-off denomination, the Presbyterian Church in America. He followed the Rev. Dr. D. James Kennedy in the pulpit of the Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Florida. While somewhat less overtly political than his predecessor, Kennedy and Coral Ridge were long influenced by the most extreme form of Christian theocratic politics, dominionism. Tchividian's sermon was, I'm sure, well received. But it does seem curious that OBU so actively promotes Calvinists' book projects.
Christopher Yuan
Today, an "ex gay" evangelist named Christopher Yuan is speaking. Yuan holds a M.A. in biblical exegesis from Wheaton, an identical credential to many 23 year-old OBU alumni/ae. Yet Yuan is on faculty of the Moody Bible Institute. He has a compelling personal story about how God saved him from his unwanted same-sex attraction. Promoting the "ex gay" movement is now extremely controversial, even among evangelicals. Yuan's invitation is perhaps most alarming off all, given how angry many students, faculty, and alumni will be. While Dunn, Shannon, and Tchividian may come from the far right fringes of evangelical culture and Republican politics, at least their sermons could do no harm. The same may not be true for Yuan, given how many OBU students are gay and struggle mightily with how to come to terms with it, given their church, family, and community background.
Fred Luter
Later this month, SBC President Rev. Fred Luter will speak. In retrospect, OBU might rather have invited the Rev. Dr. Russell Moore, president-elect of the SBC's Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission. Moore, as with Richard Land before him, will be the public face of the SBC even more prominently than the convention presidents who come and go every two years.
Summary
Ideally, the Wednesday chapel hour would be a uniting experience for OBU students and faculty. But the current lineup, as with recent ones, indicates a conscious decision to double down on far-right ideology in terms of theology, culture, and politics. It would be one thing if there was some balance. But there is very little. (Tom Terry's address this winter is a notable exception to the complaints registered above.) Instead, chapel is an ever-more divisive and disappointing experience for a large plurality, if not an outright majority, of OBU students and professors.
Chapel: An Important Symbol of Where OBU Stands
Unfortunately, one area of campus life that remains as controversial and polarizing as ever is the roster of speakers invited to Raley Chapel. The Wednesday chapel hour is an important representation, in symbol and in fact, of where OBU stands.
For many years, great care was taken to make chapel a unifying experience. Administrators invited speakers who would not tack strongly to the far left or far right. During the SBC's Fundamentalist Takeover years, President Bob Agee avoided embroiling OBU in the controversy. Yet both fundamentalists and moderates regularly gave invited lectures and sermons at OBU. On the rare occasions when politicians were invited to campus, OBU welcomed both Democrats and Republicans.
Those days are over. More than ever before, OBU's religion administrators are dividing the campus community, offending students and faculty, and pushing down a fundamentalist and political agenda with their choice of chapel speakers.
At least some of the time, there has been a student committee to suggest chapel invitees. I don't know if that's still the case, but even if it is, it is completely devoid of moderate representation and/or vetoed altogether.
Given the wide availability of moderate preachers, theologians, historians, evangelists, and other speakers in Baptist life, OBU's wholesale exclusion of them is inexcusable. The BGCO's outsized control over what OBU does is scarcely as evident as in the chapel lineup. Can you imagine the flack President Whitlock would get if OBU had a chapel speaker Anthony Jordan didn't like?
To further prove this point, we may examine past semesters' chapel preachers in the weeks to come. But since a controversial "ex gay" evangelist is speaking in Raley Chapel today, let's take a moment to look at this spring's lineup.
Jackson Dunn
Earlier this spring, Focus on the Family staffer Jackson Dunn came and promoted the idea that Christian college students should get married very young. While there is currently an encouraging public debate about the economic, social, and relational advantages and supposed costs of later marriage, OBU does not need someone pushing early marriage so explicitly. Can't we agree that this idea is already prevalent enough in OBU culture?!
T.W. Shannon
On the political extremism front, OBU welcomed Tea Party politician T.W. Shannon, Speaker of the Oklahoma House of Representatives. While a number of staunchly conservative politicians have spoken at OBU in recent years, I cannot even think of the last time a politician with moderate or liberal political views -- Democrat or Republican, fundamentalist or moderate -- spoke at OBU. Gov. Brad Henry, a moderate Democrat, spoke in chapel in 2006.
Tulian Tchividjian
In March, the Rev. Tulian Tchividjian, grandson of Billy Graham, brought his book tour to OBU. Tchividjian is a noted Calvinist affiliated with a fundamentalist Presbyterian split-off denomination, the Presbyterian Church in America. He followed the Rev. Dr. D. James Kennedy in the pulpit of the Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Florida. While somewhat less overtly political than his predecessor, Kennedy and Coral Ridge were long influenced by the most extreme form of Christian theocratic politics, dominionism. Tchividian's sermon was, I'm sure, well received. But it does seem curious that OBU so actively promotes Calvinists' book projects.
Christopher Yuan
Today, an "ex gay" evangelist named Christopher Yuan is speaking. Yuan holds a M.A. in biblical exegesis from Wheaton, an identical credential to many 23 year-old OBU alumni/ae. Yet Yuan is on faculty of the Moody Bible Institute. He has a compelling personal story about how God saved him from his unwanted same-sex attraction. Promoting the "ex gay" movement is now extremely controversial, even among evangelicals. Yuan's invitation is perhaps most alarming off all, given how angry many students, faculty, and alumni will be. While Dunn, Shannon, and Tchividian may come from the far right fringes of evangelical culture and Republican politics, at least their sermons could do no harm. The same may not be true for Yuan, given how many OBU students are gay and struggle mightily with how to come to terms with it, given their church, family, and community background.
Fred Luter
Later this month, SBC President Rev. Fred Luter will speak. In retrospect, OBU might rather have invited the Rev. Dr. Russell Moore, president-elect of the SBC's Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission. Moore, as with Richard Land before him, will be the public face of the SBC even more prominently than the convention presidents who come and go every two years.
Summary
Ideally, the Wednesday chapel hour would be a uniting experience for OBU students and faculty. But the current lineup, as with recent ones, indicates a conscious decision to double down on far-right ideology in terms of theology, culture, and politics. It would be one thing if there was some balance. But there is very little. (Tom Terry's address this winter is a notable exception to the complaints registered above.) Instead, chapel is an ever-more divisive and disappointing experience for a large plurality, if not an outright majority, of OBU students and professors.
Friday, February 8, 2013
Tom Terry Speaks in Raley Chapel
The Spring 2013 chapel lineup is about what you would expect: a conservative Republican politician, the president of the SBC, a former large church pastor and current denominational agency head's wife, a ministry professor, etc. We're even going to hear from D. James Kennedy's replacement at Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Fort Lauderdale, FL to ensure that we get the requisite dose of Calvinism.
But the Founder's Day Chapel was rightly given to Tom Terry, a longtime OBU administrator and archivist. Last year's Founder's Day preacher was the Rev. Dr. John Bisagno, a distinguished alum to be sure, but someone who looked the other way as fundamentalists took over the SBC. The year before that, Provost Stan Norman preached the Founder's Day sermon, a rather unfortunate irony. Bob Agee, President Whitlock, and John Parrish spoke in 2010, 2009, and 2008, respectively.
The invitation to Terry came from David Whitlock directly, and kudos to the president for inviting someone to speak who would not be inclined to support the fundamentalists' vision for a new OBU. The press release indicated that Terry named a number of key OBU figures over the years who were not there at the beginning, but who were, in a sense, founders in their own right. Seeing a few names of people who are decidedly not fundamentalists and who oppose (or would have opposed) the fundamentalist encroachment we've seen in recent years, I decided to listen to the address.
Interestingly, Terry noted that before the BGCO accepted Shawnee's offer to donate land and funds for a building, the convention accepted an offer from Oklahoma City. But the offer came with a condition from the chief benefactor, a Mr. Putnam, that he be allowed to appoint half the trustees. Of course, the convention declined.
Along with legendary coach Bob Bass, Terry lifted up former athletic director and women's basketball coach David Sallee ('73) as having been instrumental in making OBU compliant with Title IX and expanding opportunities for women's athletics. As many of you know, Sallee is now president of William Jewell College in Liberty, MO and was a strong advocate for academic freedom and respectability when the fundamentalist Missouri Baptist Convention tried to take over William Jewell. Terry also told the stories of legendary professors and administrators, including Juanita Milsap, Donald G. Osborn, William E. Neptune, and Mary Kay (Higgenbotham) Parrish. These dedicated educators helped build OBU into an academically rigorous institution with a reputation for excellence -- a reputation somewhat imperiled by sliding rankings, administrative blunders, and widespread public concern about encroaching fundamentalism in several departments.
I'm not trying to say that Terry gave a rousing defense of the moderate Baptists' accomplishments in Christian higher education or that he slammed the fundamentalists. It wasn't that kind of speech. But it does serve to remind us that anyone who tries to imagine OBU as a fundamentalist school DOES NOT have history on his side. The people who made OBU great are people who were committed to academic rigor, academic freedom, and the integration of learning with a searching, honest faith that sincere Baptists, both fundamentalist and moderate, have held though the years. There is no way anyone can support faculty purges, fundamentalist-inspired curricular interventions, or the watering down of key subject areas and still claim to be in accordance with the ideals of OBU's founding.
