Are there conflicts of interest for @albertmohler as @sbts president, at a minimum, with consistently using SBTS resources (social media, SBTS website, events, work time) to develop and promote his personal blog, podcast and brand. Let's consider. A Thread 🧵
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For context, most companies as well as institutions and government agencies have policies that detail specific conflicts of interest and general principles to identify other less common conflicts of interest. See this @nyuniversity policy for example. nyu.edu/about/policies…
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Some companies as well as institutions and government offices and agencies explicitly prohibit the "Misuse of Position" or "Use of Public Office for Private Gain." See this @TheJusticeDept policy for example. justice.gov/jmd/misuse-pos…
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What data could we consider to determine if @sbts resources are being used in a way that qualifies as a conflict of interest for @albertmohler? I'll share data from a few sources. Social media (Twitter) and the SBTS website sbts.edu
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From the @sbts twitter account, the @albertmohler personal blog and podcast The Briefing was tagged (#TheBriefing, #Briefing) about 7,000 times starting in Dec 2011 until now. A description, link (albertmohler.com) and mention of Mohler are also present in the tweets.
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And from the @BoyceCollege twitter account, #TheBriefing has been promoted about 360 times, along with albertmohler.com, the personal website of @albertmohler where The Briefing blog and podcast is hosted.
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Prior to the existence of #TheBriefing, @sbts promoted the Albert Mohler Radio Show @mohlerradio, described as "A nationally-syndicated show with the Salem Radio Network, the Albert Mohler Program is your place for intelligent Christian conversation." news.sbts.edu/2008/06/17/the…
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If you look at the current and historic sbts.edu website of @sbts, you see many examples of special promotion of @albertmohler and albertmohler.com. Let's look at a few examples.
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In the footer of the current sbts.edu website, which serves as the primary navigation for the site, a section is prominently dedicated to the promotion of albertmohler.com and #TheBriefing
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On the chapel page of the sbts.edu site, a picture of @albertmohler is the only photo displayed. Out of 22 chapel services for the fall 2022 semester, Mohler was scheduled to be the primary chapel speaker 5 times.
web.archive.org/web/2022112609…
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web.archive.org/web/2022112609…
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On the SBTS Equip page, which links to many @sbts educational resources, albertmohler.com of @albertmohler appears to be the only external resource promoted. equip.sbts.edu
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On the SBTS Press page, linked from SBTS Equip, at least 12 of 21 titles promoted are authored, co-authored or edited by @albertmohler (or family).
sbts.edu/press/
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sbts.edu/press/
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Many websites have an A-Z index. What's unusual about the sbts.edu index? There are links for Faculty, Provost, President AND a link solely for "R. Albert Mohler Jr.". No other faculty or staff has a link with their name in the index. sbts.edu/a-z-index/
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Another activity to consider is the "giving away" by @sbts of books authored by @albertmohler. See for example 500 copies of Mohler's book The Apostles Creed given away at the #SBC19 pastor's conference. Who pays for these books?
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https://twitter.com/SBTS/status/1138062021457584128
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In summary, the data show consistent promotion of @albertmohler using @sbts resources. Promotion of Mohler's personal brand, writings, podcast and website. Promotion of his published work. And we're only looking at selections of the data. This isn't the complete picture.
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I see at least two serious questions raised by the data. Are @sbts resources being misused to promote the personal brand of @albertmohler? And does @albertmohler speak for @sbts in an official capacity on social media (eg Twitter), on his personal website, blog and podcast?
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Beyond these serious questions specifically for @sbts and @albertmohler, there are broader questions related to the SBC (@SBCExecComm) and seminaries supported by the SBC. Are policies and annual training in place to prevent conflicts of interest by staff and faculty?
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Lastly, I've attempted to raise these concerns here in a respectful way, not passing judgement or including more detail than what seems necessary. I have shared relevant Twitter data, along with a few additional concerns I have personally, on GitHub: github.com/prodigalbot/sb…
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