Tell me please. Why does this shit (e.g. Pastor Ted) keep happening?

[El Supremo]

How many of these fundy pastors have been caught being hypocrites? Who was the first one? Billy Sunday?

[valerief]

1. I think all the political fuss about gay marriage and the progressive

response to it has made some people aware that the information they have is very valuable. And maybe they want to get it out before they get disappeared.

[butterfly77]

2. Its happening because they are a bunch of damn hypocrites..

just like their commander and thief, when will we get some tape on his lying ass...

[JuniperLea]

3. It's God's will

He's doing a little housecleaning.


:evilgrin:

[Justpat]

4. It is part of the human condition.

Those who demonize certain traits in others, whether through
religion or government, are often attempting to legislate against
their own dark impulses.

They fall prey to the sins of arrogance and false piety in order
to rid themselves of things they find unacceptable to their
societies.

We have seen the right wing use religion and their proud piety to
treat other members of our society in ways that are unchristian,
mean and just plain despicable.

[leftupnorth]

5. Read John Dean's Conservatives Without Conscience

That book crystalized for me why these guys act like they do (Delay, Foley, Abramoff, etc).

Anyone with power that is largely unchecked is now suspect to me. Authority does strange things to people who lust for it. We will continue to see more of this behavior, especially amongst conservatives, as they finally overstep and hang themselves.

[blitzen]

6. because there are demons and devils--let's call them "Control"

waging a battle with the forces of good.


FYI, "Control" is a reference to that Harper's article on Haggard--it's Haggard's term for the forces of evil that "spy" on him and try to torment him.

[xchrom]

7. social conservatism is the best friend of people

who abuse children, like their gay sex on the down low, believe that women are not full people in their own right.

social conservatism HIDES the very things that offends them -- it doesn't, hasn't and never will get rid of it.

it simply covers up -- they way social conservatives like it -- the perversion, the abuse.

for them sex can never, ever be guilt and shame free.

most of a social conservatives power derives from controlling others naughty bits -- and it's an effective tool.

[SaveOurDemocracy]

8. call me a cynic, but ...

My theory is that they have denied and repressed their sexual natures for fear of eternal damnation and/or social rejection (their belief system, not mine) and, sooner or later, what's been kept dormant explodes to the surface. They throw themselves into religious fervor hoping to win the battle against their own human nature.

[elfin]

9. Because they are

marginally intelligent (if that) and have found a "trade" they can practice which, honed by visits to training camps by Falwell, bob Jones etc., they can turn into real MONEY and real POWER.

So when they feel powerful enough to think they are insulated from scrutiny - they succumb to their REAL identities, thinking they will not be caught.

I suspect (but admit I do not know) that being closeted AND in a visible and powerful diametrically opposed position adds to the ultimate sexual release of the "forbidden" pleasure.

In his case, adding drugs to the mix was a bonus and may have helped him deny what he was doing.

So sad - I wonder if this type of thing will happen much less frequently in the future as gays become more accepted into all parts of society at younger and younger ages so they do not have to "cover" and cause despair in their families and admirers when it inevitably "comes out."

[mitchum]

10. You expect ethical behavior from con men selling pie in the skygod?

[malaise]

11. BIngo!!

Now that's an athiest logic. Touche!!:toast:
That's why I'm enjoying this $hit so much. It's all a con.

[warrens]

12. Rules don't apply to wingnuts

Just to sane people.

[Initech]

13. The wingnuts want to show they're above the law.

[razors edge]

14. Rush puts it well.

(no not that one)

The hypocrites are slandering
The sacred Halls of Truth
Ancient nobles showering
Their bitterness on youth
Can't we find the minds that made us strong?
Can't we learn to feel what's right
And what's wrong?
What's wrong?

Cities full of hatred, fear and lies
Withered hearts and cruel, tormented eyes
Scheming demons dressed in kingly guise
Beating down the multitude and
Scoffing at the wise
Can't we raise our eyes and make a start?
Can't we find the minds to lead us
Closer to the heart?

[seabeyond]

15. i just took a couple "christian"kids to the mall just now. we left this

christian school because the kids behaved so ugly as they preached and prayed about how christian they were. i figured the public school kids could be nO worse than these kids and further, my children found the hypocrisy hard to bear. i was wrong, the public school kids are a ton kinder than these christian kids

i had been away from it for a couple years but keep being drawn back because my niece goes there. i listened to the most ugly talk and gossiping of others i heard from kids. i asked what kind of christian behavior is this. how ugly you people are to each other. that i do not like the idea of hurting other people, but the children seem to have no qualms in this school

there isnt self reflection in these christians. it is all about how they are the special ones and all the rest of us are evil. there doesnt have to beself reflection, or looking at the way the rest of us live in goodness, because it is all decided.

this is my own llittle rant because i just walked in the door, after saying, breathe in breathe out..... to bring me to calm. wink. i probably should create a different thread,... but this will do

disgusted

[applegrove]

16. Cause they are disconnected from their souls and they take of with

power & hubris. And instead of living as a gay man..as they would have if they were being true to themselves..they end up a pastor with power Power POWER

POWER

POWER

POWER

[bluedogyellowdog]

17. I have my own theories about this

This is a psychological theory, but I would guess that people most attracted to authoritarian political and religious movements are compensating for some perceived personal inadequacy. People with serious issues will compensate by joining some movement where they can see themselves as crusading against "evil" - by meddling in everybody else's lives instead of trying to work through and solve their own problems.

Eric hoffer's book The True Believer is a good primer on the subject. ALthough he doesn't really go into some of the more deep-seated issues permeating today's religious right - his book was written, I think, in the 1940s so the content reflects an earlier time when the religious right wasn't the factor that they are now. When his book was written, fascism and communism probably led the list of authoritarian movements.

In today's culture in the U.S., the most prominent such movement is the religious right. It's a magnet for people who have deep-seated issues that leads them to see themselves as sinners, shameful, inadequate, etc., but offers them with an out which promises that they can be "born again", think of themselves as exceptions to the human race, and then crusade against the sinful non-believers and attempt to meddle in everyone else's lives but their own. Example: Somebody who is gay, lesbian, or bisexual, but refuses to accept this fact and thinks those feelings are something to be ashamed of. They go into the ministry and become rabidly homophobic. It's their way of running from their own sexuality - but try as they might to run, they can't hide and they can't suppress their own natural sexual orientation. So publicly they are rabidly anti-gay activists, but privately they seek sexual partners on the down-low...and when they get caught, it's a scandal.

If we had a culture which was open and accepting about sexual orientation, it wouldn't be necessary for so many people to flee into the arms of an authoritarian movement to escape the "shame" of their own natural inclinations.