Also, I don't want to put words in anyone's mouth. Maybe not all of the people mentioned want to go on the record against the problems Save OBU has highlighted. I was just pleasantly surprised that Terry's address mentioned so many moderates! It is refreshing to hear some of the true great "founders" praised on Founders' Day.
And it was a wonderful, appropriate way to honor Tom Terry, who in addition to a long administrative career served as interim president in 1982. We probably won't see OBU historians like Slayden Yarbrough or Jerry Faught in the Raley Chapel pulpit any time soon (and that's a shame). Tom Terry is and OBU historian of the highest order, and I certainly am thankful for his message.
Fundamentalists did not make OBU great. They are a threat to OBU's greatness. Let's not forget that.
P.S. A few years ago, I recalled that J. Edgar Hoover once spoke at OBU. Curious, I emailed Terry and asked him about the event. He sent me a large packet of information pertaining to every aspect of Hoover coming to OBU, from President Raley's invitation to local press accounts of the address. (Maybe I'll write about it sometime, just for fun.) I don't know Tom Terry personally and I'm sure he has no clue who I am. But I certainly appreciate him and his service to OBU over many decades.
But the Founder's Day Chapel was rightly given to Tom Terry, a longtime OBU administrator and archivist. Last year's Founder's Day preacher was the Rev. Dr. John Bisagno, a distinguished alum to be sure, but someone who looked the other way as fundamentalists took over the SBC. The year before that, Provost Stan Norman preached the Founder's Day sermon, a rather unfortunate irony. Bob Agee, President Whitlock, and John Parrish spoke in 2010, 2009, and 2008, respectively.
The invitation to Terry came from David Whitlock directly, and kudos to the president for inviting someone to speak who would not be inclined to support the fundamentalists' vision for a new OBU. The press release indicated that Terry named a number of key OBU figures over the years who were not there at the beginning, but who were, in a sense, founders in their own right. Seeing a few names of people who are decidedly not fundamentalists and who oppose (or would have opposed) the fundamentalist encroachment we've seen in recent years, I decided to listen to the address.
Interestingly, Terry noted that before the BGCO accepted Shawnee's offer to donate land and funds for a building, the convention accepted an offer from Oklahoma City. But the offer came with a condition from the chief benefactor, a Mr. Putnam, that he be allowed to appoint half the trustees. Of course, the convention declined.
Along with legendary coach Bob Bass, Terry lifted up former athletic director and women's basketball coach David Sallee ('73) as having been instrumental in making OBU compliant with Title IX and expanding opportunities for women's athletics. As many of you know, Sallee is now president of William Jewell College in Liberty, MO and was a strong advocate for academic freedom and respectability when the fundamentalist Missouri Baptist Convention tried to take over William Jewell. Terry also told the stories of legendary professors and administrators, including Juanita Milsap, Donald G. Osborn, William E. Neptune, and Mary Kay (Higgenbotham) Parrish. These dedicated educators helped build OBU into an academically rigorous institution with a reputation for excellence -- a reputation somewhat imperiled by sliding rankings, administrative blunders, and widespread public concern about encroaching fundamentalism in several departments.
I'm not trying to say that Terry gave a rousing defense of the moderate Baptists' accomplishments in Christian higher education or that he slammed the fundamentalists. It wasn't that kind of speech. But it does serve to remind us that anyone who tries to imagine OBU as a fundamentalist school DOES NOT have history on his side. The people who made OBU great are people who were committed to academic rigor, academic freedom, and the integration of learning with a searching, honest faith that sincere Baptists, both fundamentalist and moderate, have held though the years. There is no way anyone can support faculty purges, fundamentalist-inspired curricular interventions, or the watering down of key subject areas and still claim to be in accordance with the ideals of OBU's founding.
Also, I don't want to put words in anyone's mouth. Maybe not all of the people mentioned want to go on the record against the problems Save OBU has highlighted. I was just pleasantly surprised that Terry's address mentioned so many moderates! It is refreshing to hear some of the true great "founders" praised on Founders' Day.
And it was a wonderful, appropriate way to honor Tom Terry, who in addition to a long administrative career served as interim president in 1982. We probably won't see OBU historians like Slayden Yarbrough or Jerry Faught in the Raley Chapel pulpit any time soon (and that's a shame). Tom Terry is and OBU historian of the highest order, and I certainly am thankful for his message.
Fundamentalists did not make OBU great. They are a threat to OBU's greatness. Let's not forget that.
P.S. A few years ago, I recalled that J. Edgar Hoover once spoke at OBU. Curious, I emailed Terry and asked him about the event. He sent me a large packet of information pertaining to every aspect of Hoover coming to OBU, from President Raley's invitation to local press accounts of the address. (Maybe I'll write about it sometime, just for fun.) I don't know Tom Terry personally and I'm sure he has no clue who I am. But I certainly appreciate him and his service to OBU over many decades.
Friday, August 31, 2012
2012 Convocation: Raley, Jr. Receives Honorary Doctorate
I really enjoyed the video of Wednesday's convocation service. The hymns, the prayers, and the words spoken were all very beautiful and inspiring. It was wonderful to see John Wesley Raley, Jr. receive an honorary degree from the institution his parents devoted their lives to building.
Some people think I've been too hard on OBU in my writing here. Others think I've been too soft. At the moment, I just want to say that yesterday's convocation reminded me of all that is great, even exceptional (to borrow Mr. Raley's term), about OBU.
This time last year, many people legitimately feared that OBU was on the verge of an all-out assault by fundamentalists. The faculty seriously considered taking a no-confidence vote in the president. Yet today, many of us feel at least somewhat reassured that the worst of our fears have not been realized. Sure, OBU administrators continue their troubling pattern of cozying up to fundamentalist SBC elites. Sure, it will take time for the faculty's wounds to heal to the point that they can begin to trust President Whitlock and Provost Norman again. Sure, the religion department bypassed the usual, ethical hiring process and installed a fundamentalist Bible teacher who is also an avowedflat-earther young earther. OBU continues to be without a legitimate university bookstore that sells mainstream books in history, literature, the arts, and the natural and social sciences.
But given the severity of our fears and the path taken by some other state convention-run Baptist colleges, I think it's safe to say that things are not nearly as bad as they could be.
What has happened to keep OBU from going over the cliff? What good fortune and grace has come our way to enable even OBU's loving critics to find this week's service not only palatable, but also inspiring? Let's review a few facts:
In spite of a few pretty serious disappointments, we're looking forward to OBU having a better year than it's had lately.
Some people think I've been too hard on OBU in my writing here. Others think I've been too soft. At the moment, I just want to say that yesterday's convocation reminded me of all that is great, even exceptional (to borrow Mr. Raley's term), about OBU.
This time last year, many people legitimately feared that OBU was on the verge of an all-out assault by fundamentalists. The faculty seriously considered taking a no-confidence vote in the president. Yet today, many of us feel at least somewhat reassured that the worst of our fears have not been realized. Sure, OBU administrators continue their troubling pattern of cozying up to fundamentalist SBC elites. Sure, it will take time for the faculty's wounds to heal to the point that they can begin to trust President Whitlock and Provost Norman again. Sure, the religion department bypassed the usual, ethical hiring process and installed a fundamentalist Bible teacher who is also an avowed
But given the severity of our fears and the path taken by some other state convention-run Baptist colleges, I think it's safe to say that things are not nearly as bad as they could be.
What has happened to keep OBU from going over the cliff? What good fortune and grace has come our way to enable even OBU's loving critics to find this week's service not only palatable, but also inspiring? Let's review a few facts:
- This honoree is actually deserving. Whitlock wisely chose to honor someone who actually has a deep and meaningful connection to the university, and who might actually be inclined to support it financially. Raley, a semi-retired partner in a Ponca City law firm and former mayor of that town, served as U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Oklahoma in the 1990s, having been appointed by President George H. W. Bush. Contrast Mr. Raley to SBC President Rev. Fred Luter (the last honoree), who has absolutely no connection to OBU and would never give OBU a dime. The Luter move, done off-site and in the summer, was nothing more than an ill-advised power play.
- OBU has brought in a number of very promising new faculty members, rather than reflexively replacing retiring moderates with fundamentalists.
- Unlike a growing number of other Baptist schools, OBU does not force its faculty to sign creedal statements. Doing so would be the end of academic freedom. OBU's convocation explicitly asked students to open their minds, not to close them (as is the case at the fundamentalist SBC seminaries and colleges like Truett-McConnell and Brewton-Parker in Georgia).
- Provost Stan Norman, the force behind all the recent problems at OBU, appears to have been completely reigned in. When he came to OBU, he saw faculty vacancies as his best chance to remake OBU in the mold of SBC fundamentalism. Either he's had a change of heart, or has been directed to lay low. Hopefully installing a young earth creationist in the Hobbs College of Theology and Ministry will keep him happy for a while and he won't try to wreck any other departments.
