The American Spectator

Beverly Gunn br> East Texas Rancher /p>

A true Christian sees a case such as Pastor Haggard’s as overwhelming affirmation that we are all human beings and inclined to sin as the sparks fly upward (to coin a phrase). There is not one perfect man or woman among us, no, not one. And those who dance and sing on the graves of others will find others dancing and singing on their own graves sooner than they would care to think.

One of my sisters married a man who had been brought up by an atheist mother (the first actual atheist we had ever met), to the point where he didn’t know the Christmas Story was in the Bible. Later he converted, but it didn’t stick, sad to say, at least not so you’d notice. But his mother admitted before she died that her opposition to his marrying a Christian woman was solely that Christianity would teach him that his mother was living an irregular life; that there is such a thing as right and wrong, and she was doing wrong. This, I think, is not unlike the kids that go off to university and promptly do everything their parents taught them not to do — and try to entice others to do the same. You can’t convince me that those who are jeering at Pastor Haggard don’t know in their heart of hearts of many sins of their own that, were they exposed to the pitiless view of humanity by a vindictive being such as Mike Jones (whose idea of dealing with his own sin is apparently to drag others down with him, rather than raise himself up), would cause others equal Schadenfreude. So they mock and jeer at him in hopes that the finger they point doesn’t expose the four fingers pointing back at themselves.

I hope that Mamas and Daddies all over the evangelical world are using Pastor Haggard as an example to their children this morning, not only of the fact that all have sinned and fallen short, but also of the fact that “your sins will find you out” regardless of how you try to hide them. It’s far better to confess at an early stage and seek help, than try to hide your sin and leave yourself and your family at the mercy of some vindictive failure whose sole pleasure comes in destroying you.

p>I am praying for Pastor Haggard and his family. I am also praying for the sneering, jeering media and those who believe that the way to deal with sinners is not to lift them up, but drag them down. That, I think, is a harder path from which to seek repentance and change, but with God all things are possible. br> — Kate Shaw br> Toronto, Ontario /p> p> As a card-carrying atheist, I would like to comment on Mr. Beckwith’s analysis of secularist indignation with hypocrites. I think the problem boils down to this: hypocrites like Ted Haggard are liars, and nobody likes a liar. You don’t need an official moral system notarized by God to feel that way. Most of us are moral animals whether we like it or not, and hypocrisy like Ted Haggard’s is merely a sign to free ourselves from subjugation to other people’s fairy tales. Life would be simple if there really were a God who set and enforced the rules, but when I grew up I found out that some of us can do fine without that fantasy. br> — Abe Grossman br> Pleasantville, New York