Yesterday’s Ambush of Mike Stone Was A Set-Up By Political Opposition, Say Witnesses
Despite the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) denying requests for press passes from more than a half-dozen publications of Gideon Knox Group (including Protestia), some of our reporters still got though and are incognito, lest the SBC have the cops remove them like they did to Tommy Littleton two years ago or JD Greear did to a fellow preacher just two days ago.
In the former case, a credentialed reporter was forcefully removed by police after asking Russell Moore (in a Q&A, at the proper time and place) about Karen Swallow Prior’s support for the LGBTQ Revoice Conference. In the latter, Greear was upset that a preacher asked him to repent. Needless to say, our reporters are treating Nashville like North Korea, and are staying undercover as best as they are able.
As Protestia explained yesterday, conservative SBC presidential candidate, Mike Stone, and his dear wife were approached by an alleged victim of sexual abuse. There is no indication that this abuse happened at the hands of the SBC, and there is no accusation that Stone had anything to do with the alleged abuse (or had even heard of it).
The woman, whose name will be withheld, had by all credible eyewitness testimony – a cordial conversation with Mike Stone. Then, she had an emotional, crying breakdown in the hallway afterward.
The #MeToo and #ChurchToo Movement has been successful in commandeering the cultural movement to take the heads of their enemies, such as when they successfully fired the last remaining conservative hold-out in the SBC seminaries, Dr. Paige Patterson. This play – the use of alleged (and sometimes real) sexual abuse victims against men who had nothing whatsoever to do with their abuse or cover-up – has been taken from the Democrat playbook.
And trust us, there are enough Democrats in the SBC to know this play and use it well.
Here are the facts:
- The woman had free reign throughout the SBC convention hall, while our reporters were denied entry and JD Greear was calling the police on preachers who didn’t have convention passes
- The woman exhibits highly problematic behavior from her social media postings. We will happily admit that sexual abuse can certainly cause someone mental problems, but this alone should be a cause of caution when accusing a man of misdeeds who had never seen or heard of the woman in his entire life
- The woman’s social media demonstrates that she is at war with God, and is an active part of the “cancel culture” against conservative Christians
- As Mike Stone testified, he had literally nothing to do with her experiences and treated her kindly and cordially
- As Protestia’s article demonstrates, those on Albert Mohler’s left who claimed they witnessed the affair and Stone did something wrong (they have not said what exactly), photos show they are lying
Within minutes of the exchange, SBC leftists associated with those who oppose Mike Stone were “demanding answers” from him, accusing him of trying to cover up abuse, and impugning him for doing nothing but having to have encountered one of the thousand women wandering around the convention hall.
The woman instantly – far from being emotionally distraught – began to appear and comment in SBC groups, accusing Stone of some ill-defined, nebulous wrong-doing. I chatted with the woman briefly, before she ghosted the group and deleted her comments (see below).
I was reached out to almost immediately by several men claiming they saw the woman speaking directly to Albert Mohler and a Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (SBTS) employee, and overheard them speaking about “optics with Stone.” Reportedly, the woman needed help finding Stone and Mohler’s “body-man” pointed her in Stone’s direction.
She deflected and claimed – falsely – that people in that SBC group were calling her names (something she claimed that pastors were doing at the convention hall as well, which was an abject lie).
She then ghosted the group, instead of answering these very simple questions.
Despite all of this, she was brought to the microphone of the SBC and held up as a weaponized tool against the Conservative Baptist Network.
This evening, my regular podcast is delayed because I have a lecture with a church in Billings on “Critical Theory and Jesus,” but if possible, we will have our eyewitnesses to the woman’s interactions with “Mohler’s man” and what appears to be a coordinated effort to smear Mike Stone with no logical explanation…except one.
The most likely scenario is that the men who oppose the candidacy of Mike Stone are using an alleged victim of sexual abuse as a prop for political purposes. These are wicked men. They do not care about sex abuse victims.
There are two types of men at the SBC. There are those who are fighting for their convictions, and therefore, their Convention. And then, there are men fighting for themselves, their jobs, their appointments, and their power.
Might God give mercy and repentance to those who use alleged sexual abuse victims as props. Or, if God prefers, might he strike them dead. I’m content however God best wishes to glorify himself.
About Author
I grieve that this convention has devolved to a place where we are accusing each other of “henchman” of anyone being anyone’s “man”. Forget whether anyone’s candidacy is being opposed with press ambushes, etc. Just the fact that we have fractured along the lines of Mike Stone v Al Mohler begs a return to 1 Cor 1 and the pride and arrogance of saying “I am of Paul” “I am of Apollos”.
Look sharp lest the focus being what tickles the ears, or serves an individual best, instead of which man is best equipped to help the collective bodies of the SBC in amplifying the Word of God in the churches and throughout the world.
This isn’t a Paul vs Apollo comparison that chose sides over delivery style and personality. This is more akin to those preaching the true Gospel vs the infiltration of judaizers who were misleading the flock. Biblically, the judaizers were sharply rebuked. If there had been a biblical record of those judaizers setting out to destroy their opposition, the rebuke would have been even harsher…. oh, come to think of it, it was!
AL Mohler, JD Greear, Russell Moore and many others are all in need of that rebuke. Mike Stone is merely following the Apostle Paul’s example by pointing out what is appropriate biblically and what is not.
As we learned from the unjust evil regime of Drumpf, where there’s smoke there is fire. Obviously guilty
You’re not very smart, are you Johnny?
Do you actually believe there are individuals here not intelligent enough to know that you’re nothing more than a godless troll, doing everything in your impotent power to besmirch Christ’s church?