In spite of a few pretty serious disappointments, we're looking forward to OBU having a better year than it's had lately.
Thursday, July 5, 2012
Highlights from the 2012 SBC Annual Meeting
Earlier this week, Veronica shared a few observations from the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship's General Assembly, held a couple weeks ago in Ft. Worth. The CBF has emerged and grown since the Takeover as a way forward for Baptists who reject the SBC's creedalism, authoritarianism, and rejection of historic Baptist freedoms.
Unsurprisingly, a number of OBU alumni and friends have affiliated with the CBF over the years -- in Shawnee, throughout Oklahoma, and all over the nation and world. Of course, OBU graduates are still affiliated in large numbers with SBC-related churches and institutions. But as we'll detail soon, a surprising number of OBU religion and ministry graduates choose non-SBC seminaries and minister in non-SBC churches. The CBF's ministry, leadership, and lay ranks are filled with OBU faculty, retirees, students, alumni, and friends.
In fact, while fundamentalists were exerting their political power in SBC life, OBU was much more closely aligned with the moderates than with the fundamentalists. OBU President Bob Agee worked assiduously to protect OBU from the excesses of the Takeover while still maintaining good relations with the BGCO. Agee's successor, Mark Brister, was seen as a rising star in SBC politics. At OBU, however, Brister was much more likely to defend OBU's mission than to accede to the fundamentalists' wishes. He was not a perfect president, of course. But he did little more than the requisite politicking and good 'ol boy back patting. To my knowledge, Brister is now out of the SBC elites' inner circle for good. Clearly, he was not impressed with or swayed by their agenda.
The SBC in OBU Life
During my years at OBU, I was never aware of the SBC annual meeting being a major event in OBU life. I never heard of any professors (clergy or lay) serving as messengers, though there may have been some. Given the Convention's recent history of actions that were divisive (cleansing all institutions of moderates) and bizarre (boycotting the Walt Disney Co.), the feeling I got from OBU was that it kept the SBC label and all its racial, social, theological and political baggage at arm's length. To the extent that faculty and administrators had opinions about the Convention that they shared with students, I usually got the impression that most people thought the SBC had been hijacked by amateurs and ideologues.
OBU's motto was "Unashamedly Baptist," but I quickly learned that while OBU was indeed rightly proud of its Baptist heritage, many of its leaders and professors were indeed ashamed of what the SBC had become. This was especially obvious the day Richard Land came to speak in Raley Chapel (c. 2001), but that's another story for another day.
Sad as it is, given the post-Takeover reality of SBC life, there is precedent for OBU having a presence at the annual meeting. I don't know whether President Agee attended regularly. President Brister was a regular fixture. In fact, I saw him at the only SBC I ever attended. At the 2000 Orlando convention, I attended the OBU dinner with my parents (we lived in nearby Kissimmee).
So I am not complaining that President Whitlock attends the annual convention. It's a requisite schmooze-fest that comes with the territory. I just wish institutional arrangements were such that he didn't have to. Nothing good can come from strengthening OBU's ties to the SBC, and, as we're seeing, plenty of bad can come from it. OBU had a booth in the convention hall, as usual. In this video, Dean Ken Gabrielse shows some class in turning down an opportunity to compare OBU to Liberty University (starts at 4:40). (I have no such qualms. There is no comparison, and if OBU ever becomes enough of a joke to merit comparisons to Liberty, then we will have already lost our battle.)
Highlights from the 2012 SBC
This year, OBU sent what seemed like a large contingent to New Orleans well in advance of the convention to give incoming SBC President Fred Luter an honorary doctorate even though he has absolutely no connection to Oklahoma or OBU whatsoever except for being an old buddy of Provost Stan Norman. This move was pure pandering and, as far as I can tell, utterly without precedent in OBU history. Attendees included Whitlock, Norman, Fine Arts Dean Ken Gabrielse, and Dean of Spiritual Life Dale Griffin. I don't know how many of their wives were a part of the junket. Also, I don't know if they stayed in New Orleans for the entire ten days between the Luter presentation and the SBC meeting, or whether they made two separate trips. Either way, it seems like a huge waste of money. Your tuition dollars at work.
Anyway, I have not paid attention to SBC politics in many years, but this year's convention seemed pretty typical. It was mostly white, mostly old, and (like many denominations) mostly driven by clergy and denominational staff rather than laity.
The highlight was, of course, the historic election of Luter as the first black SBC president. The main event was the unending circle of SBC elites patting themselves on the back for finallyfinding a black person who will go along with their social/political agenda atoning for all the racist sins in the SBC's past. One prominent sideshow was the kerfuffle over whether or not LifeWay stores should sell a inspirational movie about race (The Blind Side). (With Luter's support, LifeWay discontinued selling the movie.)
There was also a debate over the efficacy of the sinner's prayer, whether it is an advisable evangelism tactic, and whether it is followed with sufficient discipleship. I don't want to open that can of worms here, though many Baptist blogs covered the debate.
Boards, agencies, and institutions gave their typical reports. Nothing seemed especially newsworthy (though please correct me if I'm wrong). The demographers reported continued membership decline (the SBC is below 16 million members for the first time in over a decade). White church decline continues and nonwhite congregations appear to be something of a growth industry in the SBC. I don't know how many legitimately mixed race congregations there are, but a few Latinos and a black person in the choir do not make your lily white church "mixed-race." There is definitely a trend toward acknowledging the importance of "ethnic ministry," though when white people refer to everyone else as "ethnic," you wonder how much progress will ever be made.
Unfortunately, the current leadership of OBU gives every indication that it wants to get in bed with the SBC elites at every possible opportunity (metaphorically, of course). Provost Norman is a known denominational climber and a true believer. President Whitlock is more of a newcomer to SBC politics. We have no indication that he is a lifelong fundamentalist sympathizer who has been in league with the Takeover faction since the beginning. We know he attended last year's SBC to give an award -- offensively named for the late Rev. Dr. Herschel H. Hobbs -- to a Takeover leader with OBU and Oklahoma connections. But this may have actually been his first SBC meeting as a messenger.
We can only hope and pray that now that he has had a taste of SBC politicking and sees the vast wasteland the Takeover has left in its wake at educational institutions, he'll reject the fundamentalists' agenda and devote himself ever more fully to the cherished (and threatened) ideals on which our great OBU was founded.
Unsurprisingly, a number of OBU alumni and friends have affiliated with the CBF over the years -- in Shawnee, throughout Oklahoma, and all over the nation and world. Of course, OBU graduates are still affiliated in large numbers with SBC-related churches and institutions. But as we'll detail soon, a surprising number of OBU religion and ministry graduates choose non-SBC seminaries and minister in non-SBC churches. The CBF's ministry, leadership, and lay ranks are filled with OBU faculty, retirees, students, alumni, and friends.
In fact, while fundamentalists were exerting their political power in SBC life, OBU was much more closely aligned with the moderates than with the fundamentalists. OBU President Bob Agee worked assiduously to protect OBU from the excesses of the Takeover while still maintaining good relations with the BGCO. Agee's successor, Mark Brister, was seen as a rising star in SBC politics. At OBU, however, Brister was much more likely to defend OBU's mission than to accede to the fundamentalists' wishes. He was not a perfect president, of course. But he did little more than the requisite politicking and good 'ol boy back patting. To my knowledge, Brister is now out of the SBC elites' inner circle for good. Clearly, he was not impressed with or swayed by their agenda.
The SBC in OBU Life
During my years at OBU, I was never aware of the SBC annual meeting being a major event in OBU life. I never heard of any professors (clergy or lay) serving as messengers, though there may have been some. Given the Convention's recent history of actions that were divisive (cleansing all institutions of moderates) and bizarre (boycotting the Walt Disney Co.), the feeling I got from OBU was that it kept the SBC label and all its racial, social, theological and political baggage at arm's length. To the extent that faculty and administrators had opinions about the Convention that they shared with students, I usually got the impression that most people thought the SBC had been hijacked by amateurs and ideologues.
OBU's motto was "Unashamedly Baptist," but I quickly learned that while OBU was indeed rightly proud of its Baptist heritage, many of its leaders and professors were indeed ashamed of what the SBC had become. This was especially obvious the day Richard Land came to speak in Raley Chapel (c. 2001), but that's another story for another day.
Sad as it is, given the post-Takeover reality of SBC life, there is precedent for OBU having a presence at the annual meeting. I don't know whether President Agee attended regularly. President Brister was a regular fixture. In fact, I saw him at the only SBC I ever attended. At the 2000 Orlando convention, I attended the OBU dinner with my parents (we lived in nearby Kissimmee).
So I am not complaining that President Whitlock attends the annual convention. It's a requisite schmooze-fest that comes with the territory. I just wish institutional arrangements were such that he didn't have to. Nothing good can come from strengthening OBU's ties to the SBC, and, as we're seeing, plenty of bad can come from it. OBU had a booth in the convention hall, as usual. In this video, Dean Ken Gabrielse shows some class in turning down an opportunity to compare OBU to Liberty University (starts at 4:40). (I have no such qualms. There is no comparison, and if OBU ever becomes enough of a joke to merit comparisons to Liberty, then we will have already lost our battle.)
