Paige Patterson’s weird mix of guns and God has stirred an interesting series of articles, and has now hit the AP Wire. We at Baptist Blogger think it is great that Patterson’s comments, however bizarre, have caused some critical thinking on this issue. Today, we have been contacted for an “official response” to Patterson’s comments. Below is what we provided to the media:
I certainly sympathize with Patterson’s pastoral concern to protect the lives of seminary students under his care, though I believe his comments were poorly timed and somewhat bizarre. Many of us remember the tragedy at Fort Worth’s Wedgewood Baptist Church in 1999, when Larry Gene Ashbrook entered the church sanctuary and murdered seven young people. If pastors are looking for a model of sympathy and leadership in a time of tragedy, I believe they would be well advised to follow the heroic example set by Wedgewood’s pastor, Rev. Al Meredith.
I’m much more impressed with schools and administrators who are reviewing and reevaluating their emergency response plans than I am with seminary presidents who fancy themselves generals and their would-be student martyrs as Green Berets.
I hope and pray that Patterson’s cavalier charge to the seminary community does not invite the next crazed gunman to prey upon that institution. But should another such tragedy occur in our own North Texas backyard, I pray with equal intensity that men of valor find the courage and sensibility to protect innocent lives, even at the most exacting cost imaginable.”
Yes, dear readers, it is better to listen to the counsel of a man who’s led a church through the tragedy of a murdering sanctuary rampage than to heed the charge of man whose credentials stop at the perimeter of an African wildlife preserve. Or as we say in Texas, some cowboys are all hat, and no cattle.
The Baptist Blogger 
I was a member of Wedgwood when that shooting occurred. Thank you for recognizing our pastor’s leadership through that painful time.
I will always remember the words he had to speak nearly immediately after the shooting occurred and the media was allowed to interview him. When asked where God was in all of this, Al said something very close to these words. “God is right where he was when His very own Son suffered and died. He knows what it’s like to be a parent, to see a child die cruelly and unjustly. And his heart is broken with ours.”
They were strong, encouraging, and comforting words. He reminded us that God was in control and that He loved us. In fact, that was the theme of his sermon the first Sunday after the shooting. If anyone would like to read that sermon, you can do so at http://www.founders.org/FJ38/article1.html
Aaron
Ben,
Honestly, I’m torn. A part of me wants to dissagree with any and everything Pudge ever says.
However, if I stay true to myself, I have to agree somewhat with his words. Kind of like what Prescot said. True, Paige could have been more pc in what he said. He could have said some sort of verbal waiver, praising the VT students, and decrying the horror of the incident.
But, if anyone ever tries to articulate a “we could do better by…” statement, inherent within that is a critique of the first incident. People just won’t like that.
But, as people reflect upon what happened at VT, then some critique will happen. Students that reflect upon it, may very well do so. They would be thinking in terms of “what can we do that the VT students didn’t do?” University Admin. will think in terms of, “what can we do that the VT Admin. didn’t do?”
It may seem unfair. It may seem uncaring, especially so close to the event. But, if events like this are to be mitigated in the future, critical thinking upon the event has to happen.
Not to say that Pudge ever thought critically about his words concerning the event.
Tim