There is a scene in Gladiator in which Maximus, the general-turned slave-turned Gladiator throws his sword into the stands and screams “Are you not entertained?” to the crowd that has just witnessed him fight another gladiator to the death.
Apparently, some Baptists are not entertained. Several weeks ago, a parody of Run-DMC’s song “It’s Tricky,” with lyrics rewritten to support North Carolina pastor/SBC Presidential-hopeful JD Greaar went viral (well, by Baptist standards, anyway. 14000 views). The video, written, produced, and performed by Ashley Unzicker (who is a member of Greaar’s church and whose husband serves as that church’s missions pastor) features several prominent Southern Baptists, including Danny Akin, Russell Moore, and David Platt, all uttering the phrase “It’s Tricky.”
In the April 15 issue of The Florida Baptist Witness, an article was published with the headline, “JD Greaar YouTube Video Raises Concern.” The Alabama Baptist version of the same article, published in the April 28 print version, reads, “Concerns Raised over endorsements of 2016 nominees” was published. The byline for both versions lists the story as
a joint project by the Association of State Baptist publications. Contributing to the report were Will Hall, editor of the Louisiana Baptist Message, Lonnie Wilkey, editor of the Baptist and Reflector in Tennessee; and Neisha Roberts, editorial production coordinator for The Alabama Baptist. The story was compiled by Jennifer Davis Rash, executive editor of The Alabama Baptist.”
You would think with all those editors, someone would have remembered the first basic question of journalism: Who?
You see, the article never says who is raising concerns. This is like someone coming up to their pastor and saying “I don’t have a problem with this, but people are saying…” Come on. If someone feels like Greaar shouldn’t have made a YouTube video, then they should own it. Or should I just conclude that those who are concerned are the editors of various state Baptist papers who are mentioned in the byline?
Second, the headline (of the Alabama Baptist version) says “nominees.” But the article only mentions one nominee. Again, just be honest. If it bothers someone that a member of JD Greaar’s church made a YouTube parody video, then say so. This whole line of, “Some people are bothered by the actions of some nominees” just sounds like middle school.
Finally, the article implies that Greaar himself made.the video. David Platt says that “while I was overseas in the Middle East, J.D. asked me ” to shoot a video of himself saying “It’s tricky.”
However, the video begins with a disclaimer saying it does not reflect the views of Greaar, Summit Church, or any entity of the SBC,” and is meant for entertainment purposes only. And Ashley Unzicker, the creator of the video, says that it was her husband, the missions pastor at Summit, who made the calls to the various people in the video, not Greaar himself. This is according to North Carolina’s “Baptist Recorder,” which, incidentally, was NOT part of the “joint project.”
I would simply ask for our state papers to be a little more honest in your reporting. If the editors don’t like the video, they should say they don’t like the video. As it is, it comes across as sounding more like they don’t like JD Greaar.
Oh, well. It’s tricky.
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