Why do these folks always have phony degrees?

Rev. Al Baker will be a participant
at an anti-LGBT conference. Baker
flaunts a phony doctorate.

Image via God's Voice

God's Voice will bring together a group of anti-LGBT crackpots in February. Apparently this Oklahoma City event is a reaction to LGBT acceptance by other Christians. They write:

Set for July 2018 at a Presbyterian Church in America congregation in St. Louis, Revoice announced its vision as “supporting, encouraging, and empowering gay, lesbian, same-sex-attracted and other LGBT+ Christians so they can experience the life-giving character of the historic Christian tradition.”
[…]
Now is the time for GOD'S VOICE to be heard and for Christians to stand against the queering of the church of Jesus Christ with the uncompromising truth of God's Word.

The nuts and bent bolts for these three days of joy include (in the order presented):

• Janet Mefferd
• Andrea Minichiello Williams, a British Christianist and anti-LGBT, anti-Islam wack job.
• Rev. Al Baker.
• Rev. Thomas Littleton who is obsessed with the notion that the Southern Baptist Convention is pro-gay; “ERLC & RUSSELL MOORE ADVOCATE REDEFINING FAMILY & PROMOTE GAY PRIEST WHO WANTS TO BABYSIT YOUR CHILDREN.”
• Robert Oscar Lopez. After losing tenure at UC Northridge, Bobby is a professor at Scarborough College of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth. He writes erotic gay-themed pulp fiction on the side.
• Peter LaBarbera (of course).
• Stephen Black, an anti-gay proponent of discredited conversion therapy.

Al Baker caught my eye. I cannot discern what Baker does for a living but he has written four Christian books. I am sure that they are page-turners.

Baker claims to have a DDiv from Whitefield Theological Seminary (Lakeland, FL). WTS is little more than a website but it charged Baker about $8,000 for that online doctorate. WTS is not accredited and is not federally tax-exempt (it is incorporated as a Florida nonprofit).

In addition to being obsessed with LGBT people, so many of these anti-LGBT pastors have meaningless degrees. They do not pursue the worthless wallpaper to learn anything. Rather, they do so to have the credential to seemingly enhance their credibility. They know that their constituency will not investigate the degree granting school.

Whitefield claims that they choose not to be accredited in order not to be beholden to the government. That is as credible as their degrees. Accreditation is non-governmental. Accreditation does not require the school to participate in Title IV financial aid programs.

Another choice that Whitefield has deliberately made is not to be a federal 501(c)3 nonprofit which means that they do not rely on contributions (contributions to a 501(c)3 are tax deductible). The reason that they have not become a 501(c)3 is probably to avoid the required financial disclosure.

Whitelfield seems to be a Florida nonprofit-for-profit. I suspect that disclosure of the compensation of its president, Kenneth Gary Talbot, would be an embarrassment. The state of Florida has no filing requirements for nonprofit organizations. Alyssa E. Talbot (wife, daughter?) is also on the payroll as is (with odd spelling) Plyllis E. Talbot.

Related content: