Pastor not a John, just afraid of commitment
Jake LeBrun
Issue date: 3/12/07 Section: Opinion
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The Rev. Lonnie Latham, of the South Tulsa Baptist church, was acquitted of solicitation of a male undercover cop for oral sex. The pastor, who has been very vocal in his condemnation of same-sex marriage, trying to get the Southern Baptist convention's 42,000 churches to "convert" homosexuals to a hetero lifestyle, is not a criminal.
No, homosexuality is not illegal in that jurisdiction; so, since they didn't discuss price, there was no crime. Hypocrisy is not a chargeable offence.I never fail to be amused by these cases . . . I love them.
There is so little scandal in the world that is harmful to no one. Iraq's a disaster. Perhaps the only thing worse than staying in Iraq would be leaving. Embezzlement and fraud drain on all who play the game by the rules and suffer for it. Murder, rape, war are tragedies that cannot be undone… but, this? No one was harmed by the incident. Even if the young man was a prostitute instead of a cop-still no one harmed.
The pastor's reputation took a beating, of course, but that is a positive benefit. Mainstream America is still very uncomfortable with the idea of same-gender unions. Our country has always held myriad prejudices close to its heart, but homosexuals and other "deviants" are one of the few that can still be institutionally discriminated against.
The idea that it may end drives zealots, like our esteemed Rev. Lovelace, crazy. As fundamentalists like him are shown to be hypocrites, once uncritical followers may start wondering about the veracity of their message of hate and exclusion. Then, what will we have-a nation where people can marry whomever they choose.
Whether this will devolve into the collapse of Western Civilization to the extent that Blacks can serve as military officers and women will be allowed to vote… Who can say? That the evils of allowing men to marry men are greater than allowing Christians to marry Jews and Whites to marry Blacks and will be the last nail in the coffin of our world seems to be a foregone conclusion to many Christians. But, the original Christians were certain that the "End of the World" was so near that they didn't even write down their Gospels for some decades.
No, homosexuality is not illegal in that jurisdiction; so, since they didn't discuss price, there was no crime. Hypocrisy is not a chargeable offence.I never fail to be amused by these cases . . . I love them.
There is so little scandal in the world that is harmful to no one. Iraq's a disaster. Perhaps the only thing worse than staying in Iraq would be leaving. Embezzlement and fraud drain on all who play the game by the rules and suffer for it. Murder, rape, war are tragedies that cannot be undone… but, this? No one was harmed by the incident. Even if the young man was a prostitute instead of a cop-still no one harmed.
The pastor's reputation took a beating, of course, but that is a positive benefit. Mainstream America is still very uncomfortable with the idea of same-gender unions. Our country has always held myriad prejudices close to its heart, but homosexuals and other "deviants" are one of the few that can still be institutionally discriminated against.
The idea that it may end drives zealots, like our esteemed Rev. Lovelace, crazy. As fundamentalists like him are shown to be hypocrites, once uncritical followers may start wondering about the veracity of their message of hate and exclusion. Then, what will we have-a nation where people can marry whomever they choose.
Whether this will devolve into the collapse of Western Civilization to the extent that Blacks can serve as military officers and women will be allowed to vote… Who can say? That the evils of allowing men to marry men are greater than allowing Christians to marry Jews and Whites to marry Blacks and will be the last nail in the coffin of our world seems to be a foregone conclusion to many Christians. But, the original Christians were certain that the "End of the World" was so near that they didn't even write down their Gospels for some decades.
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