Sin & Hypocrisy

I have not posted for a while but today's news has dragged me back to the keyboard.  And now that my hysterical laughter has subsided slightly I find myself able to type again.  The news is that a top-level Evangelical pastor, Ted Haggard, has been accused of having sex with a male prostitute as well as buying methamphetamine from him.  Earlier today he admitted to buying the meth, but denied the sex and stated that he had thrown the meth away without using it.  Supposedly he was with the male prostitute in the first place to have a massage.  WHAT A LOAD OF SHIT!  The unending hypocrisy of these people makes my spleen want to implode.  He threw away the meth just like my manhood plays Jingle Bells.  And what if he did?  Buying it with the intention of using it is no different to actually using it, for a man in his position, with his supposed beliefs.  Though I can't prove it, I am pretty damn certain he also shtupped the guy.  This asshole is the president of the National Association of Evangelicals -- a group representing more than 45,000 churches and 30 million people - and he does not go to male prostitutes for a massage.  He goes to them for blow jobs.  Obviously I have no evidence for that, but it's my blog so piss off if you don't like my conclusions!  Now, don't get me wrong.  I have no problem with any guy shtupping another guy.  Have at it, with male prostitutes or pool boys or whatever tickles your fancy.  What I have a problem with is walking out of your sordid love nest and campaigning and voting against gay rights or same sex marriages or preaching to your cult following about the furnaces of Hell that await dirty homosexuals.  I have a problem with hypocrisy.  I have a major problem with the power that these people hold in this country, care of one of their psychotic number being in residence in Pennsylvania Avenue.  I have a problem with how insanely religious this country is becoming.  The Pilgrims came here in the first place for religious freedom, but nowadays woe betide you if your religion happens to be "none of the above".  Good luck to any political candidate for any major office who comes out as an Atheist or Agnostic.  In 2001 the percentage of adults in the US identifying themselves as of one religion or another was 85%.  Which makes it self-evident that the majority of the thousands of adulterers and fornicators and rapists and murderers and directors of Enron out there are all religious and are thus also hypocritical scumbags.  "Sin" all you like, but don't then be a deceitful prick and bitch about Clinton, or your new neighbor down the street who got caught cheating on his wife, or the old one who enjoys a few too may drinks.  Don't go around back-slapping each other with your fellow tight-ass religious friends who have mostly all dipped into the trough of sin, or dived headfirst into it.  We're human.  It's what we do.  But you get a lot more respect from me if you just do it and keep your mouth shut before more hypocritical bile oozes from your lips about others.  Most of all though, don't stand up on an altar and damn all those other sinners to Hell while your crack pipe is still warm in your pocket or the musky aroma of your boyfriend is still all over your sweaty body.  He who is without sin, cast the first stone.  He who is not, kindly shut the fuck up.

Comments

[Bruce Alexander]

Tell us how you really feel.
Looking forward to tomorrow but I can't shake the feeling that the Repubs have something up their sleeves. Did you see HBO's "Hacking Democracy"?

[Al]

Have it Tivo'ed but haven't watched it yet. It might just add to the vitriol.

[TK]

I’m going to hijack your comments box for second, but it should serve as a lead in to your piece. The end result is that these people are illogical and hypocritical. See what you think…

Here’s the title of Referred Law 6, that was just defeated, narrowly, in South Dakota: “An act to establish certain legislative findings, to reinstate the prohibition against certain acts causing the termination of an unborn human life, to prescribe a penalty therefore, and to provide for the implementation of such provisions under certain circumstances.”

I am a firm believer that one of the great strengths of this country, from the outset, was the freedom of belief. You have the right to believe what you choose. Pentecostal or Lutheran, Catholic or Agnostic, you should be free from persecution for those beliefs.

With the objection, and the proposed legislative responses, to concepts such as abortion and single sex marriage, and the religious motivation for political action, there was something that did not sit right with me, but I couldn’t put a finger on the specifics. It wasn’t until I heard a radio ad here in South Dakota that I was able to identify the point.

The ad said (something to the effect of,) “Don’t let judicial activists impose single sex marriage on us.”
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As I understand it, on Judgment Day, when we are to be called before God and judged for the eternal consequence, this judgment will be based on whether we have lived righteous lives. God will judge us.

I have no problem with the religious beliefs held by people that abortion and single sex marriage are wrong for reasons that are dictated by an interpretation of Christian faith.

My issue is not with the religiously inspired belief- it is with the attempt to legislate the imposition of that belief upon others.
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One side of the argument- that of those who would make legal allowance for single sex marriage and abortion, is making provisions for those who choose to act in that manner. There is nothing that says you will be forced to act in that manner, only that, should you choose to, there are certain legal stipulations that apply to your situation.

The other side of the argument, that which would ban abortion and single sex marriage, prohibits your ability to act in a certain way. Not only that, but it would deem your behavior as wrong (not righteous,) and stipulate and provide punishment.

Where I have difficulty following the latter argument is in the suggestion that this behavior that you find abominable is being imposed on you. It is not. You are not being told to involve yourself in a single sex marriage, nor are you being told to undergo an abortion. The opposing camp is only saying that the opportunity exists for those you want to.

In addition to this, if it is God who will pass eternal judgment on us, then with what authority to you presume to legislate and punish those who engage in this behavior? If it is true that these courses of action are unrighteous, then God will decide the eternal consequence. It is not your place as man to judge and punish the behavior of others when these actions do not affect you.

As far as concern for children goes, if you raise your children in a righteous manner to behave accordingly, the fact that abortion and single sex marriage are available as option will not matter. Properly raised, your children will not act in such as way as to involve themselves with either.

And as for voting Republican because they share your anti-abortion, Christian values, was it not these same Republicans, in full control of Congress, on whose watch the Abortion Pill was legalized?

[Big Row]

Two add-on comments:

1. Here in Texas, conservatives have explained to me that permitting gay marriage somehow perverts the institution. I disagree, but even if I did not, then I have pointed out to them that gays should have civil unions then, as a matter of civil rights. Civil unions are not religious, and this seems to be a great compromise to me. However, Republican voters in states that have voted against gay marriage have often also banned civil unions that approximate marriage - pure spite.

2. Southern Baptists insist to me that entrance to Heaven is not based on God judging your deeds and letting you in if you did more good than bad. It is about beliving that Jesus died to save us all. Under that belief, you can do whatever you want in life, and still get into Heaven if you believe in Jesus' sacrifice.