Why do so many evangelical pastors turn out to be utter hypocrites? And why do people still follow them even after they are exposed?
Human sexuality is not usually an optional thing. Our brains are programmed to desire sex, the same way we are programmed to desire food - and water, and oxygen. Those who didn't desire these things, died out or their genetic heritage died out, as they failed to reproduce. So, if you decide you want to eat less food, you are declaring war on your brain. If you decide you are never going to have sex - as some celibates claim - you are declaring nuclear war on your brain.
But the brain always wins.
The list of evangelical pastors who have fallen from grace is endless. The loudest voices seem to fall the furthest - Jimmy Swaggert, and Jim Bakker come to mind - once at the helm of billion-dollar televangelist empires, they were caught with their pants down, literally. UPDATE: Since I started writing this draft, many years ago, more evangelicals have fallen from grace - it is like snow falling from heaven! Jerry Falwell, Jr. is the latest example of this hypocrisy. And yet, evangelicals are louder and more obnoxious than ever!
The latest victim, so to speak, of their own malfeasance, is a fellow who wrote a book - several books - about relationships, and preached intolerance from the pulpit. Of course, he finally snapped and left the church, his marriage and ended up leading a gay pride parade in Washington State. He claims to have renounced Christianity, which is just stupid, as it implies that gays can't be Christian (and oddly enough, intolerant people who call themselves Christian applaud his renunciation, as they claim you can be one or the other, but not both. Of course, they are neither - well, one maybe, but not Christian).
What is up with that? As I noted before, (closeted) gays make the best Nazis. Those snazzy uniforms! The peaked caps! All that leather. Ernst Rolm was the original Nazi, and was a queer as fuck. Of course, Hitler shot him. These sorts of movements make use of the closeted gays and their nervous energy, and then dispose of them later on. Just a warning to any of you want to join a revolution.
But why does this keep happening and why don't people learn from it? When I moved to Washington, DC, my office was around the corner from "The Chesapeake House" - a dingy male strip club, long-ago closed, where skinny meth-addicted boys from West Virginia danced on the bar in g-strings. Years before, a staunch Republican Congressman used to park his Grand Marquis out front, with its "Member of Congress" licence plates (so he wouldn't get towed!) while he paid rent boys inside for lap dances and later, took them home.
Of course, he resigned in disgrace, and some on the far-right blame Jimmy Carter for "outing" him in retaliation for his opposition to much of Carter's legislative agenda (like deregulation, which Reagan took credit for).
And who can forget the "Wide Stance" Republican Congressman from Minnesota - soliciting sex in an airport restroom? And let's not forget about "Lady G" - the "confirmed bachelor" who "never had time for a wife" - Lindsey Graham.
The list goes on and on. And every day, a new name is added to the list. Conservative Christians, who have very short attention spans, will say, "Well those are aberrations!" and forget about the hundreds, if not thousands of "aberrations" that came before. It is safe to say, I think, that any conservative politicians or religious leader who rails against homosexuality is likely a closet case themselves, and will be outed in short order. It is a tale as old as time - they really think that by being virulently anti-gay, that no one will suspect them.
Maybe someday, mankind will move beyond the slap-and-tickle thinking about sex, and move beyond the junior high-school giggling mentality as well. Maybe they will be able to accept themselves for who they are, and divorce "conservative" thinking from issues of sexuality.
Maybe, but I doubt it. Because as I have noted before, denying people their own basic instincts is the easiest way to control people. It is no accident that every major religion tells people to "go forth and multiply" but at the same time, tell them they are worthless pieces of shit for actually enjoying sex. Once you get people to believe that, you can get them to literally sacrifice their own lives, to your advantage.
Which is why I say, the only religion I would join would be the one where I was the Pope or Head Thetan or whatever. Why be a plebe when you can run the show?
That's how this works.
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