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Josiah Hawthorne

Jun 12, 2022 • 7 tweets • 6 min read • Read on X

Ascol recap - Tom at previous SBC annual meetings

2018: Tom is disappointed he couldn't publicly ask Russell Moore a "gotcha" about if the SBC should host conferences named after abusers. (This was a reference to the SBC-hosted MLK Jr. conference.)

Also: Doug Wilson quote?

1/

2019 : Tom Ascol is VERY upset about Resolution 9 b/c it cautiously says CRT can be a useful tool.

Also 2019: Tom Ascol records Kyle J Howard w/o his knowledge, through a lapel mic, under false pretenses, for a documentary filmed by Marcus Pittman & Jared Longshore.

2/

2020: In the months previous, Tom quotes his own documentary regarding the SBC, urging his followers to "take the ship," a phrase that would be endlessly re-echoed by his CBN "pirate" allies a year later.

He also critiqued SEBTS for talking about racial injustice.

3/

2021: Before and during the conference Ascol was focused on a resolution denouncing CRT, and a resolution on total abortion abolition.

If Ascol was your news source for #SBC21 you'd have no clue about the presence of abuse survivors or the abuse-related resolutions.

4/

Immediately after 2021: SermonGate. Ascol launches an all-out Tweet war on JD Greear and Ed Litton almost before the ink on the ballots was dry.

5/

I think it's a fair prediction that Ascol's presidency would

--Continue Resurgence purity wars, with "sufficiency" instead of inerrancy
--Step up attacks on female leaders in Baptist churches
--Fight racial reconciliation
--Ignore survivors and the SATF recommendations

6/6

Addendum: I'm sure because I said this, someone will accuse me of being divisive, unChristian, something.

Some things are worth dividing from.

And Tom Ascol's track record isn't of a person who could #changethedirection of the SBC. It's "more of the same."

#sbc22

7/6

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Josiah Hawthorne

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They tell us that Christian Nationalism is not about white supremacy, that what Wolfe and Wilson and Rigney and Sauve are promoting is just wanting to follow God's laws and live in a "Christian Nation."

But shall we peek under the "hood" and see for ourselves? A 🧵

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"But we the unhyphenated, who trace our ancestry to Western Europe... We, the White Anglo-Saxon Protestants who founded, built, died for and led this country for most of its history, we are not permitted in this New America to have a... place that is distinctly ours."

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"There's no distant place that we call home. We have nowhere else to go. But THIS is our home. THIS is our native land. *WE* are Native Americans, born of those who didn't immigrate, but who SETTLED here."

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Various Christian views of Hell as GIFs.

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2) Eternal Conscious Torment (Evangelical style). As above, but more emphasis on spiritual/psychological torment of God's Absence, less sense of physical punishment. The fire is a metaphor. Held by: Alphonsus Liguori

3) Eternal Conscious Torment ("The Great Divorce" style). Hell is self-exclusion from God's presence, in which we make ourselves eternally miserable without God. The doors to Hell are "locked from the inside." Held by: C.S. Lewis, some Catholics

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Theories of Atonement as GIFs from The Office -- a thread.

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Why the SBC may never reform: a 🧵

1 - The SBC had a "Resurgence" where one theological faction seized power from by cultivating an "US vs. THEM" mentality. The "Resurgence" was led by two men. One was an abuser, and the other was later fired for covering up abuse.

2 - The SBC's now-dominant faction grew up seeing those two men as heroes who won a victory against "THEM."

And perhaps because their faction engaged in dirty tactics, they believe "THEY" would do the same if given the chance. (As though any of THEM are even left?)

3 - Thus a big portion of that faction still believes those two men did nothing wrong. They think credible charges against them must be baseless allegations as part of a power grab by "THEM."

And so this became their default setting when hearing of credible charges of abuse.

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Josiah Hawthorne

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Re: people faking credentials to claim authority in evangelical circles:

The "Satanic Panic" of the 80s was driven by the testimonies of alleged former witches, who were later proven be frauds (Mike Warnke, Rebecca Brown, Michelle Smith).

Laurel Rose Wilson was one.

1/5

Under the name Lauren Stratford, she wrote an book describing her past as a baby breeder (for human sacrifices) in a satanic cult.

She spoke on Oprah. Her books were carried in church libraries.

But a 1990 investigation by Cornerstone Magazine revealed it to be fabrication.

2/

Less than ten years later she tried again.

In 1999, she called herself Laura Grabowski, pretended to be Jewish, and claimed to be a Holocaust survivor. She gave lectures, speeches, and collected thousands of dollars in donations intended for Holocaust survivors.

3/5

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Josiah Hawthorne

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WHOOSH fancy transitions! Look at our mostly-white slate of male pastors and female "directors"! Learn about Our Vision™! Shiplap! Who knows what denomination we're affiliated with -- it's a mystery! We're not your grandma's church! WELCOME HOME!

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Join us EVERY Sunday at 10 am for our IN-PERSON Worship Service. (Posted around April 2021)
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We want our church to be a haven for your spirituality! Come check out our slate of community service events! Our book club is reading "White Fragility"! We have a daycare AND a thrift shop! What's a Bible study?