Channeling Jimmy Swaggart
I seem to be casting stones lately at sinners and hypocrites. Not, of course, that I am without sin. Down here on the wild South End, sin is pretty much a way of life. At least until we find beheaded bodies in the woods. There are limits, yes, even here. And lately we’re treated to a parade of sinners in the national arena who apparently have crossed the line, gone too far, taken liberties beyond the public’s tolerance for shenanigans. Judge Roy Moore jumps to mind. Donald and his extramarital flings with Playboy models. Mark Zuckerberg who wanted to be the Savior of the Digital World and now finds himself under the public microscope himself.
And now Frank Page, the Prez of the largest Protestant group in America, the Southern Baptist Convention, has stepped down over what he calls a ‘personal indiscretion’. No doubt we’ll get the sordid details in a matter of mere minutes. He has, he says, “embarrassed my family, my Lord, myself, and the Kingdom.” Give the holy man credit, at least he still can show embarrassment in an era when Judge Moore and Donald Trump can lie with straight faces. Zuckerberg, he of the whaddaya-got-to- hide philosophy, refused at first to be summoned before congressional investigative tribunals. Until the outcry grew to a thunderous din….
A good Baptist, a good Christian, would gladly forgive the sins of those who ask the Lord for that forgiveness. Confess and be returned to the flock, that’s the way. Pull a Jimmy Swaggart, let the tears flow like the River Jordan, get down on your unscuffed knees and plead for redemption. Go into exile a month or two, then come right back with those requests for tithes. Jim and Tammy Baker, Jimmy S., the thousand clowns climbing out of the VW. Me, not so much. I accept the frailty of the common man, even the President of the United States, but maybe when you present yourself as a role model, THE role model, I think you should be held to a slightly higher standard than a crappy apology and now it’s back to bizness. C’mon, boyz! You pissed your bed with or without Russian prostitutes and now it’s time to pay the Piper. You don’t get to lead the flocks, no way, no how. The Lord can forgive you if She wants, the rest of us want you gone.
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Tags: Casting the First Stone, Frank Page, Hypocrites and Liars, Repentance Don't Come Easy, Southern Baptist Convention