Same job, different uniform.

Wednesday, August 02, 2006

It is the modern problem, Lewis wrote, that the preacher "has to preach the diagnosis--in itself very bad news--before it can win the hearing for the cure."

There is a level of absurdity in the blogosphere in response to Mel Gibson's drunken tirade that borders on hysteria. And it has nothing to do with politics.

Ann Althouse is one example.

"What artist has ever crashed like this? Not Michael Jackson. Not Woody Allen. Not O.J. Simpson. You've shown an evil heart and it changes the meaning of all of your artistic work. How horrible!"

This is foolishness, but it has nothing to do with Mr. Gibson.

Does Ms. Althouse labor under the impression that because she doesn't suffer from the particular vice of bigotry, she is untainted? And what is to be said for the three unrepentant men she includes in that sentence?

She continues in the comments. But I think we know that he actually is a bigot. That's a terrible thing. It's a worse act to murder two people, of course. But a man can lose control and murder, and though I want that man to pay the price, I will forgive him. What Mel Gibson has revealed, however, is the very structure of his mind.

And you have revealed yours.

Bigotry, recently elevated to an unforgivable sin it seems, will not separate you from God, but unbelief will. And at the core of unbelief is a false sense of assurance that your heart is not as black as your neighbor's.

Ms. Althouse is disconcerted because she wanted to believe better of Mr. Gibson; she expected more. I empathize with this. Few of us will express regret at the actions of Paris Hilton or Kate Moss because they don't stand for anything.

Hypocrisy is part of the human condition. The disease is infectious; I suffer from it. But it has a Cure.


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2 Comments:

Blogger Lois E. Lane said...




Well said, girlfriday. Ann's comments are almost laughable. Whlie I myself am dismayed at Gibson's behavior, I know two things for sure. 1) It's not worse than molestation, incest and murder. 2) Many a dumb things flow from the mouth when drunk. I'm not excusing him here, really. And the worst part to me is the drunk driving, one of the things I find most offensive and avoidable in our society. But I am saying that countless artists have been toppled from their pedestal perches without it voiding their artistic contributions.

Wednesday, August 02, 2006

 
Blogger Ibid said...




One thing I've been realizing lately is that we (the church, in the modern era) has this weird romantic notion that everyone and everything should be perfect... Shaeffer called it utopianism. But we aren't perfect. We shouldn't be shocked by imperfection. We should strive for it, yes. But we should never expect the paradox to resolve itself.

Wednesday, August 02, 2006

 

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