If you are a Southern Baptist, you need to understand what has just happened in your Executive Committee. They have flagrantly defied the overwhelming will of the Messengers. A few dozen folks in Nashville decided they know better than the 17,000 Messengers appointed by the churches. Waiver of privilege was not something the Messengers delegated to the EC to consider in their discretion; waiver was a direct and specific command from the Messengers, and it was flouted.
Please understand the implications of this. They have just opened up the SBC to MASSIVE liability. In every lawsuit against the SBC thus far, the SBC has been able to argue that we are a bottom-up organization, and therefore the SBC itself has no authority over or liability for what happens at the local church level.
That ended today. In every subsequent legal proceeding, plaintiffs can now use this vote to show that we are, in fact, a top-down organization and that the EC is in charge, not the churches.
More importantly, there are significant moral implications as well. Waiver of attorney-client privilege in this instance was not only overwhelmingly mandated by the Messengers, it was the right and moral thing to do. As Rachael Denhollander stated:
The waiver question is nothing more than this:
What is more valuable to you? Insurance proceeds for the bad acting you did? Or people?
How much is a little girl (boy, person) worth?
That is the only actual question you are answering with waiver of privilege. That’s it.
.Liz Evan, Attorney and SBC Sexual Task Force member