Holy Bullshit!

I finished a post last night. I even published it to the blog. It was up for probably five minutes before I decided to take it down. That is the first post I've put up that I subsequently erased since beginning this blog. Here's why:

1) It felt repetitive. It was partially about religion and the abuse of power using modern media, specifically over children. While the specific subject is not something I've talked about before, it felt like another post where I shine a spotlight on religious flaws. I don't want this blog to be about awful people, but they really need to keep a lower profile! That would help me out...

2) It concerned children. I have a hard time maintaining even the illusion of self-control when it comes to misdirection and (what I consider) mental abuse of children. If you want to see me furious in anger, do something hurtful to a child who doesn't know any better. The post was written after contemplating three separate opinions on how to co-opt children to advance particular religious or societal causes. It made me angry.

3) It wasn't well structured. I like to maintain a balance in my entries. Balance light with serious, balance pro- with anti-, balance stupidity with wisdom. The phantom post contained little of this balance; instead, it was the sort of entry I don't particularly like to read. It was filled with one-sided pronouncements and preaching. Not only is this monotonous, it also damages an author's credibility.

I wasn't planning on mentioning it at all. I was just going to keep it in my drafts folder along with other entries that aren't quite ready yet, like "The Relationship Paradox: Being Alone Together," "Who can find a virtuous woman? For her price is far above rubies," and "I am all three sides of the triangle." But then someone who figured into the entry, the Reverend Ted Haggard, made an appearance in the news today. Man, I told you not to make it easy for me!

STORY

Ted Haggard is the pastor in a large mega-church in Colorado. I believe they boast 14,000 members. He also recently appeared in the documentary "Jesus Camp," which is the connection to my removed entry. The documentary is about the indoctrination of children into the evangelical church for the purpose of fighting the holy war and reclaiming America from secularism. He was the only participant in the documentary to disown his portrayal. If you want to know what makes me furious, search the Internet for the trailer. He was also interviewed by renowned atheist Richard Dawkins regarding the instruction of "Intelligent Design" in schools. He also has a conference each week with President Bush or one of his advisors.

Anyway, the news released today is that a man is anouncing he has had sex with "Pastor Ted" approximately once a month for three years, for money. I have no idea if this is true or not. My inclination is that it's probably a spurious claim. If it turns out to be true, I'm not even sure I could wrap my brain around the depth and breadth of the hypocrisy for the head of the National Association of Evangelical ministries paying for gay sex. I know I wouldn't be able to laud it over him, because I'd be too sad for him and his existence.

The reason why I bring this up isn't really related to Pastor Ted at all. I found a humorous statement (to me) in the news article. He has stepped down as head minister and the church will form a four member committee to investigate the claims. The church spokeswoman said, "This is really routine when any sort of situation like this arises, so we're prepared."

So, do they have a lot of people in authority being accused of secretly being gay? So much so that there is a "routine" they go through? I'm assuming they don't convene a hearing when just any old parishioner might be gay. I suppose they must first decide if the claim has merit. If it does, then according to their beliefs, the suspect must have chosen to become gay.

I guess that would be the end of membership in the church, unless the person decides to "un-gay" himself.