If you’ve been following the numerous scandals in the Southern Baptist Convention, you’re probably aware of the blackmail scandal involving Texas pastor, Tom Buck and his wife, Jennifer. If you’re not aware, you can catch up on the details at this link. But to summarize, a private rough draft of a story Jennifer wrote had been passed around by a handful of Southern Baptist pastors and used to blackmail Tom Buck into silence. Buck had been speaking out against the liberal drift in the Southern Baptist Convention.
However, the blackmail didn’t work and the rough draft ultimately ended up on the leftist fake Baptist publication, Baptist News Global.
Buck then began trying to figure out how the rough draft ended up there, and during the course of his personal investigation, he spoke with another Southern Baptist pastor named Todd Benkert (pictured in the image above on the left next to SBC president, Bart Barber). Initially, while speaking to him, Benkert lied and covered up the truth about how the rough draft not only made it to him but to the Baptist News Global. And after Buck caught him lying, Benkert admitted to lying but demonstrated no remorse.
In a tweet, he admitted that he lied to Tom Buck but shift the blame onto Tom and then still refused to reveal to Tom who was behind the blackmail scandal and ultimately that he himself was a major player in it, even soliciting the rough draft.
Fast forward a few months, Benkert still hasn’t come clean on his participation in the victimization of Tom Buck’s wife, and yet, Southern Baptist president, Bart Barber names him to the Sex Abuse Task Force—a task force that is supposedly designed to investigate and combat the type of victimization that Benkert perpetrated on Jennifer.
If that isn’t scandalous, what is?
Barber has been under relentless fire on social media, however, for the last several days drawing the ire of conservatives and of Tom and Jennifer themselves. Here are some social media posts from conservatives calling Barber out on his move:
Below is a video response that Tom Buck put out in response to Bart Barber defending his move to install Benkert to the task force even though he acknowledged that Benkert lied.