Highlights from the 2012 SBC
This year, OBU sent what seemed like a large contingent to New Orleans well in advance of the convention to give incoming SBC President Fred Luter an honorary doctorate even though he has absolutely no connection to Oklahoma or OBU whatsoever except for being an old buddy of Provost Stan Norman. This move was pure pandering and, as far as I can tell, utterly without precedent in OBU history. Attendees included Whitlock, Norman, Fine Arts Dean Ken Gabrielse, and Dean of Spiritual Life Dale Griffin. I don't know how many of their wives were a part of the junket. Also, I don't know if they stayed in New Orleans for the entire ten days between the Luter presentation and the SBC meeting, or whether they made two separate trips. Either way, it seems like a huge waste of money. Your tuition dollars at work.
Anyway, I have not paid attention to SBC politics in many years, but this year's convention seemed pretty typical. It was mostly white, mostly old, and (like many denominations) mostly driven by clergy and denominational staff rather than laity.
The highlight was, of course, the historic election of Luter as the first black SBC president. The main event was the unending circle of SBC elites patting themselves on the back for finally
There was also a debate over the efficacy of the sinner's prayer, whether it is an advisable evangelism tactic, and whether it is followed with sufficient discipleship. I don't want to open that can of worms here, though many Baptist blogs covered the debate.
Boards, agencies, and institutions gave their typical reports. Nothing seemed especially newsworthy (though please correct me if I'm wrong). The demographers reported continued membership decline (the SBC is below 16 million members for the first time in over a decade). White church decline continues and nonwhite congregations appear to be something of a growth industry in the SBC. I don't know how many legitimately mixed race congregations there are, but a few Latinos and a black person in the choir do not make your lily white church "mixed-race." There is definitely a trend toward acknowledging the importance of "ethnic ministry," though when white people refer to everyone else as "ethnic," you wonder how much progress will ever be made.
Unfortunately, the current leadership of OBU gives every indication that it wants to get in bed with the SBC elites at every possible opportunity (metaphorically, of course). Provost Norman is a known denominational climber and a true believer. President Whitlock is more of a newcomer to SBC politics. We have no indication that he is a lifelong fundamentalist sympathizer who has been in league with the Takeover faction since the beginning. We know he attended last year's SBC to give an award -- offensively named for the late Rev. Dr. Herschel H. Hobbs -- to a Takeover leader with OBU and Oklahoma connections. But this may have actually been his first SBC meeting as a messenger.
We can only hope and pray that now that he has had a taste of SBC politicking and sees the vast wasteland the Takeover has left in its wake at educational institutions, he'll reject the fundamentalists' agenda and devote himself ever more fully to the cherished (and threatened) ideals on which our great OBU was founded.
Saturday, June 16, 2012
The Next Two Weeks
Happy Saturday, everyone!
I'm in the middle of teaching a monthlong summer school course on Comparative Political Systems at Georgetown. Veronica will be squeezing in another condensed, weeklong seminary course at TCU later this month as well. Even if the pace of our blog posting has slowed somewhat, a lot is going on behind the scenes. We're continuing to build collaborations with other teetering Baptist institutions and learning from their experiences. (Take a moment to read Save Our Shorter's description of its trustees' negligence. Then say a prayer of thanksgiving that OBU still has good trustees!)
Recent Posts
This week, we noted that OBU conferred an honorary doctorate upon Rev. Fred Luter, the New Orleans pastor who will be elected president of the Southern Baptist Convention next week. I still don't have a straight answer on whether a committee decides who should get honorary degrees or whether it's based on the president's unitary executive authority. But we were fairly alarmed to learn that OBU has given doctorates to two post-Takeover SBC presidents in the past year alone. Until now, we hadn't typically used the honorary degree as a way to cozy up to fundamentalist SBC elites, especially one without any OBU or Oklahoma connections besides being Stan Norman's friend. If you look at the list of post-Takeover SBC presidents, OBU has only honored Luter and the Rev. Dr. Tom Elliff. Though Elliff did enough damage on his own, it would be horrendous for OBU to go back and start giving honorary doctorates to Takeover-era SBC presidents, since many of them shamefully abided the destruction/fundamentalization of once-proud Baptist institutions.
On Thursday, I took at pass at blaming the SBC's membership decline on fundamentalism. It took some restraint.
The Next Two Weeks
Next week, the SBC Pastor's Conference and Annual Meeting take place in New Orleans. We'll be providing updates through our Facebook and Twitter feeds, but here on the blog we'll be taking a holistic look at the history of fundamentalism in the SBC. Clayton Mauritzen ('06) who has written here before, will be leading us through a six-part series that seeks to understand and explain the causes and consequences of the convention's institutionalization of fundamentalism.
The following week, past contributor Caitlin Dacus ('11) will lead us through a four-part examination of the Takeover's effect on Baptist missionaries. This is a tragic story that not many people know, and Caitlin's interests and experiences make her the ideal person to tell it. I definitely look forward to welcoming Clayton and Caitlin back to the blog!
We also have some exciting guest posts planned for later in the summer. Of course, we'll also be releasing the results of our BGCO pastor/church staff survey. And we have some interesting facts to present that will highlight Oklahoma Baptists' need to beef up their BCM funding, even if it comes at the expense of subsidizing OBU.
Save OBU Connections Continue to Build
Now that our movement is more than six months old, we're starting to see the positive, snowballing effects of connecting geographically- and temporally-dispersed faculty (current and former), alumni, retirees, students, and concerned Baptists. I'm hearing reports of Save OBU helping people connections, sharing stories, and building friendships at conferences, churches, and educational institutions. This is so wonderful to hear! Please keep the stories coming! (jlupfer [at] gmail [dot] com).
We didn't act in time to get a booth at the CBF General Assembly (June 20-23 in Ft. Worth), but please don't let that stop you from talking up OBU at an event where many concerned constituents will be present! We'll try to have a formal presence at next year's CBF assembly. And since next year's SBC is in Baltimore, I may just go myself. Until I get kicked out along with all the other barnacles and parasites :-)
Finally, if any of you are going to be in the Washington, D.C. area this summer, let me know! I'd love to compare notes and get to know you better.
-Jacob
I'm in the middle of teaching a monthlong summer school course on Comparative Political Systems at Georgetown. Veronica will be squeezing in another condensed, weeklong seminary course at TCU later this month as well. Even if the pace of our blog posting has slowed somewhat, a lot is going on behind the scenes. We're continuing to build collaborations with other teetering Baptist institutions and learning from their experiences. (Take a moment to read Save Our Shorter's description of its trustees' negligence. Then say a prayer of thanksgiving that OBU still has good trustees!)
Recent Posts
This week, we noted that OBU conferred an honorary doctorate upon Rev. Fred Luter, the New Orleans pastor who will be elected president of the Southern Baptist Convention next week. I still don't have a straight answer on whether a committee decides who should get honorary degrees or whether it's based on the president's unitary executive authority. But we were fairly alarmed to learn that OBU has given doctorates to two post-Takeover SBC presidents in the past year alone. Until now, we hadn't typically used the honorary degree as a way to cozy up to fundamentalist SBC elites, especially one without any OBU or Oklahoma connections besides being Stan Norman's friend. If you look at the list of post-Takeover SBC presidents, OBU has only honored Luter and the Rev. Dr. Tom Elliff. Though Elliff did enough damage on his own, it would be horrendous for OBU to go back and start giving honorary doctorates to Takeover-era SBC presidents, since many of them shamefully abided the destruction/fundamentalization of once-proud Baptist institutions.
On Thursday, I took at pass at blaming the SBC's membership decline on fundamentalism. It took some restraint.
The Next Two Weeks
Next week, the SBC Pastor's Conference and Annual Meeting take place in New Orleans. We'll be providing updates through our Facebook and Twitter feeds, but here on the blog we'll be taking a holistic look at the history of fundamentalism in the SBC. Clayton Mauritzen ('06) who has written here before, will be leading us through a six-part series that seeks to understand and explain the causes and consequences of the convention's institutionalization of fundamentalism.
The following week, past contributor Caitlin Dacus ('11) will lead us through a four-part examination of the Takeover's effect on Baptist missionaries. This is a tragic story that not many people know, and Caitlin's interests and experiences make her the ideal person to tell it. I definitely look forward to welcoming Clayton and Caitlin back to the blog!
We also have some exciting guest posts planned for later in the summer. Of course, we'll also be releasing the results of our BGCO pastor/church staff survey. And we have some interesting facts to present that will highlight Oklahoma Baptists' need to beef up their BCM funding, even if it comes at the expense of subsidizing OBU.
Save OBU Connections Continue to Build
Now that our movement is more than six months old, we're starting to see the positive, snowballing effects of connecting geographically- and temporally-dispersed faculty (current and former), alumni, retirees, students, and concerned Baptists. I'm hearing reports of Save OBU helping people connections, sharing stories, and building friendships at conferences, churches, and educational institutions. This is so wonderful to hear! Please keep the stories coming! (jlupfer [at] gmail [dot] com).
