|
Dealing
with the Sin of Operation Save America
A companion piece to the "Dealing
with the Sin of Operation Rescue" written by Flip Benham
June 7, 2008
Steve Wetzel, MTTU News
(Please read the
linked article above or below by Flip Benham before reading this for
the context.)
| In Mr. Benham's article, "Dealing
with the Sin of Operation Rescue," Mr. Benham throws a number of stalwart
Rescue leaders under the bus. Among them - Pat Mahoney,
Jeff White, Ken Reed, Joe Slovenec, and Joe Foreman.
Keith Tucci does not do a complete flip-flop for Benham, rather a side step.
Each of these individuals can defend themselves, and thus will leave
that to them. The point
of this article will be to focus on what is the root cause of the Benham - Newman
controversy. That takes some explaining.
Bad theology begets bad behavior. Every instance
of bad Christian theology begins with a grain of truth. The trouble begins
when that grain of truth is expanded upon, until it is no longer
recognizable as truth. Enter the world of Spiritual Authority and Pastoral
Abuse. |
Flip Benham - OperationSaveAmerica |
"The pastor is to rule under the direction of the Lord Jesus Christ, not
by his own mind or will. The church is not a pastor’s personal empire. The
church is God’s property; the people are God’s people; the work is God’s
work. The pastor is merely a steward or caretaker. Contrast this with the
ministry of proud, willful Diotrephes (3 Jn. 9-10) who lorded it over the
flock and quenched the spiritual ministry of men of whom he did not
approve."
Troy Newman ran afoul of Flip Benham because he
rejected Benham's supposed "authority" over him. This has nothing to do with Benham
having an
interest in seeing repentance and restoration - rather the personal
destruction of the individual (Newman) who would not bow before him. This
type of behavior is found in cults.
"One of the marks of a cult is the way people are treated when they
refuse to follow the leadership unquestioningly or when they leave. When
D.M. Canright left Adventism after 28 years, he was treated like a fool
and an evil man. All friendship and kindness was withdrawn by the
Adventist (7th Day Adventist) leaders. They even lied about him mercilessly for many years
afterwards. This is one of the marks of a cult. People are only treated
kindly and lovingly if they submit to the doctrines and "authority" of the
cult’s leaders; if they question the leadership or if they leave the
church, they are fair game to be treated without mercy ... As long as people unquestionably submit to
the pastor, they are treated kindly. As soon as they question his
leadership and leave, the kindness is removed and they are treated
viciously."
- David W.
Cloud, Editor
Wayoflife.org (both quotes in blue)
These are the kind of tactics we find
Flip Benham employing. Troy Newman left the fold, and is now the enemy.
He must now be crushed.
Benham writes:
"I conclude with our attempts to bring
discipline, reconciliation, and restoration into the life of Troy Newman.
Our work with the pastor and elders of Heartland Community Church in
Wichita, Kansas, has never ceased since Troy was removed from the
leadership of “Operation Rescue” in the summer of 2002."
This is only partially true. It is one of those
grains I spoke of earlier. Benham ordered Troy
Newman to leave Wichita, KS, and to go elsewhere. Newman moved his entire
family from California to Kansas, the year before, in order to
combat the most notorious abortionist in our land, George Tiller. Newman
refused to give up the battle against Tiller, pack up and leave Wichita.
Thus he incurred the wrath of
Flip Benham which continues to this day.
Benham continues:
"Troy’s whole identity is
so wrapped up in a silly name, “Operation Rescue.” He believes it to be
his source of income, identity, and value."
To coin a Glenn Beck phrase, "Not so much."
When Benham decided to dump the "Operation Rescue"
name and web site (ORN.org) to get out from under pro-abortion
lawsuits, I asked him by phone to please pass the name
on to another. I said, "Pass the name on as it was passed onto you by
Keith, as he received from Randall Terry. Too much sacrifice went into
that name to simply let it die." Benham's response was,
"Oh no, no, no, no, no." It was at this point I contacted
Troy Newman. His group's name was close with his "Operation Rescue West,"
and had heard of the great work they were doing in California. I asked
Newman if he would pick up the banner "Operation Rescue" that Benham
foolishly discarded. Newman was reluctant to do so. In fact it took
two years of asking Troy, before he finally resurrected the name "Operation Rescue"
so our legacy would not die.
The moment Newman resurrected the name
Operation Rescue, Benham came at him like a three year old child who threw
away a toy he no longer wanted.
Newman simply saw the toy laying in the trash, and
picked it up. Benham saw Newman pick up his discarded toy, and threw a
temper tantrum screaming, "Mine, mine, mine!" And that's where we are
today.
Recently, Randall Terry threw himself into the mix
by suing Troy Newman for the Operation Rescue trademark. Terry had not
been involved in rescue/anti-abortion work since 1992, when he gave the
leadership of O.R. to Keith Tucci. Now, 16 years later, he wants the
Operation Rescue name back.
The wild card in this was Flip Benham. Where would
he land in this debate? Benham has no love for either Newman or Terry - in
fact he threw Terry
under the bus on Feb. 1, 2000 - and
here found on the OSA web site. My question
was, "Who does Flip dislike more ...
Randall Terry or Troy Newman?" Logically,
one would suppose he would lay low, and wait for the dust to settle - as
he also lays claim to the title Operation Rescue.
|
 |
Surprisingly, Benham has gone out of his
way supporting Randall Terry - the same man he tossed under the bus 8
years prior. I guess this is a case of "the enemy of my enemy is my
friend." With the level of participation displayed by Benham -
one can only conclude that Flip doesn't just dislike Troy Newman,
he HATES Troy Newman.
Newman rejected Flip's position - as
Benham lived in Dallas, TX, and was far from the battle. Thus Newman is
anathema, as is anyone who sides with him. This kind of behavior and
application of punishment found in cults.
Sadly, what Benham fails to realize is that if
Randall Terry succeeds in wresting the name Operation Rescue from Troy
Newman, Terry will then turn his legal hired-guns 180 degrees, and attack
him.
|
They say ambition is blind. It must be. I
would just suggest Benham not sip his own Kool-aid as he wanders about in the dark.
Steve Wetzel
mttu.com
Back to
|
