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I have trouble believing this behavior from one claiming to be "a man of God."

Let the matter be fully aired and litigated. This is the plaintiff's filing. Let's see where it goes. It is ugly.

Was David, the giant-killing type of Christ and apple of God's eye, a man of God?

I'm afraid I was sour-grapeing Patterson for things he said about so-called liberals back a few years ago when he was questioning if they were "men of God" since they wouldn't subscribe to inerrancy. Guess I remember too much of what he said of others.

I understand. If he did all that is alleged in the lawsuit filing, it is bad.

One thing that helps separate some men of God who behave badly from others who behave badly is repentance and remorse. Don't recall seeing any in this case.

I won't be holding my breath, waiting.

Post-Birmingham, the response to the way the convention addressed the sexual abuse crisis in their own house was a lot of feel-good back patting and explanations of how the actions they took will lead to real resolution of the problems. They got it "on the stage" (in a carefully orchestrated way, but it was "up there") discussed it in a controlled environment, kept the rally outside and far enough away so that there was a buffer. There's one more vote next year to put the proposal in place and enable the convention to take more immediate action against churches that don't take decisive action against abusers. The response from the victims and their supporters is "Yeah, we see the PR show, but we've seen and heard it all before. The jury is out until we actually see actions to match the words." Clearly they have more confidence in J.D. Greear than in previous resurgence-endorsed presidents but it's still "wait and see and we don't have a lot of patience anymore."

I think that perspective could be vastly improved when Southern Baptists across the board stop prefacing their remarks regarding Patterson with, "Of course, he did a good thing by stepping up and leading the conservative resurgence, but...." He was one of the "architects" of the resurgence, universally acknowledged as such. Apparently, Dr. Greenway at Southwestern has seen the wisdom of cleansing the campus of any last vestiges of the Patterson presidency including getting rid of the windows (should have smashed them so Liberty couldn't get them) and giving Patterson's staff deputies a nice farewell and "don't let the door hit your rear on the way out." The SBC needs to give some sort of acknowledgement in the same way. They need to use their new procedure to tell the church he now belongs to that they need to remove the Pattersons from the roll or the convention will disfellowship the church for harboring someone who aided and abetted a sexual abuser.

I think your view of the abuse actions are off, Sandy. You usually have good instincts about these things. When I have time I'll explain what's different.

Depending on Texas laws, Patterson might qualify for obstruction of justice for trying to "break down" the sole witness. In Virginia, that is a felony.