Hyperbole and Distortions: Fact-Checking LC President Aguillard
In May 2009, Louisiana College President Joe Aguillard penned an editorial to The Baptist Message about the need for like-minded Baptists to engage in a type of warfare “against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world.” It wasn’t merely a rhetorical flourish. Aguillard directly accused President Barack Obama of being a “murderer,” claiming that the President was responsible for “carrying the banner” of allowing the murder of “21 babies per second.” Quoting (bold mine):
The enemy is attacking the Christian’s territory and he is doing so at an exponential pace.
The murder of our unborn is occurring at a rate of 21 babies per second!
The President of the United States is carrying the banner to continue these murders at an even faster pace and to also use our tax dollars to expand the murder overseas.
If we use Biblical truth to define our president and those in Congress as murderers – and that is what they are, murderers – as those who have perpetuated this murderous plot, will they imprison us?
That threat will not silence us! Will you stand and fight?
Here is a link to the full editorial, which was, at some point, migrated to a different page.
In the editorial, Aguillard also compared a hate crimes bill that punishes criminals who inflict physical violence against a person because of their sexual orientation as a direct attack on Christians who only seek to express God’s Word. Quoting again:
The enemy is attacking the Christian’s territory by convincing our nation that marriage is really not a sacred bond between a man, a woman and God. Rather, we are told that it is a choice between persons of the same or the opposite sex. Both choices, many maintain, are to be viewed as legitimate. . . .
Encouraged by the President, the U.S. House of Representatives recently passed a Hate Crimes Bill that could make it illegal for Christians to declare that what the Word of Almighty God says about the practice of homosexuality and same-sex marriage.
If the aforementioned legislation ultimately becomes law, many believe that a Christian could be thrown in jail for proclaiming God’s law. Well, consider me and our faculty at LC ready for jail, for we will not bow to the lies of satan.
I only mention this because today, it was brought to my attention that he continues to preach the same message to those in the LC community, including the ridiculous line about Christians being persecuted by a bill that specifically addresses punishing violent criminals, using this bill, either ignorantly or insidiously, as a reason to “fight against the enemy.”
I’ve never met anyone who is “pro-abortion,” but it is an absolute lie to proclaim as fact, particularly from the pulpit, that “21 babies are aborted every second.” Aguillard repeated this egregiously exaggerated lie only a couple of months ago, in an address in front of the Louisiana College student body (jump to the 45 minute mark on the video). Michael D. Smith explains:
21 babies per second. That is 1,260 babies per minute, 75,600 babies per hour, 1,814,400 babies per day, and 662,256,000 per year.
The population of the United States is less than half that number. The world-wide population of women is 3,386,509,865 (www.geohive.com). The global population of childbearing women (aged 15-50) is 1,755,000,000 (www.census.gov). Therefore, if Mr. Aguillard is correct (assuming that he is talking about the number of abortions in the world, rather than just in the USA), that would mean that every year, no less than one third of all child bearing women have an abortion. However, if he is talking about women in the United States, that would mean that on average every woman in the United States would have about 9 abortions per year.
The actual number of abortions worldwide is less than 7% of what Aguillard claims, and abortions, worldwide and here in the United States, have been on the decline since 1993.
I was reared in the First United Methodist Church in Alexandria. As a teenager, I occasionally taught a small Bible Study class, and when I was in college, I double-majored in English and Religious Studies. I am not and have never been a conservative Southern Baptist and would never claim to be an expert in the Southern Baptist tradition.
I decided to post about this for a few reasons: Professor Reynoso’s letter reminded me of the importance of championing honesty above loyalty. As I said in the previous post about Louisiana College, I want nothing more than to see it succeed and excel. Many of my family members and close friends are proud graduates of Louisiana College. It’s a vitally important institution in Central Louisiana.
It’s never easy to speak truth to power, particularly when those in power believe that any criticism is evil or the result of Satan’s influence. You either agree with us, or you’re doing the work of the devil.
A few weeks ago, The Town Talk published an article about a study conducted in 2010 by Aramark that suggested Louisiana College needs to spend more than $35 million on repairing its existing infrastructure, simply to address deferred maintenance. I have no way of knowing how the paper obtained the study, but once they did, they reported on it. Quoting from Billy Gunn of The Town Talk:
Louisiana College is pursuing $10 million to produce a movie based on the 1960s sitcom “Green Acres,” adding to the tens, or hundreds, of millions of dollars the 104-year-old Baptist college is seeking in aggressive expansion beyond the Pineville campus.
All the while, buildings on campus sit needing millions of dollars in repairs, according to a study done for LC by Aramark Higher Education in a report commissioned in 2010.
The response from leaders at Louisiana College: The Town Talk received a stolen report that was still in draft form. Aguillard told The Baptist Faith that he was considering legal action against the paper and said there was a “spiritual battle” between Louisiana College and the so-called “liberal media.” If you’ve ever read The Town Talk, then you probably would agree: They are not members of the “liberal media,” and they are not interested in waging a spiritual battle against Louisiana College. Louisiana College Trustee Heath Veuleman (allegedly) wrote that The Town Talk‘s entire goal is “to challenge Louisiana College’s credibility and integrity” and implied the newspaper was staffed by the “sycophants and acolytes” who oppose their current administration. According to former LC Professor Reynoso, President Aguillard allegedly also decried The Town Talk‘s coverage as “evil” and “attacks from Satan.”
In December 2010, The Town Talk reported on Louisiana College’s attempt to secure $70 million in funding from the governments of Saudi Arabia and Kuwait to build a medical school right here in Central Louisiana. The paper had received a “draft report,” which was posted on the now-defunct SaveOurLC forum, and shortly thereafter, photos emerged of LC President Aguillard meeting with diplomats from Kuwait while visiting Washington, D.C. Aguillard and his administration had seriously considered attempting to capture a sizable portion of the money pledged by Saudi Arabia and Kuwait for disaster relief after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in order to fund a medical school. Shortly after the news broke, Aguillard explained his intentions to The Baptist Message:
