I can't say that I take pleasure in seeing a prominent religious public figure crash and burn under the weight of their own hypocrisy.
Wait a minute... yes I can!
Poor Sarah Palin. Everything seemed to be going so well for her. She was living a truly Christian life - getting pregnant out of wedlock and (likely) rushing into marriage to try to cover it up, promoting abstinence while living with proof that it doesn't work (and teaching her kids to do the same), inspiring fear and hatred in the 'Other' who was running for president, attacking liberal comedians as pedophiles who shouldn't be trusted around children because she couldn't figure out a joke, firing public safety commissioners out of personal vendettas, and sparking rumors of federal indictments for embezzlement.
You know... the sort of pious moral superiority that can only come with a proper religious background. Oh, well; at least she'll soon be mostly out of the limelight and won't have to face that darn liberal media for a while.
This isn't anything new. Religious leaders and religious politicians who tout their values as a sign of just how gosh-darn genuinely religious they are have a bad habit of violating their values in a very, very public way. Larry Craig, anti-homosexuality polemicist; Ted Haggard, megachurch preacher and moral role model; John Ensign, who said Bill Clinton had "no integrity left" after the whole Lewinsky deal; Mark Sanford, who loves to hike the Appalachian trail; Mark Foley, outspoken opponent of child pornography and the exploitation of children and part-time pen pal of underage Congressional pages; Jimmy Swaggart, who made a habit of exposing the indiscretions of his fellow evangelical leaders; and many other religious and political leaders.
Must be very convenient that you can go out and sin all throughout the week, then come back to church on Sunday and get saved all over again!
Saturday, July 4, 2009
Logging you in...
Comments by IntenseDebate
Leon Potgieter · 819 weeks ago
MikeTheInfidel 52p · 818 weeks ago
You cannot say "I myself am not a big fan of religion" simply because you've decided to call your religion a 'relationship'. If it weren't a religion - if it were just a relationship - it wouldn't have dogmas, holy texts, or traditions. It would be you and Jesus and that's it.
If faith were something respectable, I would have respect for it. But it's not. Faith is willful dismissal of reason. You might find that offensive, but I find the concept of faith insulting to my intellect.
Leon Potgieter · 818 weeks ago
Why am I not a big fan of religion? More horror, tragedy and simplistic stupidity have been done in the name of religion and religious folks, than just about any Christian would care to admit. Religion in all forms has indoctrinated and kept millions of people in bondage through the ages. I say these things, for no other reason, than simply because I believe them.
I grew up in a religious environment and disliked the Christian religion because; to me personally, it was incredibly boring. There also came a day when I met the person of Jesus Christ and underwent a radical transformation in my almost every area of my life. Now I know you’ve probably heard many cute religious stories and have a dislike in them so I won’t bore you with the details. Today I do not practise any religion, but I do have a relationship with God as my Father. I talk to Him and He talks back, I listen to Him and He listens to me. My relationship with Him is absolutely delightful. Yet those who reject the Biblical teaching that God desires relations with humanity classify this sort of behaviour as delusional. A person who claims to ‘talk to God’ invents supernatural realities and connects himself to it out of deep rooted psychological problems from his childhood or to compensate for repeated rejection from his peers. What a convenient excuse! I have found that most people who handily brush aside the Christian spiritual reality as unreal have not spent ten minutes trying to communicate with God.
Academics are forever trying to disprove the fact that Jesus was resurrected or that he even existed, conveniently ignoring the millions upon millions of stories of lives that have been irrevocably changed, emotional problems that have ‘miraculously’ been solved and bodies that have been physically healed. Are all of these people with their stories of change delusional? Are they all victims of some vast elaborate scheme of lies? You have high regard for intellect – what about some of the brightest minds throughout history and in our time who had/have a relationship with God and attested to the fact that they spoke to God and He spoke back – are they too ‘indoctrinated crazies’? (By the way: Many well respected scientists are theists not because of any private experience, but based solely on their personal logical conclusions.)
Of course there are fakes and of course there is a lot of hypocrisy and irrationality in some Christian circles. Just because some preacher starts teaching that all blacks will go to hell or that ‘God hates fags’ or that God caused 9/11 to punish America, please don’t make this the stereotype. I honestly do not find any of your statements offensive, but If you would classify me as one with these people, that would offend me. Most people that have a relationship with God are NOT bible-bashing fundamentalist extremists lashing themselves with rods all day long, just short of mass suicide.
Dogmas, holy texts, and traditions? Much of it I don’t adhere to because it’s false and man-made. The ones that I believe truly reflect God’s character and will are secondary to my relationship with Him. If you want to classify my relationship with Christ as a religion because I read a book or adhere to a certain morality that’s your prerogative.
I personally do not find people who refuse to acknowledge that God wants relationship with us horrible or disgusting. I just find it strange. But of course I’m bias since just about all of the good in my life has been born out of my relationship with Christ.
I think I know enough of where you stand on the issue of faith in the Divine and yet, I want to challenge you. Please give me one thing I can pray for that you need, wish for, or just need help with. I realise this might be too personal and if you think I’m trying to trick you into something or am hoaxing you, then by all means, just ignore the request. But if God doesn’t exist, if there is no reality beyond our pitiful lives on earth, what have you got to lose, right ;-)
Leon
MikeTheInfidel 52p · 818 weeks ago
I have found that most people who handily brush aside the Christian spiritual reality as unreal have not spent ten minutes trying to communicate with God.I've spent HOURS trying to communicate with God. I don't think you know many non-Christians.
And a 'relationship with Christ' *is* a dogma.
JefFlyingV · 817 weeks ago
Leon Potgieter · 817 weeks ago
I will pray that Christ will reveal Himself to you in whatever way He sees fit. Maybe He will do something observable and amazing and maybe He won’t. I’ve learned that God is not some slot-machine in the sky waiting to do our every bidding, as some religious preachers would like to believe. He doesn’t take orders from us, we take it from Him. And yet, I’ve also come to know Him as a loving Father who wants the best for His children and desires opportunities to prove it. Perhaps you can and should pray also, something as honest as ‘If you really want relationship with me then prove it, reveal yourself to me.’ See what happens…
God will never be found in dogmas, chapels, religious traditions and self-righteous church attitudes. I honestly believe God doesn’t care about any of that stuff as much as He intensely desires companionship with individuals. Religion will always remain man’s futile attempt at searching for God, relationship is finding Him!
Leon
PS: If you’ve spent hours trying to communicate with God, you’re an exception in my eyes. I admit I don’t know a lot of non-Christians, but the one’s I do know has not done that!