Southeastern and Baptist Press

Following Southeastern Seminary's 20/20 Conference, which featured Mark Driscoll among others, Baptist Press (BP) released a one-sided article resurrecting old controversies and blindsiding interviewees who didn't know they were going to be quoted in this piece. Southeastern responded to the BP article with a statement on their blog:

"One of the speakers, Mark Driscoll, has received significant criticism from some Southern Baptists in recent days. At first the criticism was limited to ill-informed bloggers, but yesterday Baptist Press entered the fray...We were very disappointed in the BP piece, which we believe was inaccurate in content and harsh in tone."

Ed Stetzer, Director of LifeWay Research, also responded on his blog by saying he was disappointed in BP and noting that one of the interviewees were unaware that they were being interviewed for this story.

Finally, I wrote a response to the article in an op-ed entitled, Unfair, Unbalanced, and Unacceptable, with the Biblical Recorder, the Baptist newpaper for North Carolina. This article outlines how the BP article is simply part of a larger trend toward biased journalism that is discrediting Baptist Press among many.

If you are plugged into the crazy Baptist world, leave your thoughts. For everyone else, we will return to regularly scheduled programming shortly.

Global greening vs. the economy

It isn't often that I will publish several posts within a given week, and I don't recall ever posting twice in one day. Unlike some bloggers, I have bills to pay and can't sit around typing for free all day. There are only two events that may draw me out of my busy schedule for repeated posts: terrible tragedy or hilarious comedy. Today, it just so happens that the subject is a rare mix of both. 

Penna Dexter, a self-described "conservative activist" with whom I am unacquainted, wrote an opinion piece that has been posted on the homepage of BaptistPress, the Public Relations department for the national headquarters of the SBC. The article, "Global Greening vs. the Economy" basically rehashes old arguments about how environmental policy is bad for the economy. In her mind, the economy should always win out. "Our care for the environment is a high value for most Americans," she writes. "But our economic survival is higher."

Perhaps this is a lesson for all of those who live in pollute-ridden inner cities. When the air becomes saturated with toxic particulate matter that childhood asthma rates reach record levels (as they have in some cities), make sure you protect the smog-producing, economically-critical companies lest we financially burden them. What about the fifteen states in which you could go fishing in the rivers and streams, but it would be illegal to eat those fish due to their high levels of poisons which come from upstream industries? Should we ignore that as well? Not in my book.

Dexter does, however, get it right in one of the waning sentences of the last paragraph when she says, "It's God's idea that man would tend the earth." Perhaps, if that sentence had been placed at the top of this article and the logical progression upon which it was built, readers would have walked away with a better understanding of the article's last three words: "GOOD--ENVIRONMENTAL--STEWARDSHIP."

Read the article and let me know what you think.

It is no secret that Baptist "news" outlets have found it difficult on occasion to actually report the news. (At least, in a classical sense.) Some of these "news" outlets can be more accurately described as "commentary" because their "news stories" represent a particular angle--perhaps an angle that is given to them from an office down the hall.

Never was this more apparent than in the "reporting" on A Southern Baptist Declaration on the Environment and Climate Change by Baptist Press. Nearly a week after the story broke, Baptist Press ran a heap of articles (I lost count at 15) on the subject. Only one opinion piece could be interpreted as representing an opposing side. At one point, every story on their main page was related to this topic--a move that has been politely called "heavyhanded." Baptist Press even received a lashing from SBCOutpost regarding a slanted and condescending title to a "news" story; it was changed later that day.

Over that week, I sent several emails to the Editor of Baptist Press asking to share my point of view or explain the other side of the "news" being presented. Even though he and I had spoken on several occasions during the month leading up to this, I never received a response to these emails. I think it is fair to say that no self-respecting "news" organization would print stories calling me by name without allowing me to share an opposing view or at least respond to my emails. That is unless the "news" organization was merely offering commentary.

Yet, The Christian Index released a series of stories this week that gives me hope. The architect, Joe Westbury, posted articles both for and against and printed our interview in transcipt format. (You may remember that Westbury was the one who went against the grain and broke the NAMB story that caused such an uproar and ultimately resulted in the release of that agency's President.) Gerald Harris, Joe Westbury and The Index staff prove that Baptist journalism is alive and well in Duluth, GA. I know I speak for others who appreciate what they are trying to do. Here's to hoping others will follow.