Southern Baptist Leader Pushes Back After Comments Leak Urging Abused Women to Pray and Avoid Divorce
The Washington Post’s Michelle Boorstein reports that an audiotape from 2000 has emerged where Paige Patterson, president of a major Southern Baptist seminary, is heard saying that women suffering from domestic abuse should pray, be submissive, and not seek divorce. “I have never in my ministry counseled anyone to seek a divorce and that’s always wrong counsel,” Patterson can be heard saying. Patterson has published a statement on Sunday claiming that the tape is a gross misrepresentation of his actual views, although he did not dispute the tape’s authenticity.