The Christian preaching professors at @swbts who posted this are starting to apologize for posting it.
It should’ve never been staged. pic.twitter.com/81Y98Np8KL
— Shaun King (@ShaunKing) April 25, 2017
A “Christian” seminary actually had the audacity to post this grotesque photo of five senior faculty members they are now trying to apologize for.
The five men at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas thought it would be fun to mock hip-hop by posing as rappers wearing hoodies, sideways hats, chain necklaces – and one of them even went so far as to bring a firearm to the photo opp. The phrase “Notorious S.O.P.,” which stands for the School of Preaching, is scrawled in graffiti-style at the top of the photo.
David L. Allen, dean of the School of Preaching, said the photo was a going-away present for another professor.
.@swbts This is a going-away picture we gave to one of our faculty members today at lunch, Dr. Charette, who is himself an excellent rapper.
— David L. Allen (@DrDavidLAllen) April 25, 2017
Shaun King, renowned senior justice writer for the New York Daily News, posted the photo, causing an intense backlash against the school which prompted the faculty members who initially tweeted it to delete it under the cloud of embarrassment.
Vern Charette, a former professor of preaching at Southwestern who now works elsewhere, is reportedly known to rap sometimes during his sermons.
Allen eventually apologized for sharing the photo, saying his “stance on race is clear.”
I apologize for a recent image I posted which was offensive. Context is immaterial. @swbts stance on race is clear as is mine.
— David L. Allen (@DrDavidLAllen) April 25, 2017
John Fea, chair of the history department at private Christian school Messiah College, wrote in a blog post:
Think about it. At some point these guys sat down in a faculty lounge somewhere and decided that it would be fun to dress this way and take a picture. At what point in this conversation did one of the guys in the photo think it was a good idea to show his gun? Did he bring it from home? Or did he have it in his office gun cabinet?
When the seminary tweeted that it would be reaching out to the individuals that rapper Lecrae referenced in order to address the matter, the rapper retorted, according to The Huffington Post: “I’m sure in your endeavor to grow you’ll reach out to these leaders respectively.”
.@swbts This is a going-away picture we gave to one of our faculty members today at lunch, Dr. Charette, who is himself an excellent rapper.
— David L. Allen (@DrDavidLAllen) April 25, 2017
I apologize for a recent image I posted which was offensive. Context is immaterial. @swbts stance on race is clear as is mine.
— David L. Allen (@DrDavidLAllen) April 25, 2017
An offensive tweet was posted to one of our faculty members’
personal Twitter handles. We have asked that the tweet be removed. https://t.co/LUxWmUUAgu— SW Seminary (@swbts) April 25, 2017
