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Left-wing pastor denounces 'straight white men' during Christian college commencement prayer — and gets cheers from crowd
Image source: YouTube screenshot

Left-wing pastor denounces 'straight white men' during Christian college commencement prayer — and gets cheers from crowd

He also got in a dig about 'poisoning' the planet with 'fossil fuels'

A left-wing pastor from a progressive church denounced "straight white men" in his commencement benediction last weekend at Baylor University, a private Christian college in Waco, Texas.

Dan Freemyer — pastor of missional engagement at Broadway Baptist Church in Fort Worth, which calls itself "fully affirming of women in lay and professional ministry roles and fully inclusive of LGBTQ+ persons" — got in a mention of the graduates' "privileges" during his prayer Saturday morning along with an environmental appeal before turning his attention to skin color.

"And God, give them the moral imagination to reject the old keys that we are trying to give them to a planet that we're poisoning by running it on fossil fuels and misplaced priorities," he prayed. "A planet with too many straight white men like me behind the steering wheel while others have been expected to sit quietly at the back of the bus."

A number of people in the crowd cheered after Freemyer's mention of "straight white men."

Here's the clip:

Baylor Spring 2019 Graduation (Sat) - Dan Freemyer Benediction Prayeryoutu.be

What was the reaction?

A handful of folks took to Twitter and gave their two cents on Freemyer's benediction:

  • "Here's a good example of placing social justice above Scripture."
  • "Why would a pastor use prayer as platform for a political dress down? What an unfortunate abuse of a privilege. We pray to God. Speeches are for political rants."
  • "Here is more proof that it is human nature to look for an enemy to blame."
  • And one user even called Freemyer a "racist bigot hypocrite and a pathetic excuse for a pastor."

Rod Dreher, writing for the American Conservative, called Freemyer's benediction "appalling" before asking, "I wonder how many straight white men are Baylor donors? I wonder how many straight white male and female parents of high school students will understand the meaning of this signal, and look elsewhere for their children's Christian college education?"

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