For the Record: What Happened at the SBC Executive Committee
Russell Moore lied the Convention into a civil war.
The following is the text of my letter to The Baptist Paper in response to their request for a historical response from each Executive Committee trustee regarding how we “deliberated regarding this weighty decision.” — RDM
by Rod D. Martin
October 19, 2021
There were several false narratives surrounding the Executive Committee debate on waiver of attorney client privilege. Ultimately, those led to what I believe is a needless, foolish outcome that will harm survivors as much as it harms the SBC.
First, it was claimed that the EC opposed an investigation. But to the best of my knowledge, not a single member opposed it at all. Everyone agreed that if wrongdoers exist, they should be strung up, and if they don’t exist, the innocent should be cleared. We were all united on both points. Indeed, I believe there should be a federal criminal investigation. I’ll come back to that point in a minute.
Second, there was the narrative that those opposing waiver of privilege “cared about money instead of doing the right thing.” This was the “be warm and be filled” narrative, that by voiding our insurance and leaving little available for any victims the investigation might find, we were somehow being more holy. Such pious nonsense, not worthy of serious people, much less people who care about making things right or “caring well.” We could, and should, have done better.
Third, it was constantly repeated that the messengers had spoken on the issue of waiver. And of course they had, so far as that goes. But they had received no legal counsel on what that meant, and had no real debate on the consequences. Not only that, the messengers were actively lied to: they were told that waiving privilege was a “best practice”, but that is not true. It is not a “best practice”, it’s not a standard practice, even for clients of Guidepost Solutions. What it is is malpractice, intended by trial lawyers to turn the SBC – not just the EC – into the Boy Scouts: bankrupt, lining law firms’ pockets. Are there actual victims? To the plaintiff’s bar it doesn’t even matter: they just want to run the fees so high that the SBC is forced into a settlement.
“Every man seems right, until another makes his case”, and had the messengers heard what our lawyers told us, they almost certainly would have amended the motion.
Fifth, there was the deceit that the EC vote only concerned the waiver of privilege. But that was false too. The vote adopted a lengthy, complex contract with Guidepost Solutions which went far beyond the motion. For just one example, Guidepost is now empowered to provide counseling to an unlimited number of unspecified persons, all from CP money, entirely in their own discretion, and if they are sued for malpractice, the SBC must pay all attorney’s fees, the cost of any judgment against them, everything. It’s crazy, it’s unlimited, and the messengers were not told.
And yet despite all of that, all of us were willing to vote to waive privilege if done in a way that carried out both (a) the EC’s duty to this year’s messengers on this single issue and (b) the EC’s century-old fiduciary duties, not at all waivable under the law, given us by 100 years of messengers. There were ways to accomplish both, ways that minimized potential harm to the interests of both survivors and missions. Guidepost itself offered two such possibilities, which were rejected out of hand by the Task Force.
On its face, it seems that everyone should care that all of these duties be followed. And yet they didn’t. It would be logical to ask why. And there’s a reason.
This upheaval is the effort of one man, Russell Moore, who sought to burn down the house as he left it. We know this by his fruits: despite claiming personal knowledge of rapes and child molestations for twenty long months, Moore – a mandatory reporter – has still not informed law enforcement of a single such act. Not one call to 911. Not one call to the Department of Justice. Nothing.
Moore lied the Convention into a civil war. His followers continue to wage it. And everyone, everyone, is losing.
Sincerely submitted,
Rod D. Martin
Member for Florida