Religion Beat Becomes a Test of Faith

I highly recommend checking out this article,* written by the former religion reporter for the L.A. Times.  It is a well-written, moving account of his spiritual journey, which began as an adult converted in an evangelical church, and has sadly arrived at the current point where he is not sure he believes in God.  The reason?  Here are a couple excerpts:

Regarding the Catholic sex abuse scandal:

"Many of these victims were molested by priests with a history of abusing children.  But the bishops routinely sent these clerics to another parish, and bullied or conned the victims and their families into silence.  The police were almost never called.  In at least a few instances, bishops encouraged molesting priests to flee the country to escape prosecution."

Regarding the Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN):

"Some of the nation's most powerful pastors - including Billy Graham, Robert H. Schuller and Greg Laurie - appear on the Trinity Broadcasting Network, benefiting from TBN's worldwide reach while looking past the network's reliance on the "prosperity gospel" to fuel its growth."

Regarding Packy, an Eskimo who was sexually abused by a Catholic missionary - Packy is now in prison:

'A lot of people make fun of me, asking if the Virgin Mary is going to rescue me,' Packy said.  'Well, I've gotten helped more times from the Virgin Mary through intercession than from anyone else.  I won't stop.  My children need my prayers.'  Tears spilled from his eyes.  Packy's faith, though severely tested, had survived.  I looked at him with envy.  Where he found comfort, I was finding emptiness."

As I read the article I was struck by how damaging the sinful actions of Christian leaders can be.  Please don't misconstrue me - Christian leaders are human, and will make mistakes, and its a mistake to place them on any sort of pedestal.  At the same time, their actions can have very real consequences in people's lives, made stronger by their position as a religious authority figure.  Likewise, as I read his words about TBN, I wondered about the complicity of religious leaders who, while certainly not teaching the prosperity gospel, choose not to speak against it - indeed, appear on the station at various times.

My heart breaks for people like this reporter, whose faith has been so severely damaged by the actions of other Christians that he may never regain it.  I pray that my actions will never affect someone in a similar way.  And it makes me more committed to the idea of "reclaiming Christianity" that I mentioned here.  There are so many poor examples of what it means to be a Christian - sometimes from leaders that should know better, and sometimes from Christians who do the best they can with the knowledge they have.  Regardless, we often are not good followers of Jesus.  I know we can do better.

* The article does require registration with the L.A. Times - its free though, and the article is worth it.