Random Musings

It's always something....

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061105/ap_on_re_us/haggard_sex_allegations
http://www.yahoo.com/s/430449
Church Holds Services After Leader is Ousted

Let me start by saying that I have to be one of the most jaded people in the world when it comes to organized religion. That is not to say that I don't have a personal belief system that sustains me. Having been born female and raised within the Catholic religion, I couldn't wait to turn eighteen and convert to Baptist, which I felt was better suited to me.

When that didn't work out- one Sunday, during services, the preacher loudly denounced two openly gay men from the pulpit, told them they weren't welcome, and sent them packing- I decided to go my own way, forgoing the church thing. I'm not gay, I don't think being gay should be promoted as a life choice. Gay marriage is an issue I don't care to touch. But I do believe that some people are born that way, and as such their inclinations aren't something they can help. I was told that The Almighty said, "Come to me as you are". I think I also read somewhere, "Judge not lest thee, too, shall be judged." Like I said, I'm not all that religious, but some stuff does make sense to me.

I have always taken it that God, or whomever is in charge of all of this, knows my heart, no matter what I might be hiding from the rest of the world. I figure it doesn't take belonging to this exclusive "club" or that one to prove it to the One who matters. In my book, oganized religion and faith have become two totally separate things.

I usually stay away from addressing topics that deal with either religion or politics as I consider them to be highly subjective areas and not worth debating. It is unlikely that any discourse to the contrary of what one already holds true is going to change the minds of either party, so it's usually not worth risking revealing my own positions or insulting the beliefs of another.

This time, however, the cup runneth over. I've had enough. I can remain silent no longer. A married-with-children Evangelical leader, founder of what's come to be termed a "mega-church", who fervently preaches against gay marriage and the gay lifestyle, was at the same time, allegedly engaging in gay activities- and meth- on the down low. Then when he's caught at it, he wants to say, "I had it, got close to it, but I never inhaled." Tell that to someone who might believe it. I'm not the one.

Due to the power of advanced tecnology, it is now possible to delve into areas of people's lives that were once inaccessible to the general public. It seems every day, this icon or that one, has had his or her personal life sliced into and splayed open for the rest of the world to see. The still-warm entrails quiver and pulsate grotesquely before us as the host desperately struggles to hold onto the dear life they had before the gutting. It's sad to see anyone put out there like that, but the supreme hypocrisy that is revealed is even sadder.

Do what you want to do in life. Live how you want to live, but be honest about it. That's what I think is expected of us. Don't do harm to others, respect people for what they are and who they are. Accept, enjoy, or at least tolerate the differences in people. But don't get up there and publicly denigrate other people's choices and/or lifestyles, holding one religion, lifestyle, or whatever as the ultimate, while at the same time you're doing the very things you say you despise. It happens all the time, and that's what's despicable.

I'm glad that services proceeded today for the dismissed Evangelical leader's congregation. Faith is about forgiving, moving the bad or harmful stuff out of the way, and moving on with what and in the manner that you believe to be right for you.

http://articles.news.aol.com/news/_a/ousted-evangelist-confesses-to/200611021823...

Now he's come back and confessed that he DID do the things he swore up and down that he didn't do.

He was a religious leader, a builder of a huge congregation, had thousands of followers believing in what he preached- but underneath all of that was a human being. It's important to keep that in mind.