From Supreme Court Justices to Pop Culture: The First 500 Weeks of P&D

500 weeks ago, Don Johnson (on the right above with the trademark bowtie), FBFI board member and church planter in British Columbia took on the monumental task of establishing a blog site for our fellowship. Don’s countless hours of dedicated service have made this site a staple in the lives of many people and an influence in the world.

Most people have no idea how much work it is to manage a blog site that produces original content on a daily basis. Don writes, recruits, edits, and manages. While he is an effective writer, it is the faithfulness day in and day out that makes this site work.

If you have not done it, takes some time and search through the thousands of articles posted here over the years. They are worthy of your attention. It is a mixture of devotional, exegetical, and worldview pieces that provide a uniquely biblical perspective on the world around us. Don deserves praise and thanks for his tireless effort.

Supreme Court, Really?

One of the most unusual occurrences at P&D was the part this site played in the confirmation hearings of Supreme Court Justice Brent Kavanaugh.

In September of 2018, Donald Trump nominated Brent Kavanagh to fill the court seat vacated by retiring Justice Kennedy. It was a rocky nomination punctuated by sensational accusations of misconduct that allegedly happened 30 years prior when Kavanagh was a high school student. This drama occurred at the height of the #metoo movement and became a flashpoint in American politics.

Kavanagh’s accuser, Christine Blasey Ford, reluctantly agreed to testify before a senate hearing. Republican senators immediately understood that the optics of a row of male Republican senators questioning an alleged assault victim would not be good for getting to the truth or for Kavanaugh’s chances. So, they brought in a lawyer from Arizona who specialized in prosecuting sexual predators to interview Ford. Her name was Rachel Mitchell.

Though no one outside of the Phoenix area knew much about her, Mitchell was immediately branded a partisan hack and an enemy of victims.

Six years earlier, FBFI board member, David Shumate interviewed Rachel Mitchell for a Q and A article on the theme of Child Protection Policies for an issue of FrontLIne Magazine we were producing. It was a straightforward issue of FrontLine intended to provide churches with help in establishing policies that would prevent sexual predators from doing damage in their ministries. Like we do with many articles, we also eventually publish them on this site as well. You can find the interview articles with Rachel Mitchell on P&D here and here. For a link to the pdf of the entire magazine you may go here.

Once her name was announced, our site blew up. We received thousands and thousands of views. P&D (and FrontLine Magazine) was being quoted by name on CNN, Reuters, New York Times, and all the major magazines. It was surreal to see Proclaimanddefend.org quoted in Rolling Stone Magazine!

Dr. Shumate’s two articles were the most information anyone could find online about Rachel Mitchell. The articles clearly revealed Mitchell as a victim’s advocation—reasonable and compassionate—and far from the aggressive abuse-denying monster many were trying to make her out to be.

She went on to interview Ford in a way that allowed for the American people to draw their own conclusions about the accusations and eventually helped pave the way for nominee Kavanaugh to become Justice Kavanaugh.

Seemingly simple moments in history can have enormous consequences. The present make-up of today’s Supreme Court is crucial in the protection of our religious freedoms. Dave Shumate had no idea in 2011 that a simple interview article could play a part in such an important part in our history. And Don Johnson had no idea 500 weeks ago that this blog site could play such a part, not only in the history of our country but also in the lives of individuals on a daily basis.

We do what we believe we should do for our Lord. He is the One who chooses to make little or much of it.

Well done, Don.