News about two different Baptist lawsuits came out today. First, came an update regarding the claim by Dr. Sheri Klouda that Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary fired her simply because she was a woman and in doing so broke a contractual agreement with her (I still cannot figure out why they fired her for being a woman--did it really take six years to figure out that she was a woman?) Despite attempts by Southwestern to have the case dismissed, the judge ruled that it will continue.
Later in the day, it was reported that 54 church members have filed a lawsuit against Two Rivers Baptist Church pastor Jerry Sutton. I mentioned the conflict in that church in an Ethics Daily article last month. The suit attempts to get access to records regarding finances and other administration issues.
But here comes the odd part: in both cases the defendants claim that the lawsuit should be thrown out because of separation of church and state. What makes that claim so ironic is that these individuals are usually part of groups attacking the concept of separation of church and state. Southwestern's Paige Patterson has spoken out criticizing the idea of separation of church and state and Sutton and Two Rivers hosted the "Justice Sunday II" political rally where several speakers attacked the idea of separation of church and state. This makes their current claims seem quite disingenuous. It should make us wonder what they are trying to hide.
Later in the day, it was reported that 54 church members have filed a lawsuit against Two Rivers Baptist Church pastor Jerry Sutton. I mentioned the conflict in that church in an Ethics Daily article last month. The suit attempts to get access to records regarding finances and other administration issues.
But here comes the odd part: in both cases the defendants claim that the lawsuit should be thrown out because of separation of church and state. What makes that claim so ironic is that these individuals are usually part of groups attacking the concept of separation of church and state. Southwestern's Paige Patterson has spoken out criticizing the idea of separation of church and state and Sutton and Two Rivers hosted the "Justice Sunday II" political rally where several speakers attacked the idea of separation of church and state. This makes their current claims seem quite disingenuous. It should make us wonder what they are trying to hide.
Brian,
ReplyDeleteWell put, but the saddest thing is that, once again, Christians are taking each other to court.
Thanks for the comment and good point! The damage these cases are doing to the Christian witness makes it all very tragic.
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