BREAKING: SBC via NAMB trustees lie to US Supreme Court.

Once again Southern Baptists present a false statement to federal courts in desperate effort to defeat Will McRaney and protect Kevin Ezell.

The Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission lied to the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in the Will McRaney case. Now, lawyers for the North American Mission Board (NAMB) just filed a brief with the Supreme Court of the United States that is deceptive and false. Namely, NAMB just claimed state conventions are Southern Baptist entities.

NAMB claimed in its filing May 28, 2021, “Reverend McRaney attempts to avoid certiorari by emphasizing that, though he was employed by one Southern Baptist entity, he was never employed by the particular Southern Baptist entity that he sued, namely the SBC Mission Board.”

There are only 12 Southern Baptist entities—and the state conventions are NOT Southern Baptist entities.

Currently, state convention employees are not SBC employees; however, they will be if NAMB successfully deceives the Supreme Court.

Here is the list of SBC Entities right from the SBC website: the SBC Executive Committee, the ERLC, Guidestone Financial Resources, the International mission Board, Lifeway Christian Resources, The North American Mission Board, Gateway Seminary, Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. The Women’s Missionary Union (WMU) is an auxiliary of the SBC.

I don’t see any state conventions on that list. Do you?

So, are state conventions SBC entities? Or, are they autonomous organizations?

You can’t blame anyone but the NAMB trustees and Kevin Ezell for this deceitful claim. Russell Moore did not file this brief. The deception began before Russell Moore got involved in the case and it continues after he announced his departure from the ERLC.

This deception is on NAMB and it’s trustees. Will they repudiate this deception?

Every state convention and its executive director should be asked: Are you a Southern Baptist entity?

This is a huge and important point. If, NAMB wins this case, then all state conventions would be considered entities of (and thus subject to both legal liability and hierarchical claims) the Southern Baptist Convention.

Also, notice how the North American Mission Board is called the SBC Mission Board—this is a deceptive and manipulative tactic. Did IMB close or did NAMB change its name?

Notice also that Dr. McRaney was not working for a church, so the consistent use of Reverend is another attempt at sleight-of-hand deception. This is an attempt to deceive the US Supreme Court into thinking this is a matter involving religion—when in fact it involves nothing more than slander, libel and Kevin Ezell abusing his power and violating US laws in interfering with McRaney’s private employment.

Last I checked, religious liberty does not allow someone to slander another person.

In fact, if SCOTUS were to adopt NAMB’s position, then Christians would be second class citizens who could be slandered and libeled by anyone who claimed the slander or libel was based on their missionary philosophy.

Who will speak?

Randy Davis speaking out for Tennessee Baptists forced the ERLC to own its false claims about hierarchy in the SBC. The ERLC filed an apology with the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals over its lies filed in this same case.

Who will speak now?

This is yet another crisis precipitated by liars in the Southern Baptist Convention.

Will any of the state conventions stand up and correct this latest lie about the fully autonomous relationships between various Baptist bodies?