I suggest you stick with the gay porn sites, you’ll find the acceptance you so desperately crave.
And the troll has come back. Good grief. Find something productive and useful to do with your life, Johnny.
The SBC has just committed suicide.
Your article is misleading and false.
Help me understand this: As someone in the SBC, you theoretically want to “reach the lost” but by your own confession, publicly lie about and shame those you consider to be “lost.” How does this show the gospel? How are you “saving souls?” Wondering if God’s will is to strike us dead, and you’d be okay with that? I’m glad my theology is sound enough to know that even in the beginning, while not without consequence, God pursued Adam and Even in the garden in the cool of the day, asking them where they were, grieving their connection and communion that is lost. He could have destroyed them. Struck them dead. But no…he pursued them. He pursues us all. Like a husband to his bride, Christ to his church.
I am one of the people who signed the original SBC Survivor Statement. I will not hide behind anonymous monikers as many do here.
This woman, who is a friend, was not, and is not, a “prop” or a pawn from any religious or political system. She was there in compassion representing thousands of survivors, including myself. I wanted to be there, logistically it was not possible. Otherwise, I would have been right by her side.
The women and men listed on that statement worked together to plead for justice for every survivor. We are mothers, nurses, flight attendants, fathers, sisters, daughters, sons, students. There is no conspiracy here; only broken hearts and broken bodies asking for justice. We rely on each other for strength, for help, for prayer, to help each other carry the others’ weight when the burden of our shame is too heavy and we are disheartened.
My story is very easily available to find, so I will only summarize it here, and by comparison (which is not even possible, truly) is charmed compared to what others who signed that statement, and those who did not, endured.
I am a survivor of a credibly accused, criminally indicted (3 counts of sexual indecency by physical contact, minor <17 years old and 1 count of sexual assault, minor <17 years old, 1 count of assault causing bodily injury) SBC leader who was an executive within a large state convention. He is an admitted guilty, a sentenced predator whose crime was covered up within the SBC for over a decade until I reported it and it was brought through the criminal justice system within less than a year including the adding of two charges after my grand jury testimony. The county in which I live has a less than 50% rate of indictment for sexual crimes against minors, so the level by which the grand jury reached this decision is rare, the addition of the additional felony is practically unheard of, and determined by the evidence presented. My experience has been repeatedly reported as credible within the SBC and criminally.
In Texas, sexual assault is defined by penetration, just for clarity here. I want you to have a mental image of a teenager being penetrated by an adult because I don't think you understand the gravity in which survivors' bodies are violated. I want you to think about a man of God's hands grabbing my breasts which God created in women for nurturing and God-given sexuality. A man of God placing his hands between my 16-year-old thighs. A man of God doing this for his gratification. In the name of Jesus. I mean, he asked me to join him to help me through my own faith crisis, to pray with me and over me. Think about it. Imagine it. Our God-given sexuality, anatomy, and innocence literally destroyed by men, physically and spiritually. What was created for one person to experience sexually, and children to experience as they come into this world in new life, defiled by a man who claimed to desire salvation for others.
I have been called names by SBC leadership, harassed, and experienced similar, though not as vile – treatment from within the SBC. This is not unique to this woman. Others have as well. This has been well documented legally, oftentimes in writing by those who said these hurtful and incredulously unchristian words. Some of them have admitted this. In my situation, a leader whose organization publically demeaned and slandered me took responsibility and sought forgiveness, which I offered freely. Most are not this fortunate enough to have a modicum of resolution.
This woman, these women, the people around her comforting her, were not and are not props. There is no agenda. Believe your own fictitious assumptions if they placate your cognitive dissonance. You are not discerning. You are deceived. On your own admission, "the most likely scenario…" You said it best yourself.
You are assuming.
In addition, your understanding of mental health and trauma is severely lacking and incredibly biased. As a survivor and a healthcare practitioner in this area, there are so many things you write that are completely in conflict with the diagnosis of trauma. We do struggle with mental illness often. This does not make us crazy. Mentally ill people are never crazy. That term is demeaning and dismissive, not to mention completely antithetical to the character and words of Christ.
Practically, for her to maintain composure with Stone, only to break down as she left the situation, is completely consistent with the actions of someone with PTSD. We have been conditioned to appease men in power or be abused. This is physically carved into the anatomy of our brains. It is within our limbic system. It is our survival. When she felt safe, she was able to be vulnerable. This is not dishonesty. This is trauma.
I am not a witness to what happened between her and Mike Stone, but I am a witness to who she is and to the effects of the trauma she, and thousands like her, thousands like me, thousands like us, endure. I am a witness to the justice and compassion we seek. I am a witness to her character and her credibility far beyond a day at a convention that has been miscategorized ironically by those with an agenda.
You do not know this woman. You know nothing about her. You piece together information that you, yourself, did not bear witness to. Where there are missing storylines in the plot, you fill them in with what makes sense to you and present it as truth. Others do the same, creating a completely fictitious situation spoken, written, as gospel. Or, almost gospel, because again–you assumed on your own admission.
"Articles" such as this one do the opposite of what you intend them to. They show the overflow of your heart using the words you write. If your heart is as hard as it appears to be here, I pray God softens it so you can experience his grace and love.
Your words are harmful to her. To us. To those in the faith. To those outside of the faith reading this.
And to all of those listed above, I pray you know the truth and love of Christ which is carelessly and inaccurately presented here, colored by self-righteousness and pride. God loves you. From the evidence presented here, this faction of religion could care less whether you were dead or alive, let alone loved.
May God have mercy on us all.