"Joy and pleasure are as real as pain and sorrow and one must learn what they have to teach. . . ." -- Sean Russell, from Gatherer of Clouds

"If you're not having fun, you're not doing it right." -- Helyn D. Goldenberg

"I love you and I'm not afraid." -- Evanescence, "My Last Breath"

“If I hear ‘not allowed’ much oftener,” said Sam, “I’m going to get angry.” -- J.R.R. Tolkien, from Lord of the Rings

Saturday, March 10, 2018

Today in "Christian" Hypocrisy

From none other than frootlooop Baptist pastor Robert Jeffress:

Even paying off porn stars with whom he's had an affair is fine. Just fine:

A member of President Trump’s evangelical advisory board defended Trump over the controversy surrounding his alleged relationship with adult-film actress Stormy Daniels, saying the allegations were “totally irrelevant” to evangelicals who support Trump.

Now, most normal people see this as screaming hypocrisy, but to someone as conceptually challenged as Jeffress, it makes perfect sense. They have an out:

The pastor, who oversees the First Baptist Church in Dallas, said evangelicals understand “the concept of sin and forgiveness.”

“We are all sinners, we all need forgiveness, [and] that forgiveness is available through Christ for anyone who asks,” he said. “And whether the president needs that forgiveness for this particular allegation, whether he’s asked for it, is between him, his family and his god.”

You see? You can be an absolute walking, talking piece of shit your whole life, but if you say on your deathbed "Forgive me, Jesus!" it's all good. You get a Get Out of Hell Free card.

(In my own tradition, if you wrong someone, you make it up to the person you've wronged, you don't ask a third party to forgive you. And no, we're not born sinners -- new souls are pure.)

Digby has a section here on how the Department of Health and Human Services is putting "right to life" policies in its guidelines for family planning services -- small tweaks that they hope no one will notice. You should read it to get the full take on how underhanded these assholes are.

Digby sums up the attitude nicely:

And if you think this means that they can never attack their political rivals on personal or sexual indiscretions, think again. They will shake their fists at the depraved infidel proclaiming that his (or her's) sexual dalliance means they have no moral authority to lead the nation. And we will rend our garments about what hypocrites they are and they will look at us through dead eyes and continue on without missing a beat.

There is literally nothing their Dear Leader can do that isn't fine --- except lose.

I'm more and more coming to understand that these kinds of "Christians" are people who really, really want someone to tell them what to do -- keep in mind that they worship a god that they typify as their "lord and master." They admire someone like Trump, who in turn admires people like Putin, Duterte, and Xi -- strongmen who don't even bother with the facade of democratic processes.

Like I said, normal people see this as hypocrisy. To "Christians" like Jeffress, it's part of the catechism.

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