huffingtonpost.com— "The gay prostitute at the center of the scandal over Evangelican leader Rev. Ted Haggard appears here in an ad promoting his services."
Nov 8, 2006View in Crawl 4
"Thats the thing about Karma--hoping someone gets their Karmic payback and enjoying it when it happens is also bad Karma."I don't believe in Karma but perhaps there is some cosmic sort of justice. Pastor Ted certainly deserved everything he got and I do enjoy seeing justice served.
I am not a Christian but I'm really struggling hard to understand Christianity. How does it work if you can be forgiven for every bad thing that you do? It seems that there is no accountability that way. If I murder a few people and ask for forgiveness, everything will be forgiven and I'll go to heaven? That just doesn't seem right.
@fickle: "The Bible teaches that all men are sinners [...].[...] in God's eyes you're either a sinner or your not."But, since God stacked the deck with all men being sinners, nobody ends up in the "or not" column..."God is perfect and nothing that is imperfect can come into his presence. Since we are all sinners, the only way to be perfect is through his forgiveness."Right. So, God made me imperfect and tossed me into the garbage and the only way I can come back to live with Him is if I overcome my designed-in disability, tell him he's right; I'm worthless, grovel and beg Him to take me back?Insecure much?This sounds an awful lot like women who keep coming back to abusive husbands.
So it all depends on "sincerity of repentance" ?Seems to me that Haggard only starting "repenting" when he got caught out. He'd been getting along just fine with his ranting hypocrisy for 30 years, and his "despicable sins" for at least 3 years. It is highly likely that he'd still be carrying on if he hadn't been found out.The evidence suggests that his main regret is getting caught. Sincerity ? - about as sincere as his preachings I reckon.
Well, you're welcome to him.Any God that can find the time and motivation to forgive an undeserving scum like Haggard, yet does nothing effective for millions of infinitely more deserving and desperate people around the world is an idiot worthy of scorn, not praise.Or, more likely, he simply doesn't exist.
Nothing personal fickle - you seem like a decent person, albeit with strange beliefs.But I feel no obligation to respect any religion, as far as I can tell it's complete nonsense.That in itself wouldn't matter much, but it's dangerous nonsense that poisons minds with stupid ideas and leads a lot of people to do all sorts of crazy stuff that affects us all.
jqp123Nov 9, 2006
"Thats the thing about Karma--hoping someone gets their Karmic payback and enjoying it when it happens is also bad Karma."I don't believe in Karma but perhaps there is some cosmic sort of justice. Pastor Ted certainly deserved everything he got and I do enjoy seeing justice served.
intense321Nov 9, 2006
I am not a Christian but I'm really struggling hard to understand Christianity. How does it work if you can be forgiven for every bad thing that you do? It seems that there is no accountability that way. If I murder a few people and ask for forgiveness, everything will be forgiven and I'll go to heaven? That just doesn't seem right.
Closed AccountNov 9, 2006
@fickle: "The Bible teaches that all men are sinners [...].[...] in God's eyes you're either a sinner or your not."But, since God stacked the deck with all men being sinners, nobody ends up in the "or not" column..."God is perfect and nothing that is imperfect can come into his presence. Since we are all sinners, the only way to be perfect is through his forgiveness."Right. So, God made me imperfect and tossed me into the garbage and the only way I can come back to live with Him is if I overcome my designed-in disability, tell him he's right; I'm worthless, grovel and beg Him to take me back?Insecure much?This sounds an awful lot like women who keep coming back to abusive husbands.
drinkingnyquilNov 9, 2006
<a class="user" href="http://www.harpers.org/SoldiersOfChrist-20061103288348488.html">http://www.harpers.org/SoldiersOfChrist-20061103288348488.html</a>"Pastor Ted, who talks to President George W. Bush or his advisers every Monday, is a handsome forty-eight-year-old Indianan, most comfortable in denim. He likes to say that his only disagreement with the President is automotive; Bush drives a Ford pickup, whereas Pastor Ted loves his Chevy."
qazxswNov 9, 2006
So it all depends on "sincerity of repentance" ?Seems to me that Haggard only starting "repenting" when he got caught out. He'd been getting along just fine with his ranting hypocrisy for 30 years, and his "despicable sins" for at least 3 years. It is highly likely that he'd still be carrying on if he hadn't been found out.The evidence suggests that his main regret is getting caught. Sincerity ? - about as sincere as his preachings I reckon.
qazxswNov 9, 2006
Well, you're welcome to him.Any God that can find the time and motivation to forgive an undeserving scum like Haggard, yet does nothing effective for millions of infinitely more deserving and desperate people around the world is an idiot worthy of scorn, not praise.Or, more likely, he simply doesn't exist.
qazxswNov 10, 2006
Nothing personal fickle - you seem like a decent person, albeit with strange beliefs.But I feel no obligation to respect any religion, as far as I can tell it's complete nonsense.That in itself wouldn't matter much, but it's dangerous nonsense that poisons minds with stupid ideas and leads a lot of people to do all sorts of crazy stuff that affects us all.