On the Political and Religious Right, Does Character in Leadership Matter?

Baptist Standard: Court Documents Shed Light on Allegations Against Pressler

There are all kinds of things like this, buried in the intersection between the religious right and the GOP.  It's important for Democrats to take note of stuff like this and bring it out when the far right tries to claim support for being the party of "family values" or trot out their conspiracy theories about running child trafficking rings in the basements of pizza parlors, and the "grooming" of students for sexual exploitation purposes.  

Who groomed Lauren Boebert's son for getting his 15 year old girlfriend pregnant? Who launched the message that the Congresswoman "wasn't going to nitpick the Bible" in her response, after nearly three years of nitpicking the Bible on the campaign trail? Who groomed Sarah Palin's daughter, Bristol?  Who influenced her boyfriend to use his new-found fame and grab some cash by posing for a photo shoot in a pornographic magazine?  

With "one man, one woman equals one marriage for life," as the centerpiece of the religious right's position on "family values," it seems a little strange to me that in 1980 they chose to nominate a divorced, "B" movie actor with marital fidelity problems over the most visibly Evangelical Christian ever to occupy the White House.  Or that they ended up giving the most support they've ever given any candidate to the man with the most worldly, anti-Christian image they could find, twice divorced, multiple extra-marital affairs, including with known porn stars and make him their standard bearer.  Strange, perhaps, but surprising, no not really.  It's standard M.O.  

An Ongoing Story That Underlines the Hypocrisy of the Religious Right

Back in the 1970's, a group of prominent pastors in the Southern Baptist Convention did not like the fact that the denomination was being influenced by the scholarship of its six seminaries, moving toward a more historical and contextual foundation for interpreting scripture, and away from the fundamentalism and anti-education bias of old time frontier religion.  There were two individuals who figured out how to manipulate the trust-based apparatus of choosing trustees and leadership of denominational institutions, including its two mission boards and the six theological seminaries, and, using the celebrity status of some prominent, megachurch pastors, began what became known as the "conservative resurgence" in the Southern Baptist Convention.  

These two individuals, known as the "architects of the conservative resurgence," included Dr. Paige Patterson, then-president of a small, struggling Bible college, Criswell College, an independent school operated by the First Baptist Church of Dallas, on whose campus its classes met, and Paul Pressler, a Texas appeals court judge from Houston and then a member of Houston's First Baptist Church.  Patterson supplied the theological and doctrinal rationale for the resurgence, while Pressler, with connections to the Bush family, worked on the political ends.  

Pressler served as president of the Council for National Policy, a far right wing Republican group connected to Ed McAteer's "Religious Roundtable" that was instrumental in securing Ronald Reagan's nomination for the 1980 election.  Pressler received the organization's Ronald Reagan Lifetime Achievement Award for everything he did to bring the religious right into the GOP.  And that was his primary interest and his role in the Southern Baptist "conservative resurgence," to link the movement with right wing Republican politics, which he did with some success.  

The article that is linked notes multiple allegations against Pressler, from young men who were either under his leadership as part of a church ministry, or at his law firm.  He was not a member of a Southern Baptist church until 1978, when he left Bethel Presbyterian in Houston, where he was a youth pastor, after allegations of an "incident" involving a young man.  He joined First Baptist Church, and shortly thereafter assumed his role as "architect" in the "conservative resurgence."  As noted in the article, this congregation also became aware of an incident involving a younger man who was also a member of the church.  

Pressler settled one sexual assault lawsuit with a plaintiff in 2004, paying $450,000.  The article in the Texas Baptist Standard also notes that he was recipient of a letter from First Baptist Church's deacons, regarding another incident with another young man, also a member of the church, which warned him by stating, "Given your stature and various leadership roles in our church, the Southern Baptist Convention and other Christian organizations, it is our considered opinion that this kind of behavior, if brought to light, might distort your testimony or cause others to stumble."  

It seems to me that the church's leadership is pretty muted and understated.  There are allegations, one case that has been settled, and incidents of which multiple individuals, including the leadership of at least two churches and a law partner, are aware, involving attempts to cover things up.  The issue has come to light, whether justice will be served by the courts or not, and it has created a huge credibility problem for the Southern Baptist Convention.  By extension, it also undermines the credibility of the religious right.  

At Least Find People Who Sincerely Believe in the Cause

It doesn't make much sense to claim to be advancing a conservative religious and political agenda while engaging in behavior that is the moral opposite of the agenda.  And yet, time and time again, the leaders that the religious political right consistently turn to in order to fight for their cause are morally bankrupt, worldly, and have a lifestyle that is exactly the opposite of the kind of Christlike sincerity one would expect from those who want to force this by law on everyone else.  

But when I see things like this, it helps me understand why a movement that claims to be built on "family values" turns to leadership that exhibits anything but family values in its behavior.  It's not about the values, it's about using them to convince people to put them in power so they can grab the money.  

All of these leaders, regardless of the level of the religious right they have functioned, will go to their graves as rich men.  That's the America they live in.  And they'll get it by convincing millions of Americans who live paycheck to paycheck, to give it to them.