Reality Skewed

Professor J,

You'll recall that a couple of weeks ago I posted about an uncomfortable church service I attended. This week the blogosphere exploded with a related story that everyone has probably heard about unless on a strict digital detox of some sort. Even if one doesn't watch much television it would have been pretty difficult to keep from hearing about the Duggars, their 19 children, and their show on TLC. 

I bring it up here because it conveniently brings together for us several topics we've discussed recently and can serve as a microcosm for things we see in society. For readers who may be completely unfamiliar with them the Duggars are fundamentalist, home schooling, adherents to the Quiverfull Movement. They are friends of, and campaign for Mike Huckabee and regularly take stands against the LGBT community. So last week when it was revealed that the oldest son, Josh, had sexually molested 5 girls (including his own sisters) the backlash was swift and loud.

As happens so often in modern American culture we see the "party" lines split just as we'd expect. There's the side that thinks since JD is sorry and his parents provided "counseling" that all should be forgiven and everyone is just being mean or that the Duggars are being persecuted for their beliefs. On the other side we have the people who want the show cancelled and possibly all the minors placed in protective custody while DHS does a full investigation. Did I mention that he was 14 when the events took place and that there's been no apparent misconduct since then? Certainly nothing that would indicate that the behavior is ongoing. The religious right just cannot understand the level of vitriol being hurled in the direction of this sweet family from Arkansas.

That's the problem. 

Nothing is more infuriating than hypocrisy. The right doesn't seem to get that. To the outside world this just looks like another case of the hyper-religious conservatives saying one thing and then doing something else. Getting caught. Asking forgiveness. Politicians. Mega-church leaders. Conservative celebrities. It's a long list and while Christianity is based on forgiveness, which we are reminded of when these scenarios happen, the world outside the church doors wants to know where that same forgiveness is for others. Many bloggers and tweeters this week asked the excellent question--what if he'd molested his brothers? Would the parents have been so hasty to cover it up and then stand by him? Would the little brother (s) have been told to get over it and trotted out to smile for the cameras at their father's campaign events (he has been a state rep) and the family's reality TV show?

This entire scenario reminds me of the Republican debate in the last election primary. Rick Santorum (another Duggar favorite) explained in one of his responses that the reasons Muslim extremists hate America is because of our freedom, democracy, blah, blah, blah. Ron Paul in his turn made the point that explaining things that way is simplistic and dishonest. They hate us because of our foreign policy. They hate us because of the way our government interacts with them. The religious right has the same problem but they don't see it. Are they hated because of their beliefs or how they relate to others? If everyone on the outside just hates Christianity in general and Bible believing Christians in particular then how do we explain the respect of a figure like Mother Theresa among the religious and secular alike?

Because unlike what we hear from the RR average people actually do know what Jesus taught and recognize it when they see it. How sad for all of us that it is seen so rarely. What is offered up instead is a sad forgery and misrepresentation, then dismay and anger when we are called on it.