Paige Patterson, the former leader of the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary who was fired after a woman came forward to accuse him of discouraging her from reporting a rape allegation, has a new gig.
Religion News Service reports that Patterson will be taking part in a week-long seminar later this month in which he’ll be teaching a class called “Christian Ethics: The Bible and Moral Issues.”
Patterson, who also came under fire earlier this year for encouraging an abused woman to stay with her husband and for making a “joke” about a “very attractive” teenage girlduring a 2014 sermon, will be teaching the class alongside Southern Evangelical Seminary President Richard Land.
“We believe that there are a lot of people who would like to hear from him about living the Christian life in America,” Land explained to Religion News Service in justifying his decision to bring Patterson aboard. “I believe he’s an asset to evangelicalism and we’re looking forward to it.”
But Christian activist Ashley Easter, who helped organize a protest against Patterson at the Southern Baptist Convention, tells Religion News Service that she is highly disappointed in Land’s decision to bring Patterson aboard.
“Paige Patterson has proved time and time again that he is unfit to educate others on topics of ethics and morality,” she said. “Anyone who invites him to speak on these topics is guilty of the same hypocrisy as Patterson himself.”