{"id":2141,"date":"2013-01-28T19:16:00","date_gmt":"2013-01-28T19:16:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2013\/01\/fr-corapi-and-a-tale-of-two-evangelists.html"},"modified":"2013-01-28T19:16:00","modified_gmt":"2013-01-28T19:16:00","slug":"fr-corapi-and-a-tale-of-two-evangelists","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/daffeythoughts\/2013\/01\/fr-corapi-and-a-tale-of-two-evangelists.html","title":{"rendered":"Fr. Corapi and A tale of two Evangelists"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Back in the 1980s, Jimmy Swaggart famously pounced when the Jim Bakker scandal exploded on the national airwaves. \u00a0Faster than you can take a splinter out of someone\u2019s eye, Swaggart was there, oblivious to the logs in his own eye,\u00a0stetting\u00a0himself up for the inevitable fall. \u00a0Because of the \u2018comeuppance\u2019 nature of Swaggart\u2019s fall, the press was eager to seek out other would-be inquisitors who would also jump in and cast their stones at the glass house of the televangelists scandals. \u00a0Who better, they supposed, than the\u00a0Reverend\u00a0Billy Graham himself. \u00a0What did he <\/i>think of all these\u00a0disgraces\u00a0to the Gospel ministry?<\/p>\n

I can\u2019t remember his exact words, but his point was obvious. \u00a0There was no way Dr. Graham was going to throw in with this mess, nor was he going to point fingers needlessly. \u00a0He\u2019d offer prayers, and best wishes and all that. \u00a0But no condemnations. \u00a0No \u2018serves them right.\u2019 \u00a0And you know what? \u00a0He came out looking all the better because of it.<\/p>\n

All this came to my mind as I read through the comments over at Mark Shea\u2019s CAEI<\/a>. \u00a0The post was about the whole Fr. Corapi saga. \u00a0As a disclaimer, I know nothing about Fr. Corapi. \u00a0Some parishioners at another parish gave me a couple DVDs once. \u00a0I noted that most of his talk was about him, but then it might have been a testimonial. \u00a0Quite a life he had. \u00a0Beyond that, I don\u2019t know anything about him, what he\u2019s been accused of doing, whether it was horrible or not, whether his supporters were horrible or not, or whatever. \u00a0His supporter have been accused of being over the mark, but then some who have made the accusations are known to accuse massive swaths of humanity of being over the mark.<\/p>\n

Still, I noticed two approaches from several\u00a0religious\u00a0who were commenting and that struck me. \u00a0One approach was rather shocking to see from notable priests: <\/p>\n

\n

Any priest dumb enough to let himself be adored deserves what he gets.\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n

Wow. And this little lesson in\u00a0Thomistic\u00a0approaches to fallen\u00a0brethren\u00a0 <\/p>\n

To paraphrase St Thomas Aquinas, if a person is in error we have an obligation to correct him, even if he be the Pope. Criticism,as long as it\u00a0<\/span><\/span>doesn\u2019t<\/span>\u00a0have the additional character of malice, is a form of legitimate correction, especially of a public person.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And<\/span>\u00a0yet, there was this little gem:<\/span><\/p>\n

I maintain hope that his current silence and lack of visibility is a sign of prayer & penance after having returned in obedience to his community. Regardless of whether that is true, prayers are certainly appropriate.<\/span><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Much better, IMHO.<\/p>\n

Again, I don\u2019t know if Fr. Corapi is guilty as sin or not, if he\u2019s really some celebrity priest awash with hubris and messianic illusions or not. \u00a0I don\u2019t know. \u00a0I just remember what several of my non-religious compatriots back in\u00a0the\u00a01980s said when they agreed with me. \u00a0It wasn\u2019t that Bakker or Swaggart were horrible for trying to make time with some\u00a0pretty\u00a0agreeable young ladies. That\u2019s human. \u00a0Stupid, but human. \u00a0But what struck us was the number of Christians ready and, to be honest, quite eager to jump on a fellow believer and rend him alive. \u00a0It went a long way toward keeping me from considering religious alternatives to the world for the next couple years.<\/p>\n

I wonder what the whole Bakker\/Swaggart scandals would have looked like if they were in the Internet age? \u00a0I wonder what the response of the religious community would be? \u00a0I know as a former pastor, an initial response to such scandals was often \u2018ha! serves him right\u2019, until prudence and common sense set in and you realized \u2018gee, that could be me someday, perhaps some \u2018do unto others\u2019 might be the better track.\u2019 \u00a0So just kicking it around, noticing things and reflecting on life in\u00a0the\u00a0religious world of the\u00a0digital\u00a0Internet era. No matter what, Fr. Corapi and those whose lives he touched has my prayers, no matter what it is they need prayers for.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Back in the 1980s, Jimmy Swaggart famously pounced when the Jim Bakker scandal exploded on the national airwaves. \u00a0Faster than you can take a splinter out of someone\u2019s eye, Swaggart was there, oblivious to the logs in his own eye,\u00a0stetting\u00a0himself up for the inevitable fall. \u00a0Because of the \u2018comeuppance\u2019 nature of Swaggart\u2019s fall, the press […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2805,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2141","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nFr. 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