We didn't act in time to get a booth at the CBF General Assembly (June 20-23 in Ft. Worth), but please don't let that stop you from talking up OBU at an event where many concerned constituents will be present! We'll try to have a formal presence at next year's CBF assembly. And since next year's SBC is in Baltimore, I may just go myself. Until I get kicked out along with all the other barnacles and parasites :-)
Finally, if any of you are going to be in the Washington, D.C. area this summer, let me know! I'd love to compare notes and get to know you better.
-Jacob
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Post-Takeover SBC Presidents: Mayors of Crazy Town?
Last weekend, OBU sent a delegation to New Orleans to award SBC President-in-Waiting Fred Luter an honorary Doctor of Divinity. For 30 years after the Takeover, it was not OBU's practice to give out honorary degrees to SBC climbers and elites. Yet in the past month, we have given honorary doctorates to two SBC presidents. If anything, we should be keeping our distance from modern SBC leadership, which has collectively had a disastrous effect on academic freedom and Baptist distinctives over the past 30 years. Yet the David Whitlock Administration seems to be wasting no opportunity to cozy up to SBC elites.
So let's take a look at this prestigious fraternity. Chances are you'll recognize some, if not most, of the names.
Note that some of the events and statements reported below did not take place during that man's tenure as SBC president. Rather, the point is being fundamentalist and obsessive about political control and domination are prerequisites for the job. Being a little crazy usually helps, too. The recent presidents haven't been nearly as bad as the earlier ones. But then again, the first generation presidents did most of the dirty work. Nowadays, all the boards and institutions have already been pretty much destroyed. You can read about most of these guys in this handy online guide: 30 People, 7 Boards, 2 Committees, and 1 News Service Who Screwed Up the Southern Baptist Convention.
Rev. Adrian Rogers, TN (1979-1980)
After several years of planning by Takeover architects, Rogers's election signaled the beginning of the end for moderates in the SBC.
Rev. Bailey Smith, OK (1980-1982)
Tom Elliff's brother-in-law was special indeed. He claimed to know the limits of divine hearing, insisting "God Almighty does not hear the prayer of a Jew." Just for kicks, he also quipped, "I don't know why God chose the Jew, they have such funny noses." I really hope Rev. Smith's sister dated a few Jewish guys before she married Tom Elliff.
Rev. Jimmy Draper, TX (1982-1984)
As SBC president, he continued the practice of appointing only fundamentalists to denominational boards and agencies. Later, as president of the Sunday School Board, he purged that organization of moderates through more than 100 early retirements and forced resignations.
Rev. Dr. Charles Stanley, GA (1984-1986)
He wasn't quite as much of a one-man wrecking ball as some of the other early Takeover presidents. But he dutifully appointed only fundamentalists to SBC boards and agencies. Stanley cashed in on his SBC fame and made a boatload of money writing devotional books.
Rev. Adrian Rogers, TN (1986-1988)
Even after his second stint as SBC president, Rogers continued to be active in the Takeover. Regarding his desire to police what SBC seminary professors taught, Rogers said "If we say pickles have souls, they better teach that pickles have souls!" Rogers also advocated that the WMU be "hardwired" into the convention's power structure -- in other words, that the convention strip the power of electing WMU board members from the state WMU organizations. Also, Rogers spearheaded a 1992 meeting where fundamentalists, having taken over the SBC, turned their sights on state conventions. Tellingly, this was shortly before Anthony Jordan and other fundamentalists led the BGCO to censure former Executive Director-Treasurer Joe Ingram for "consorting with moderates."
Rev. Dr. Jerry Vines, FL (1988-1990)
As SBC president, he continued the fundamentalist practice of appointing only like-minded people to SBC boards and agencies. You probably know Vines best for his description of the Prophet Mohammed as a "demon possessed pedophile." When pushed Vines cited a book by (now) Truett-McConnell College President Emir Caner (and his brother Ergun, who was demoted from Liberty University's administration for lying repeatedly about his life story and testimony).
Rev. Dr. Morris Chapman, TX (1990-1992)
Nominated for the SBC presidency by OBU alum Rev. Dr. John Bisagno, an influential pastor who had previously said he was neutral in the controversy. Chapman exemplified the growing hatred of moderates, informing the Baptist World Alliance that the SBC would be pulling out of the international Baptist body because it had admitted the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship as a member.
Rev. Ed Young, TX (1992-1994)
More of the same. Particularly bad on church-state issues, reflecting the new normal for the SBC. It was on Young's watch that the SBC defunded the Baptist Joint Committee on Public Affairs.
Rev. Dr. Jim Henry, FL (1994-1996)
The closest thing to a moderate the SBC presidency has seen since the Takeover began in 1979. As far as I know, he has not done or said anything too wacky.
Rev. Dr. Tom Elliff, OK (1996-1998)
Elliff continued the purge and marginalization of moderates. By now, you probably know about his comparison of moderates Baptists to barnacles on a ship. He recently spoke at OBU's commencement. To preserve decorum, the parasites seated on the platform behind him (OBU faculty) applauded politely. He has received two honors from OBU in the past year: the First Annual Herschel H. Hobbs Award for Distinguished Denominational Service and an honorary doctorate. Elliff now leads the SBC's International Mission Board, where liberty of the conscience once existed.
Rev. Dr. Paige Patterson, TX (1998-2000)
As president of Criswell College in the late 1970s, Patterson and Paul Pressler, a Houston judge and Baptist layman, formulated the original Takeover plan. Noting the massive appointive power of the SBC presidency, Patterson and Pressler realized that if a few fundamentalist presidents exclusively appointed fundamentalists to the denomination's boards and agencies, the whole organization would be thoroughly fundamentalist in just a decade or so. They were right.
Rev. Dr. James Merritt, GA (2000-2002)
Although Merritt dutifully exercised his expected post-Takeover duties, some Baptist elites and commentators didn't find him to be extreme enough. Merritt's son, Jonathan, is a popular cultural commentator who is somewhat less reflexively pro-Religious Right than most SBC elites. The prospect of the younger Merritt acceding to his father's pulpit someday horrifies some fundamentalists.
Rev. Dr. Jack Graham, TX (2002-2004)
About what you would expect. Graham oversaw the SBC's withdrawal from the Baptist World Alliance. Perhaps most bizarrely, he supported a resolution at the 2004 SBC that called on Southern Baptists to remove their children from public schools.
Rev. Dr. Bobby Welch, FL (2004-2006)
Welch was one of the relatively normal ones. But given how far that goalpost has moved, that's not really saying much. Whereas other past presidents cashed in on their notoriety by writing books, Welch has snagged several plum positions in the SBC and state convention hierarchies.
Rev. Dr. Frank Page, SC (2006-2008)
Like his successors, Page obeyed the post-Takeover playbook and did the requisite Religious Right politicking. And like Welch, he managed to parlay his success into some nice, influential pre-retirement positions. Currently, Dr. Page is president of the SBC's Executive Committee, the powerful body that represents the SBC between its annual meetings.
Rev. Johnny Hunt, GA (2008-2010)
The accuracy of Hunt's resume sparked some controversy around the time of his election. But if legitimizing degree mills is the worst thing contemporary SBC presidents do, then I guess things could be worse. And pretty soon, a lot of once-great Baptist colleges may indeed become degree mills.
Rev. Bryant Wright, GA (2010-2012)
Wright has had the misfortune of presiding over several P.R. blunders, including the SBC name change debate and the fallout from SBC Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission President Richard Land's plagiarized racist comments about Trayvon Martin, a young black man shot to death earlier this year by a white neighborhood watch patrolman. But if recent history is any guide, Wright will find a nice, six-figure pre-retirement retirement at some SBC agency or institution.
Rev. Fred Luter, LA (2012-2014)
So, given the less-than-illustrious history of his 16 most recent predecessors, can you understand why we're a little skeptical about David Whitlock's decision to give Luter an honorary doctorate? Every indication is that Luter will stand firmly in line with the post-Takeover status quo, which has created a horrible environment for what few legitimate Baptist educational institutions remain. Why are we ingratiating ourselves to SBC politicians when there are so many leaders who have stood with integrity for academic freedom and true Baptist distinctives that we could honor?
Note to members of Franklin Avenue Baptist Church, New Orleans: We here at Save OBU sincerely hope this award ceremony did not encroach on your Sunday worship. We realize that Pastor Luter has absolutely no relevant connections to Oklahoma Baptist University other than its administrators' desire to be in the good graces of a powerful figure. But by now you are used to people cozying up to your pastor for no other reason than his position in SBC politics. Sorry for the charade.
So let's take a look at this prestigious fraternity. Chances are you'll recognize some, if not most, of the names.
