Every now and then reporting on Christian news attracts the vehement response of the subject of reporting. In this instance, Brentwood Baptist Church, a Southern Baptist megachurch with nine franchises has come after Evangelical Dark Web with a DMCA takedown request on the evidence we shared in out report of them with our website’s host.
The article exposed a Southern Baptist megachurch for having female pastors in violation of the Baptist Faith and Message 2000, a faith statement we also exposed them for deliberately rejecting, in favor of the vastly inferior BFM1963. This church was made relevant because it had joined Brent Leatherwood in lobbying for red flag laws in Tennessee.
On YouTube copyright claims are generally boiler plate and easy to resolve. But with webhosts, it’s a different story. Unfortunately, they made us comply in order to issue a counter-notification.
The screenshots we shared are fair use based on the transformative work in the article they were published in. Brentwood. Darrel Girardier, Communications Director for Brentwood Baptist Church, filed the fraudulent copyright claim.
In our counter-notification, we gave them personally identifying information in order to escalate the situation to Federal court. This is a barrier for many people who do discernment-type of ministry online. Nonetheless, we believe that if we escalate the situation, and put the offenders on blast for their misdeeds, we have a better chance at stemming these occurrences in the future.
We are undefeated in these areas so far, because of our strict adherence to fair use doctrine for the purposes of reporting, commentary, and reaction. My guess is that they will not come to Maryland to file a federal lawsuit against a small but growing discernment ministry. But in any case, please be in prayer over the situation.
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2 Responses
They know it’s fair use. They’re just trying to intimidate you, and they should also be called out for that sin, which is prideful and to a significant degree an attempt to make you fear them more than you fear the Lord.
Rather than talk directly to you, as scripture commands them to do, explaining themselves and showing you the alleged wrongdoing committed against them, they took this intimidation route instead, specifically because they know you didn’t sin against them. And in so doing they show themselves to care more about protecting their business than they care about fidelity to scripture.
“And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’” (Matt. 25:40)
“For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith,e as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.” For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.”
Don’t let them intimidate you, and don’t let them get away with their sinful attempt to do so. It is a sin to give to mankind the fear that belongs to the Lord, of which only He is worthy.
And when I say “business” I do mean “business” – with such behavior, they are not worthy of being called a church.