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ACTION ALERT: Tell progressive Christian org to fire founder for pattern of abusive behavior [1]
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Date: 2025-04-21
When the history books are written about the Donald Trump era, one of the longest chapters will be devoted to the large numbers of rock-ribbed conservative Republicans who not only deserted him, but openly supported his Democratic challengers. Even though they may have agreed with a good number of Trump’s policies, they rightly concluded that his character and temperament made him unfit for office.
In recent years, I’ve gotten a greater understanding of what the never-Trumpers went through before crossing the Rubicon. In case you missed it, one of the more prominent voices in the moderate and progressive Christian world, The New Evangelicals, came under fire when it emerged that its founder and executive director, Tim Whitaker, had subjected former creative director Adele Mulford to abusive behavior. An independent investigation by Godly Response to Abuse in the Christian Environment found that Whitaker frequently displayed a pattern of “a lack of self-control, controlling behaviors, and holding double standards.”
Just days later, Rick Pidcock of Baptist News Global revealed that Whitaker had called him and angrily berated him, Trump-style, for supposed “factual errors” in his piece. Almost as disturbingly, Pidcock also revealed that he’d talked to no fewer than five other people who got a call from Whitaker within minutes of posting about him. Most of us would consider this a firing offense, but TNE’s board remained silent. I had been a supporter of TNE for almost two years and wholeheartedly supported its vision of providing an alternative Christian voice. But I felt compelled to walk out when it became apparent TNE’s board wouldn’t act (diaried here).
A lot of other people followed me out the door. But after TNE’s board didn’t get the hint, especially after Mulford revealed how much speaking out has weighed on her, I felt the only way forward was to lobby TNE’s board to fire Whitaker. Sign this petition telling them to do so.
The more I thought about it, I saw a lot of parallels between Whitaker and what happened with right-wing influencer Steven Crowder almost two years ago. After video surfaced of him viciously berating his pregnant wife, Hilary, he was blasted from all sides of the spectrum. Hilary’s family had leaked the video to blogger Yashar Ali after Crowder announced their impending divorce despite Hilary asking him not to do so. And yet, Crowder kept cranking out podcasts as if nothing happened.
Increasingly, I saw parallels with the current situation at TNE. In mid-March, Mulford and another former TNE contractor who walked out in solidarity with her, Cherri Rodriguez, announced they were stepping back from publicly holding TNE accountable because the emotional load was more than they could handle.
In the face of this, I found myself rolling my eyes when I saw TNE join the outcry against Trump’s outrageous treatment of Kilmar Abrego Garcia.
How can TNE keep cranking out content as if nothing happened when Mulford and Rodriguez are emotionally scarred? Or when we now know Whitaker found it acceptable to bully reporters in a way that would do Trump proud? The more I thought about it, as I note at my Substack, there are a lot of parallels between Whitaker and Crowder. Just like Crowder had no qualms about churning out red meat even though he was going through the equivalent of a five-alarm fire at home, Whitaker doesn’t have any qualms about pushing out videos even though his abusive behavior has been exposed for all to see.
It’s almost as befuddling that TNE’s board is letting him do it. The argument has been made that this was an HR matter that should have been handled internally, rather than a chance for TNE to show that it is holding itself to the same standards it wants others to uphold. But even if you accept the argument that it was just an HR matter, no organization worth its salt would keep a major leader on board when it emerges that he has a clear pattern of abusive behavior. If bullying reporters so soon after being called out for abusing a staffer isn’t a pattern of abusive behavior, I don't know what is.
That’s not to say that TNE hasn’t faced any accountability at all. On the same day that Mulford and Rodriguez released the report, Peter Bell, host of “Sons of Patriarchy,” a podcast exposing Christofascist pastor Doug Wilson, announced he had deleted a recent episode featuring Whitaker.
x I (Peter) was just made aware of this, and have taken down our episode with Tim Whitaker of The New Evangelicals from all audio platforms and YouTube.
I was not aware of this report, nor the investigation, before recording or publishing the episode "The New Evangelical Messiah."… pic.twitter.com/DHsxrLCG3p — Sons of Patriarchy (@patriarchysons) March 17, 2025
Bell said that he learned about the investigation when the rest of us, including TNE supporters like yours truly, learned about it—when Mulford and Rodriguez released GRACE’s report. Once he looked at it, it took him only half an hour to conclude it was untenable to platform Whitaker.
In early April, Pidcock revealed that William B. Eerdmans, a Christian publisher, had backed out of a book deal with Whitaker and TNE.
x
So even though two third parties have told TNE that Whitaker’s behavior crossed a bright line, they still aren’t willing to act. I had hoped to hold TNE accountable from the inside, but now I wonder how long I could have kept to that plan.
To give you an idea of how dedicated I was to TNE’s cause, I’d discovered quite a few people were from around my new abode in West Michigan, and was hoping to organize a meetup in the days before the investigation dropped. Earlier, I’d met quite a few people who were from Charlotte, my old hometown, and would have hoped to meet some of them in person before it became apparent that my mother-in-law’s health made it untenable for us to stay in North Carolina. When I think about how I miss that, I’m reminded of a post on Threads by Danielle Strickland, who helped expose Canadian megachurch pastor Bruxy Cavey’s history of clergy sexual abuse.
When you have to choose between allegiance to a powerful leader/friend or supporting a victim of abuse… you choose the victim. Every. Time.
In this case, supporting Mulford and Rodriguez above all else—even if it meant walking out on TNE. And it also means ensuring TNE is serious about ensuring there isn’t a next time for what happened to Mulford. The fact that Whitaker still has a job suggests they aren’t, so at this point the only way forward is to tell TNE’s board that Whitaker has to go. Sign this petition if you agree.
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