Note that some of the events and statements reported below did not take place during that man's tenure as SBC president. Rather, the point is being fundamentalist and obsessive about political control and domination are prerequisites for the job. Being a little crazy usually helps, too. The recent presidents haven't been nearly as bad as the earlier ones. But then again, the first generation presidents did most of the dirty work. Nowadays, all the boards and institutions have already been pretty much destroyed. You can read about most of these guys in this handy online guide: 30 People, 7 Boards, 2 Committees, and 1 News Service Who Screwed Up the Southern Baptist Convention.
Rev. Adrian Rogers, TN (1979-1980)
After several years of planning by Takeover architects, Rogers's election signaled the beginning of the end for moderates in the SBC.
Rev. Bailey Smith, OK (1980-1982)
Tom Elliff's brother-in-law was special indeed. He claimed to know the limits of divine hearing, insisting "God Almighty does not hear the prayer of a Jew." Just for kicks, he also quipped, "I don't know why God chose the Jew, they have such funny noses." I really hope Rev. Smith's sister dated a few Jewish guys before she married Tom Elliff.
Rev. Jimmy Draper, TX (1982-1984)
As SBC president, he continued the practice of appointing only fundamentalists to denominational boards and agencies. Later, as president of the Sunday School Board, he purged that organization of moderates through more than 100 early retirements and forced resignations.
Rev. Dr. Charles Stanley, GA (1984-1986)
He wasn't quite as much of a one-man wrecking ball as some of the other early Takeover presidents. But he dutifully appointed only fundamentalists to SBC boards and agencies. Stanley cashed in on his SBC fame and made a boatload of money writing devotional books.
Rev. Adrian Rogers, TN (1986-1988)
Even after his second stint as SBC president, Rogers continued to be active in the Takeover. Regarding his desire to police what SBC seminary professors taught, Rogers said "If we say pickles have souls, they better teach that pickles have souls!" Rogers also advocated that the WMU be "hardwired" into the convention's power structure -- in other words, that the convention strip the power of electing WMU board members from the state WMU organizations. Also, Rogers spearheaded a 1992 meeting where fundamentalists, having taken over the SBC, turned their sights on state conventions. Tellingly, this was shortly before Anthony Jordan and other fundamentalists led the BGCO to censure former Executive Director-Treasurer Joe Ingram for "consorting with moderates."
Rev. Dr. Jerry Vines, FL (1988-1990)
As SBC president, he continued the fundamentalist practice of appointing only like-minded people to SBC boards and agencies. You probably know Vines best for his description of the Prophet Mohammed as a "demon possessed pedophile." When pushed Vines cited a book by (now) Truett-McConnell College President Emir Caner (and his brother Ergun, who was demoted from Liberty University's administration for lying repeatedly about his life story and testimony).
Rev. Dr. Morris Chapman, TX (1990-1992)
Nominated for the SBC presidency by OBU alum Rev. Dr. John Bisagno, an influential pastor who had previously said he was neutral in the controversy. Chapman exemplified the growing hatred of moderates, informing the Baptist World Alliance that the SBC would be pulling out of the international Baptist body because it had admitted the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship as a member.
Rev. Ed Young, TX (1992-1994)
More of the same. Particularly bad on church-state issues, reflecting the new normal for the SBC. It was on Young's watch that the SBC defunded the Baptist Joint Committee on Public Affairs.
Rev. Dr. Jim Henry, FL (1994-1996)
The closest thing to a moderate the SBC presidency has seen since the Takeover began in 1979. As far as I know, he has not done or said anything too wacky.
Rev. Dr. Tom Elliff, OK (1996-1998)
Elliff continued the purge and marginalization of moderates. By now, you probably know about his comparison of moderates Baptists to barnacles on a ship. He recently spoke at OBU's commencement. To preserve decorum, the parasites seated on the platform behind him (OBU faculty) applauded politely. He has received two honors from OBU in the past year: the First Annual Herschel H. Hobbs Award for Distinguished Denominational Service and an honorary doctorate. Elliff now leads the SBC's International Mission Board, where liberty of the conscience once existed.
Rev. Dr. Paige Patterson, TX (1998-2000)
As president of Criswell College in the late 1970s, Patterson and Paul Pressler, a Houston judge and Baptist layman, formulated the original Takeover plan. Noting the massive appointive power of the SBC presidency, Patterson and Pressler realized that if a few fundamentalist presidents exclusively appointed fundamentalists to the denomination's boards and agencies, the whole organization would be thoroughly fundamentalist in just a decade or so. They were right.
Rev. Dr. James Merritt, GA (2000-2002)
Although Merritt dutifully exercised his expected post-Takeover duties, some Baptist elites and commentators didn't find him to be extreme enough. Merritt's son, Jonathan, is a popular cultural commentator who is somewhat less reflexively pro-Religious Right than most SBC elites. The prospect of the younger Merritt acceding to his father's pulpit someday horrifies some fundamentalists.
Rev. Dr. Jack Graham, TX (2002-2004)
About what you would expect. Graham oversaw the SBC's withdrawal from the Baptist World Alliance. Perhaps most bizarrely, he supported a resolution at the 2004 SBC that called on Southern Baptists to remove their children from public schools.
Rev. Dr. Bobby Welch, FL (2004-2006)
Welch was one of the relatively normal ones. But given how far that goalpost has moved, that's not really saying much. Whereas other past presidents cashed in on their notoriety by writing books, Welch has snagged several plum positions in the SBC and state convention hierarchies.
Rev. Dr. Frank Page, SC (2006-2008)
Like his successors, Page obeyed the post-Takeover playbook and did the requisite Religious Right politicking. And like Welch, he managed to parlay his success into some nice, influential pre-retirement positions. Currently, Dr. Page is president of the SBC's Executive Committee, the powerful body that represents the SBC between its annual meetings.
Rev. Johnny Hunt, GA (2008-2010)
The accuracy of Hunt's resume sparked some controversy around the time of his election. But if legitimizing degree mills is the worst thing contemporary SBC presidents do, then I guess things could be worse. And pretty soon, a lot of once-great Baptist colleges may indeed become degree mills.
Rev. Bryant Wright, GA (2010-2012)
Wright has had the misfortune of presiding over several P.R. blunders, including the SBC name change debate and the fallout from SBC Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission President Richard Land's plagiarized racist comments about Trayvon Martin, a young black man shot to death earlier this year by a white neighborhood watch patrolman. But if recent history is any guide, Wright will find a nice, six-figure pre-retirement retirement at some SBC agency or institution.
Rev. Fred Luter, LA (2012-2014)
So, given the less-than-illustrious history of his 16 most recent predecessors, can you understand why we're a little skeptical about David Whitlock's decision to give Luter an honorary doctorate? Every indication is that Luter will stand firmly in line with the post-Takeover status quo, which has created a horrible environment for what few legitimate Baptist educational institutions remain. Why are we ingratiating ourselves to SBC politicians when there are so many leaders who have stood with integrity for academic freedom and true Baptist distinctives that we could honor?
Note to members of Franklin Avenue Baptist Church, New Orleans: We here at Save OBU sincerely hope this award ceremony did not encroach on your Sunday worship. We realize that Pastor Luter has absolutely no relevant connections to Oklahoma Baptist University other than its administrators' desire to be in the good graces of a powerful figure. But by now you are used to people cozying up to your pastor for no other reason than his position in SBC politics. Sorry for the charade.
Sunday, June 10, 2012
Whitlock Cozying Up to SBC Elites Again, Gives Luter a Doctorate
It's a well-known fact that the Southern Baptist Convention has changed dramatically over the past 30 years. One obvious and tragic consequence is that Baptist higher education has suffered badly under the new regime. A related problem is that the convention and its institutions have become outright hostile to anyone who is not in lockstep agreement with the Takeover faction's rigid, dogmatic ideology.
As for honoring SBC presidents, pre- or post-Takeover, I don't know what precedent exists. But Luter is joining a who's who of fundamentalist preachers who, in the last 30 years, have actively degraded institutions of higher learning, enforced doctrinal conformity, and made insulting and bizarre public statements. Maybe Luter will be different. But I wouldn't count on it. And it can only be bad that OBU is on his mind at all. Fortunately, he probably doesn't give a hoot about this little OBU award. He likely sees out for supper last night and having a ceremony this morning as part of the territory -- someone that powerful and well-connected will inevitably have political climbers and kiss-ups all around him.
If not for theone two Elliff awards and the history of tacit and explicit support of fundamentalist-inspired administrative tactics at OBU, I wouldn't be bothered by this little song and dance. It would still be weird, given Luter's lack of connection to OBU in any way whatsoever, but it would be innocuous enough.
But Whitlock is dramatically deviating from his supposed mentor's modus operandi. Rather than insulating OBU from the corrosive effects of the Takeover, Whitlock seems to be going out of his way to kowtow to the very men who have used their political power to dismantle historic Baptist distinctives, cheerlead the degradation of Baptist academia, and disparage the faith and work of people like the fine men and women who have taught at OBU.
When the fundamentalists make their move at OBU, can Whitlock be trusted to stand for academic freedom? Or is he going to lead us in a race to the bottom? I think you know the answer. It's already happening.
