The Demise of Paige Patterson

Paige Patterson, the Southern Baptist iconic leader, has been the topic of much controversy this past week due to his ouster from Southwestern Seminary.  In an article from Christianity Today, they report that the trustees voted to remove him from the leadership of the seminary.  Sarah Jones, one of my former students at Cedarville University and currently with The New Republic, writes an excellent article about the implications this has for the Religious Right. All of this brings back a memory I had of Paige Patterson from my days as a faculty member at Cedarville University.  Paige was and still is a trustee serving on the board of Cedarville.  This particular day, Paige was the speaker at chapel.  As he started out his talk that day, he began with a joke.  I am sure this was to get the interest of the 3000 twenty-somethings who were required to attend chapel each day.  His joke revolved around his story of an experience he had while officiating at the baptism of an adult woman.  He went on to relate that this woman was "very heavy" and how he struggled to maintain his balance while attempting to immerse her under the water.  Everyone laughed at the image he related, at the expense of the dignity of the occasion and the respect for women.  I was highly offended  and remember walking out of chapel without hearing another word he had to say.  That was my first experience with Paige Patterson and since then, I have continued to follow him with great sadness as he bullied his way through the Southern Baptist convention and squashed all women who got in his path.  Soon after I left Cedarville University, following the lead of Paige, the board of trustees ruled that no women could teach men in the bible department.  My disgust for Paige Patterson has continued to grow through the years, cumulating this week as these disgusting comments have been made public.  Last week, a petition was started to oust Paige as a trustee from Cedarville.  I encourage all who are reading this to sign the petition.  Shame on you Paige Patterson!  Your disdain for women over these past years has come to light now and  you must pay the consequences of what you have done.  I do not delight in this but I do rejoice in the victory of women who have been misused, abused, and made fun of for decades by men like Paige Patterson.  Your days are coming to an end!