Most observers of Baptist life know by now that a judge ruled in favor of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and its president Paige Patterson in a case filed by Sheri Klouda. (If not, the story is on page 13.)

The former Hebrew professor claimed gender discrimination and breach of contract when Patterson denied her tenure.

The judge said the religious liberty guarantees in the First Amendment allow for churches and church-owned institutions to make religiously motivated decisions about employment.

I think the judge was right. Religious freedom gives churches and individuals the right to be wrong.

Only a hard-core fundamentalist like Patterson and his dwindling flock of followers would see the dismissal and mistreatment of Dr. Klouda as a good thing. By all accounts, she was a superb Hebrew language professor with conservative credentials (a graduate of Criswell College and Southwestern Seminary) and a cooperative spirit.

Never mind that she is not ordained, is not a pastor and has affirmed the theologically narrow 2000 Baptist Faith and Message statement. Forget that Klouda was hired in 2002, the year before Patterson became president, and did nothing other than serve as a competent and well-liked professor until denied tenure in 2004.

Was Patterson wrong? Many of us think so. But the judge has ruled that — in religious settings — individuals and institutions have the right to be wrong.

While I regret that Dr. Klouda and her family have suffered through this harsh treatment, my sympathy for those caught in the snares of fundamentalism is running low. Since taking control of the Southern Baptist Convention more than two and a half decades ago, male-dominated fundamentalist leadership has consistently adopted theological positions and enforced institutional policies that relegate women to secondary status.

Klouda’s dismissal is just another stomp along this well-worn path. It is consistent with the kind of religious fundamentalism exhibited by Patterson his whole life — and repeatedly affirmed by the majority vote of Southern Baptists since 1979.

As one friend said to me: “Southern Baptists got what they asked for — and probably what they deserved.”

And as another friend often reminds me: “If you pick up a snake, don't complain when it bites you.”

The judge has made it clear: Religious leaders have the right and freedom to discriminate against women and to mistreat employees based on gender or other reasons shaped by their theology.

So let me also make this clear: Fundamentalists do that consistently.

“If you pick up that snake …?”