As a Baptist college trying to nurture fearless inquiry, critical thought, and rigorous study in an anti-intellectual denominational climate that values conformity, loathes academic freedom, loves giving pat answers and is nervous about people asking hard questions, you might think that OBU would steer clear of blatant associations with the post-Takeover SBC. And while the Takeover was happening, that's pretty much what happened. Under Bob Agee's watch, OBU steered clear of denominational politics. Chapel speakers included fundamentalists and moderates. Agee maintained OBU's independence from the infighting, and his statesmanlike leadership kept OBU above the fray.
Fifteen years later, however, the man who considers Agee a role model has decided to do the exact opposite. Instead of keeping fundamentalist SBC elites at a distance, OBU President David Whitlock apparently wastes no opportunity to unilaterally prostrate OBU before the current generation of SBC elites. At least year's SBC meeting in Phoenix, Whitlock and other administrators presented International Mission Board President Tom Elliff, a fundamentalist with a particularly vengeful attitude toward moderates, with an award from OBU. To add insult to injury, the new honor, presumably to be given annually, is called the Herschel H. Hobbs Award for Distinguished Denominational Service. Attaching Hobbs's name to fundamentalist causes is about as insulting as giving Confederate generals the Abraham Lincoln Award.
But it apparently wasn't enough to give Elliff the Hobbs Award. Just last month, OBU awarded Elliff an honorary doctorate. As Hobbs spoke at OBU's commencement ceremony, the faculty behind him had to applaud politely for the man who, upon leaving the SBC presidency in 1998, boasted that he had marginalized moderates in the convention, or, in his words, "removed barnacles and parasites from the Ship of Zion."
Now, a month later, we're handing out another honorary doctorate. And by "we," I mean President Whitlock, Provost Stan Norman, Spiritual Life Dean Dale Griffin, and Fine Arts Dean Ken Gabrielse. Now, I don't know who votes on these things, or if giving out fake degrees is the exclusive prerogative of the president. But at least with Dr. Elliff, there is an Oklahoma/OBU connection. Alongside with his spiritual cleansing crusade, Elliff did manage to pastor a large church in Oklahoma and serve on OBU's board of trustees. I think maybe one or more of his children attended OBU, too. Plus, his "distinguished denominational service" has probably enriched him so much that he might make a generous donation to OBU some day.
But Fred Luter, as far as I can tell, has no OBU connection whatsoever. This honorary degree seems to serve no other purpose but to ingratiate the SBC's president-in-waiting to OBU and its new coterie of fundamentalist and fundamentalist-sympathizing administrators. For all his fine pastoral work, he hasn't done anything to bring pride or distinction to OBU. The ONLY reason Whitlock (maybe Norman is behind it -- he may have been an old seminary buddy of Luter's for all I know) is cozying up to Luter is that Luter is going to be elected president of the SBC later this month.
Yet last night in New Orleans, the same city where the fundamentalists' Takeover plan was hatched, Whitlock and colleagues were wining and dining (well, dining anyway -- they are Baptists, after all) the Luters in celebration of his doctorate.
I'm sure at least some of these OBU administrators will be in New Orleans for the SBC annual meeting June 19 & 20. I don't know whether they are planning on staying for 11 days, or if these are two separate junkets. Rather than keeping the SBC at arms length as you might expect administrators at legitimate institutions of higher learning in the post-Takeover environment to do, OBU seems to be sparing no expense to make sure that OBU is right there in the mix.
Fifteen years later, however, the man who considers Agee a role model has decided to do the exact opposite. Instead of keeping fundamentalist SBC elites at a distance, OBU President David Whitlock apparently wastes no opportunity to unilaterally prostrate OBU before the current generation of SBC elites. At least year's SBC meeting in Phoenix, Whitlock and other administrators presented International Mission Board President Tom Elliff, a fundamentalist with a particularly vengeful attitude toward moderates, with an award from OBU. To add insult to injury, the new honor, presumably to be given annually, is called the Herschel H. Hobbs Award for Distinguished Denominational Service. Attaching Hobbs's name to fundamentalist causes is about as insulting as giving Confederate generals the Abraham Lincoln Award.
But it apparently wasn't enough to give Elliff the Hobbs Award. Just last month, OBU awarded Elliff an honorary doctorate. As Hobbs spoke at OBU's commencement ceremony, the faculty behind him had to applaud politely for the man who, upon leaving the SBC presidency in 1998, boasted that he had marginalized moderates in the convention, or, in his words, "removed barnacles and parasites from the Ship of Zion."
Now, a month later, we're handing out another honorary doctorate. And by "we," I mean President Whitlock, Provost Stan Norman, Spiritual Life Dean Dale Griffin, and Fine Arts Dean Ken Gabrielse. Now, I don't know who votes on these things, or if giving out fake degrees is the exclusive prerogative of the president. But at least with Dr. Elliff, there is an Oklahoma/OBU connection. Alongside with his spiritual cleansing crusade, Elliff did manage to pastor a large church in Oklahoma and serve on OBU's board of trustees. I think maybe one or more of his children attended OBU, too. Plus, his "distinguished denominational service" has probably enriched him so much that he might make a generous donation to OBU some day.
But Fred Luter, as far as I can tell, has no OBU connection whatsoever. This honorary degree seems to serve no other purpose but to ingratiate the SBC's president-in-waiting to OBU and its new coterie of fundamentalist and fundamentalist-sympathizing administrators. For all his fine pastoral work, he hasn't done anything to bring pride or distinction to OBU. The ONLY reason Whitlock (maybe Norman is behind it -- he may have been an old seminary buddy of Luter's for all I know) is cozying up to Luter is that Luter is going to be elected president of the SBC later this month.
Yet last night in New Orleans, the same city where the fundamentalists' Takeover plan was hatched, Whitlock and colleagues were wining and dining (well, dining anyway -- they are Baptists, after all) the Luters in celebration of his doctorate.
Students: Behold, your tuition dollars at work.
I shudder to think about who might be awarded the Second Annual Herschel H. Hobbs Award for Distinguished Denominational Service at the SBC meeting. Maybe someone who chaired a trustee board that forced out seminary presidents in the late 80s or early 90s? Perhaps one of the several guys who, over the years, forced board, agency, or institution employees to sign the Baptist Faith and Message or be fired. But the fact remains that, either in spirit or in fact, whoever gets the award will be someone who booed Herschel Hobbs at the 1980 SBC as he warned against the disastrous effects of the coming Takeover and its tactics. The more I think about it, the more it disgusts me.
As for honoring SBC presidents, pre- or post-Takeover, I don't know what precedent exists. But Luter is joining a who's who of fundamentalist preachers who, in the last 30 years, have actively degraded institutions of higher learning, enforced doctrinal conformity, and made insulting and bizarre public statements. Maybe Luter will be different. But I wouldn't count on it. And it can only be bad that OBU is on his mind at all. Fortunately, he probably doesn't give a hoot about this little OBU award. He likely sees out for supper last night and having a ceremony this morning as part of the territory -- someone that powerful and well-connected will inevitably have political climbers and kiss-ups all around him.
If not for the
But Whitlock is dramatically deviating from his supposed mentor's modus operandi. Rather than insulating OBU from the corrosive effects of the Takeover, Whitlock seems to be going out of his way to kowtow to the very men who have used their political power to dismantle historic Baptist distinctives, cheerlead the degradation of Baptist academia, and disparage the faith and work of people like the fine men and women who have taught at OBU.
When the fundamentalists make their move at OBU, can Whitlock be trusted to stand for academic freedom? Or is he going to lead us in a race to the bottom? I think you know the answer. It's already happening.
Thursday, April 12, 2012
Diversity at OBU: I See White People
As Veronica pointed out Tuesday in her discussion of diversity (such as it is) among OBU chapel preachers (if men; speakers, if women), OBU may not have a race problem. More precisely, it may not have a race problem that differs substantially from the SBC's race problem. So let's take each issue in turn.
Race in the SBC
Given that the SBC was formed largely over its insistance in the morality of slavery, it should come as no surprise that it has had problems with race over the years. After the Civil War, the other denominations that split over slavery eventually reunited with their Northern counterparts. Not the SBC. During the Civil Rights movement, the SBC was notoriously silent. Rev. Jerry Falwell, who disagreed with the Brown ruling that integrated schools and regularly featured segregationist politicians on his media programs, was typical. Under the guise of opposing "secularism," Baptists founded scores of essentially segregated private schools in the 1970s. Though by the 1980s and following it was socially unpalatable for even Southern Baptists to be openly racist, they continued to oppose all federal civil rights legislation and became wedded to a secular political party whose Southern Strategy catapulted it back into prominence during the Takeover years and whose primary electorate even today is less than 2-3% black in almost every state.
The SBC finally got around to acknowledging and apologizing for its racist past in 1995. But as late as 2011, Rev. Dr. Albert Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, dismissively and incorrectly explained the Baptist split in 1845 thusly: "What the Northerners were saying was that ending slavery is more important than spreading the gospel."
