“I Was a Wild Man”: How to Decode Evangelical Testimony

[cbayer]

http://religiondispatches.org/i-was-a-wild-man-how-to-decode-evangelical-testimony/

By Eric C. Miller July 16, 2015



Last month, as many conservative Christians mourned the “collapse of marriage” nationally, one notable evangelical marriage quietly collapsed in Florida. Reverend Tullian Tchividjian (pronounced cha-vi-jin), grandson of Billy Graham (and nephew to Franklin), admitted to an extramarital affair.

Though the timing of this incident is of some interest, the story grabs my attention because of the way it has been told.

I’ve been studying the narrative elements of evangelical testimony— the crafting of life stories for a rhetorical and theological purpose—and the Graham heirs are born testifiers.

Tchividjian’s account, offered with his resignation from the famous Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church, is a perfect example.

more at link

[djean111]

1. Wild coincidence - I am just now watching a documentary about Oliver O'Grady,

Deliver Us from Evil. Horrible. Now, I am sure that a pedophile is a pedophile, that a pedophile can be a priest or any other walk of life. But the calm way in which O'Grady recounts what he has done is chilling. And he is living un-monitored in Ireland, protected by the Catholic church. What really struck me was the explanation by a Catholic lawyer or a theologian or someone like that of why the Church protects these people.
He said the church believes that if one is a priest, one has been chosen by their god, and their god must have a reason for the priest to be a pedophile.

How the fuck can anyone make a dent in that?

Tchividjian, IMO, just did what he wanted to do, knowing that he was both indulging himself and adding to his resume.
And his church will take him back. Clockwork.

[cbayer]

2. That is a really great, but terrifying, documentary.

I don't recall that statement about god having a reason for a priest to be a pedophile, but that is nausea inducing.

It's often about power and access. Religious leaders often have both.

I'm not sure they will take Tchividjian back. Some of these guys have been shunned permanently.

[djean111]

3. It was more sort of god had chosen a person to be a priest. If that person is a pedophile,

that person must still be protected because god chose him. Or something like that. The wagon-circling, to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars, and who knows how many damaged lives, is astounding.

[cbayer]

4. Yeah, it's that insular circling of the wagons that was the biggest motivator for

the coverups.

If they wanted to "protect" these guys, they should have aggressively forced them into treatment.
Even though pedophilia is extraordinarily difficult to treat, professionals would have made it more difficult for the predators to return to situations where they had access.

An ugly tragedy all the way around.

[HassleCat]

5. Good article at link

Thanks. This illustrates the fundamental (little pun there) problem with this style of Christianity. You can sin, and sin again, and sine some more, as long as you repent each times, which requires a public confession of shame and regret, along with an expression of true desire for Jesus to cleanse your heart, etc, etc. It worked for Bill Clinton.

[cbayer]

6. Glad you enjoyed it.

Agree that the sin-repent-forgive-sin-repent-forgive cycle allows some of these people to be serial offenders without much consequence.

[HassleCat]

7. On the same theme

There is a 1972 documentary film called "Marjoe." It's about Marjoe Gortner, who was ordained as minister at age 4. It won the 1972 Oscar for best documentary.

[cbayer]

8. What a blast from the past!

Will try to find it online. I saw it when I was a teen.

[pinto]

10. 'Marjoe' - great film! Classic evangelical showman.

Apparently he had a number of twists and turns in his life at the time. Made millions, dad ran off with the money, Marjoe headed for San Francisco, "hippie days and nights", went back to evangelical hucksterism for a while, got into film and TV. It's a fascinating story.

[TygrBright]

9. I'm always amazed by institutionalized Christianity's need to interpret "forgiveness" as "enabling"

It makes no sense.

Forgiveness is a matter of the heart and spirit. Not of institutional access to more occasions of sin.

And these people claim expertise in doctrinal exegesis?

Religion plus institutionalization is a recipe for madness.

sadly,
Bright

[Leontius]

11. Another distortion of forgiveness of sins

Your sins are forgiven, go and sin no more. That is the message of forgiveness from Christ.