First Haggard, now Paul Barnes, until yesterday pastor of the 2100-member Grace Chapel in Denver. Barnes confessed to fundagelical fudge-packin' and resigned his post, after — get this —
an anonymous phone call from a person who heard someone was threatening to go public with the names of Barnes and other evangelical leaders who engaged in homosexual behavior...
Yoiks! So there are more Colorado pastors infected with teh gay! Astounding. In my mind I see them dropping like ninepins in the biggest scandal since the Catholic Church Pedo Party of several years back.
Of course, there's a significant difference here, in that pedophilia is a vile crime, while there's nothing at all wrong with normal adult homosexuality. But the latter is very much the kind of activity that destroys the life of the average fundie, who has been indoctrinated by his religion to hate gays. And if the gay person in question happens to be oneself, then, well, one simply must hate oneself, mustn't one? What a lovely thing religion is. What joy and light in brings into people's lives.
I wonder how much more humiliation the Christian Right in this country can take. Let's hope it's lots and lots!
It's the devil soy products plaguing the pastors. Yep, that's the ticket!
ReplyDeleteI hear he is checking into rehab for a isoflavones detox. No more spiritual restoration, for the preachers, it was the daemon tofu!
In my past years growing up in fundamentalist churches, I would say that, looking back, it was a haven for closeted gay men. And I'm not really sure why.
ReplyDeleteIt could be that once you convince a child to hate himself for who he is, it's easier to exert control. If you can convince someone they're defective and need help--they're more inclined to listen to what others recommend.
Or it could be the mysogynistic attitudes. I remember growing up, wondering: "If X-male thinks men are superior, why would X-male want to couple with a woman? Why wouldn't X-male prefer the company of men--of equals?" I think many of them probably would prefer the company of men--but they're not allowed that company.
Then there's the "forbidden fruit" aspect--this is the Hollywood version--the perverted priest, monk, minister, who is either molesting kids or otherwise engaged in "deviance."
Now, while I don't consider homosexuality as deviance, the fundamentalist club certainly does. But this wouldn't really explain gay behavior, because I still think you'd have to be inclined toward it to begin with; otherwise, you'd end up like Swaggart--hanging out with the forbidden female prostitutes.
I just know that when you tell people that natural inclinations that they feel are shameful and evil--and need to be flatly ignored/denied--you get neurosis. It might have been the one thing Freud had right on the money. Suppression will out in some way somehow--usually not in any good way, however.
I know there were a lot of men in the churches I attended, though, that outside of the church setting would have been labeled "gay" by 90 percent of the population. I even saw a few get married.
For whatever it's worth, that's my past experience.
I love it.
ReplyDelete