SBC pastors and bureaucrats sit around in meetings, wring their hands, contemplate name changes for the convention, and wonder why black people don't want to be Southern Baptists! The name change committee based its recommendation on a survey that found a 53/40 favorable/unfavorable rating for Southern Baptists. I doubt the committee published a breakdown by race because it could be wildly embarrassing, but I'd love to see that if anyone has it.
Now, in fairness, the SBC is going to elect a black president this summer, Fred Luter of New Orleans. Given how many Southern Baptists gleefully joined the blatantly racist "birther" movement, I hope Rev. Luter is prepared to show them his birth certificate.
Now, there are several large black Baptist denominations, and I don't know what kind of partnerships or overtures have taken place between the black and white Baptist groups. But I'm pretty sure more than just worship style divides white and black Baptists. The best comparison I can think of (and the one I know best) is the Methodist tradition. The Methodist Episcopal Church, South rejoined the national Methodist Church in 1939. Of course, large black Methodist denominations also exist. But while there were, of course, segregated white Methodist churches for many years, the (mostly white) denomination took a much more open, welcoming, and sympathetic stance toward blacks than the SBC did. The United Methodist Church (formed in 1968 when Methodists merged with the Evangelical United Bretheren Church) has been quite progressive on civil rights and issues important to the black community, while the Southern Baptist Convention has been tone deaf at best, and outright hostile at worst.
Race at OBU
Also, OBU has drawn a lot of brown students over the years from places its white alumni traveled as missionaries.
Today, Forbes (in whose rankings we have plummeted the past two years) reports that OBU is 74% white. If that seems like a gross underestimation, it's probably because it counts 7% as Native American and 5% as unknown. Six percent of OBU students are black. I don't know how that compares to the proportion of members in BGCO congregations who are black. Again, the BGCO probably won't publish the data because it would be so embarrassing.
OBU definitely has an opportunity to make more progress in providing a first-rate Christian liberal arts education to more minority students. Given that racial minority status is often correlated with relatively lower levels of family income and wealth, it is generally more difficult for minority families to send their children to expensive private universities like OBU. Certainly athletic scholarships have helped in this regard. OBU has a proud history of highly accomplished black student-athletes. The football program should help the disparity even more, but from what I've seen, the coaches and recruits are as lily-white as the rest of OBU. That should begin to even out over time, though.
To my knowledge, none of the black church traditions (Baptist or otherwise) have colleges in Oklahoma. In fact, Langston University is the only historically black college or university in the state. With a large endowment, relatively generous academic and athletic scholarships, and a first-rate (for now) faculty, OBU has the resources to draw non-white students. But I'm not sure it has the culture. Culturally, OBU, the BGCO, and the SBC seem to harken back to the 1950s as a kind of golden age. And, if you recall, the 1950s were not such a nice time for black people in Oklahoma and elsewhere.
I wonder what percentage of the OBU faculty is black. Again, it's not for lack of resources, opportunity, or desire. It seems more of a cultural problem. Now that mainline Protestants are no longer welcome to come teach at OBU, it seems the university is restricting its applicant pool to the most lily-white strand of American Protestantism. That's right: Dr. Norman's new, narrower definition of who's Christian enough to teach at OBU is going to make it even less likely that we will have a diverse faculty. And this is already an area of weakness for us.
Here's a picture from a banquet last week honoring significant milestones in faculty and staff members' years of service.
Here's the year before that:
And the year before that:
The theme of the week has been diversity. If OBU actually expects to equip students to engage a diverse world, I think we need to get our own house in order. It's not just that OBU lacks significant diversity, it seems to suffer from cultural and structural baggage imposed by the ever narrower definition of what it means to be Baptist since the Fundamentalist Takeover. Given the SBC's (and by extension, the BGCO's) horrible record on and apparent disdain for diversity (whether theological, social, political, or racial), OBU is better off on its own.
Race in the SBC
Given that the SBC was formed largely over its insistance in the morality of slavery, it should come as no surprise that it has had problems with race over the years. After the Civil War, the other denominations that split over slavery eventually reunited with their Northern counterparts. Not the SBC. During the Civil Rights movement, the SBC was notoriously silent. Rev. Jerry Falwell, who disagreed with the Brown ruling that integrated schools and regularly featured segregationist politicians on his media programs, was typical. Under the guise of opposing "secularism," Baptists founded scores of essentially segregated private schools in the 1970s. Though by the 1980s and following it was socially unpalatable for even Southern Baptists to be openly racist, they continued to oppose all federal civil rights legislation and became wedded to a secular political party whose Southern Strategy catapulted it back into prominence during the Takeover years and whose primary electorate even today is less than 2-3% black in almost every state.
The SBC finally got around to acknowledging and apologizing for its racist past in 1995. But as late as 2011, Rev. Dr. Albert Mohler, president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, dismissively and incorrectly explained the Baptist split in 1845 thusly: "What the Northerners were saying was that ending slavery is more important than spreading the gospel."
SBC pastors and bureaucrats sit around in meetings, wring their hands, contemplate name changes for the convention, and wonder why black people don't want to be Southern Baptists! The name change committee based its recommendation on a survey that found a 53/40 favorable/unfavorable rating for Southern Baptists. I doubt the committee published a breakdown by race because it could be wildly embarrassing, but I'd love to see that if anyone has it.
Now, in fairness, the SBC is going to elect a black president this summer, Fred Luter of New Orleans. Given how many Southern Baptists gleefully joined the blatantly racist "birther" movement, I hope Rev. Luter is prepared to show them his birth certificate.
Messengers electing the Rev. Bryant White
Wright president of the SBC in 2010.
Which is harder, finding Waldo or finding a person
of color in the Southern Baptist Convention?
of color in the Southern Baptist Convention?
Race at OBU
For the first 45 years of its history, OBU was segregated. I don't know when it started admitting Native Americans. But we do know that OBU began admit black students in 1955. That year, OBU trustee and legendary FBC OKC pastor Rev. Dr. Herschel H. Hobbs led an effort to integrate the university. (Given Hobbs's moderate temperament and disdain for culture war politics, this is unsurprising. Fundamentalists grew to loathe Hobbs, booing him loudly at the 1980 Southern Baptist Convention in St. Louis as he warned, "Beware the lures of creeping creedalism" -- a harbinger of the Takeover to come. That's right. No matter what kind of lip service today's Baptist leaders pay to Dr. Hobbs, when you think of Anthony Jordan, Stan Norman, Al Mohler, and other SBC luminaries, you need to think of them booing Herschel Hobbs. Because that's whose side of the controversy they are on. If they had been at that convention, they would have been booing Dr. Hobbs. That is a certainty. And it's what makes OBU's decision to name the religion department in his memory all the more strange and, frankly, insulting, given how the Takeover faction has besmirched his legacy.)
Also, OBU has drawn a lot of brown students over the years from places its white alumni traveled as missionaries.
Today, Forbes (in whose rankings we have plummeted the past two years) reports that OBU is 74% white. If that seems like a gross underestimation, it's probably because it counts 7% as Native American and 5% as unknown. Six percent of OBU students are black. I don't know how that compares to the proportion of members in BGCO congregations who are black. Again, the BGCO probably won't publish the data because it would be so embarrassing.
OBU definitely has an opportunity to make more progress in providing a first-rate Christian liberal arts education to more minority students. Given that racial minority status is often correlated with relatively lower levels of family income and wealth, it is generally more difficult for minority families to send their children to expensive private universities like OBU. Certainly athletic scholarships have helped in this regard. OBU has a proud history of highly accomplished black student-athletes. The football program should help the disparity even more, but from what I've seen, the coaches and recruits are as lily-white as the rest of OBU. That should begin to even out over time, though.
To my knowledge, none of the black church traditions (Baptist or otherwise) have colleges in Oklahoma. In fact, Langston University is the only historically black college or university in the state. With a large endowment, relatively generous academic and athletic scholarships, and a first-rate (for now) faculty, OBU has the resources to draw non-white students. But I'm not sure it has the culture. Culturally, OBU, the BGCO, and the SBC seem to harken back to the 1950s as a kind of golden age. And, if you recall, the 1950s were not such a nice time for black people in Oklahoma and elsewhere.
I wonder what percentage of the OBU faculty is black. Again, it's not for lack of resources, opportunity, or desire. It seems more of a cultural problem. Now that mainline Protestants are no longer welcome to come teach at OBU, it seems the university is restricting its applicant pool to the most lily-white strand of American Protestantism. That's right: Dr. Norman's new, narrower definition of who's Christian enough to teach at OBU is going to make it even less likely that we will have a diverse faculty. And this is already an area of weakness for us.
Here's a picture from a banquet last week honoring significant milestones in faculty and staff members' years of service.
Here's the year before that:
And the year before that:
The theme of the week has been diversity. If OBU actually expects to equip students to engage a diverse world, I think we need to get our own house in order. It's not just that OBU lacks significant diversity, it seems to suffer from cultural and structural baggage imposed by the ever narrower definition of what it means to be Baptist since the Fundamentalist Takeover. Given the SBC's (and by extension, the BGCO's) horrible record on and apparent disdain for diversity (whether theological, social, political, or racial), OBU is better off on its own.
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