Theocracy: a country that is ruled by religious leaders. Enter Donald Trump’s Evangelical Executive Advisory Board. Now, why does a presidential candidate need an Evangelical Executive Advisory Board?
This blogpost is very difficult for me to write. The words just will not come. I cannot understand how we have come to this point where a presidential candidate embraces those pastors and religious leaders who teach and preach that women are inferior in the face of God, in the face of man, and in the face of church and family. This is a man who wants to kick out Muslims, yet embraces those who teach the same concepts of submissiveness toward males.
Here they are listed in the Baptist Standard. There are five Southern Baptist pastors on the list. As we all know, Southern Baptists believe that women must submit to their husbands and must be lead by males in the church and home. There are no women evangelical pastors on this list. The fact that all but one (marginally) are male headship leaders or pastors and that the only woman included once owned an “ex-gay” clinic, tells us much about Donald Trump and the way he would take the nation. In fact, he said, “I am so on your side.”
- Jack Graham, senior pastor of Prestonwood Baptist Church in Plano
- Robert Jeffress, senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Dallas
- James Robison, an evangelist and founder of Life Outreach International in Fort Worth
- Michele Bachman, former congresswoman
- Kenneth and Gloria Copeland of Kenneth Copeland Ministries of Newark, Texas
- James Dobson, former head of Focus on the Family
- Jerry Falwell Jr., president of Liberty University
- Ronnie Floyd, Arkansas pastor and immediate past president of the Southern Baptist Convention
- Richard Land, president of Southern Evangelical Seminary and former president of the SBC Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission
- Robert Morris, pastor of Gateway Church, with campuses across North Texas
- Ralph Reed, founder of the Faith and Freedom Coalition
- Tony Suarez, executive vice president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference.
So, there we have it. The birth of a theocracy. A theocracy that prefers males to females.
It is 2016. Just how far are you willing to submit?
bWe Baptist Women for Equality's Blog 
This list of names is a Hall of Shame for Christ believers supporting a bigoted liar who encourages violence, mocks the impaired, and insults people of other nations while admiring Putin. Thank you for publishing their names.
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Yes, it is a Hall of Shame. Shame on them. It was the government that passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which gave blacks and white women the same rights white men always had. It was government that said slavery was wrong. It was the government that gave women the right to vote and to sit on juries (the last state to give women the right to sit on a jury was Mississippi in 1968). Preachers preached against women voting and sitting on juries, women still would not vote nor sit on juries.
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Russell Moore, current president of the SBC ERLC, is also on the advisory board. On more than one occasion, he has spoken in favor of pure patriarchy!
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I am afraid that is where we are headed. If ‘Christians’ have their way. It is time to stand up and speak up. I know it is hard.
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I am going to give Trump a pass on meeting with evangelical leaders, because he has to have their support in order to garner the evangelical vote. I just found out that Phylliss Schlafly has endorsed him as well.
He has no idea.
I do not believe he can possibly know the details of their rabid brand of patriarchy, and I don’t believe he would allow them that much influence on him if he makes the Presidency. So, for now, let the complementarian crowd feel like big shots and endorse him–bunch of L I T T L E men.
I agree with you wholeheartedly that complementarian leadership must be expressed wherever it is found, and that is a hard pill to swallow when it comes to complementarians meddling in politics. But I don’t believe Trump is complementarian. He doesn’t run his company complementarian. His major spokesperson is a woman. And he doesn’t shrink from placing women in positions of authority. All the women I have heard interviewed, who have worked for him, say he has always been respectful and fair to women, hiring and paying based solely on talent.
I plan on voting for him. I did not vote for him in the primaries, but I wish I had. I believe he is sincere and smart. I didn’t say perfect.
Who has experience in the Presidency? Nobody–till they get there. I have observed that he learns at a phenomenal rate. So he’s learning this politics thing. And I believe he will surround himself with good advisors. The names he has already put out there are good.
I am not anxious to become an insignificant part of a global collective, and I believe that is what the Democrats want. I cannot in good conscience support that agenda.
I don’t think Trump is anything to panic over.
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Thank you for your comments, Jocelyn. You and I have worked together for equality on many projects and I value your wisdom and commitment toward female equality. I do not think any presidential candidate should wrap themselves around religious leaders. A theocracy can be the most cruel form of government. That is what concerns me about this advisory council, because we know their record is of female-abuse, and gay abuse.
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You and I are in complete agreement on this. On another note, Kathy Barbini and I talked for a few hours yesterday about her upcoming documentary, @BaptizingFeminism. And also, BettyJean and I are uniting with a book project about the Equal Rights Amendment (please check out our ERAonly project http://www.ERAonly.com. It’s a website for advocates–not about the book. Let me know what you think). Many of the obstacles to getting the Amendment ratified parallel the obstacles we have encountered in getting Christians to see that equality of the sexes is a good thing. I think it’s time to re-group on both fronts.
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I will read that. It is time to regroup. In fact, I think we are preaching to the choir now. We are all saying over and over what we have already said, but the other side is not listening. We are just talking to each other. At least we attempted with the Demand for an Apology to the Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood. Looks like we women could come up with something.
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We can come up with a lot…my thought is it’s hard to talk to a wall…I’m not sure what can be done…
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Yes, it is hard to talk to a wall and that is what they are to us. That is why we must talk to those outside the wall but who go to church. I call myself the street evangelist and give my egalitarian books to ordinary people I meet, hoping to change lives to people I meet (see them on my website http://www.bwebaptist.com). But, we must also engage leaders. Catholics are doing this by writing letters to the pope. They began with Benedict and now they are writing to Francis. But they are doing it. (http://womensordinationworldwide.org/dearpopefrancis/) WE don’t have one leader per se, but the Southern Baptist Convention is the largest and the most vocal and has the most influence. I also recommend small group gatherings in a restaurant, home, or other public place. Work out my free Bible Study from which this post came. Find it on http://www.equalityjunction.com). We must DO something. This weekend we celebrate our country’s freedom. Make a Declaration of Independence of our own. Thanks for writing!
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Let me add one more thing. Christians for Biblical Equality (www.cbeinternational.org) is the best, longest, and most active entity working for women’s equality. I urge you to join them in this fight. Together we are stronger.
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🙂
Thank you, I am a member of CBE. I’ve been around here for a while: just haven’t commented in a long time. Hope you are well, and as always, thank you for your work! I do what I can. You never know in what sort of environment an opportunity will present itself.
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It was good to hear from you again! Sometimes I wonder if any breakthrough is possible, or if we will just fade away and the world will have to wait for the next wave of egalitarians. I fear that if we lose this push,it will be a long time before women know freedom in the church and home. Thank you for networking with me.
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