Cauldron of Controversy
Washington state-based pastor Mark Driscoll was simply a cauldron of controversy this year. He stirred it up with his tweets, his alleged plagiarism, even his clothing. He went to an anti-charismatic movement conference in Long Beach, California with a pro-charismatic message and tweeted "security confiscated my books." The conference organizers countered what had really happened was that they had stopped him from handing out books and taken them to a secure room. One of Driscoll's publishers apologized for multiple "citation errors" in a few of his books and blamed it on a research assistant. Driscoll's clothing inspired our favorite rant of the year. Institute on Religion and Democracy's president Mark Tooley began, "This blog is NOT about the plagiarism charges against Seattle pastor Mark Driscoll..." Tooley praised Driscoll's "effectiveness as teacher and evangelist for orthodox Christianity," with a Calvinist finish. However, Tooley had to ask about a picture that accompanied the plagiarism story, "Why is an intelligent, serious pastor and spiritual leader of a multiple congregational movement appearing in a sanctuary wearing ripped jeans?! Why is his shirt not tucked in?! Where is his tie? Why does a pastor want to look almost like a vagrant?"
