Foley, the Republican Leadership, and Schadenfreude

It deeply saddens me to try to imagine how blinded by power Boehner and others must have been to have

felt it was more important to talk to political strategists about Rep. Foley than to
see that the Congressional pages were protected.

I am no longer surprised by the extent of the Republican
leadership's hypocrisy, but each time a new example surfaces, I am deeply
saddened.   I admit I feel some relief that it appears
Christians are beginning to wake up to the unbelievable hypocrisy that has
defined the Republican leadership (especially in the House), but it is deeply
disappointing and gives me no joy as an American and a Christian to see how
twisted the priorities of some of our leaders have become.  The Party that has been carried to one
electoral victory after another on the backs of faith voters in this country is
the Party that we now know hides and protects pedophiles when doing otherwise
might hurt their chances in November.

What Rep.  Foley did
was simply awful, but the actions of a pedophile are the actions of a deeply
troubled, lonely, and broken person.  The
fact that a politician would write some of the politically suicidal things he
wrote in emails shows that he had lost touch with reality and was not thinking
rationally.  He needed to be stopped, he
definitely needs serious counseling, but he also probably deserves some
pity.   On the other hand, it is clear
that the Republican leaders had a complete grasp of reality, and I believe
their actions give us a better understanding of their true character and where
their hearts really lie.  Foley's conduct
was inexcusable, but the attempt by the top Republican leaders to cover it up
and allow Foley to continue his behavior is the bigger issue both because it
puts more children at risk and because it exposes such an extensive, conniving
hypocrisy and abuse of faith for power. 
These people have polled and strategized about how best to exploit
religious issues and trumpet their faith, but when one of their own does
something completely immoral and is putting children at risk, they cover it up
and try to wait until after November's all important elections before dealing
with it.  

The hypocrisy inherent in the actions of Reps. Hastert,
Boehner, and Alexander highlights the unavoidable problem with the Pharisaical approach
to religion that is practiced by the Republican Party leadership and some of
the key leaders in the rightwing of the Church.  Maybe it is easier for me to see because of my
Calvinist roots, "BUT WE'RE ALL SINNERS, FOLKS!"  And so when you focus all your energy on
pointing out the sins of others and saying how group X or Party Y isn't as "God-fearing,
pious, righteous, and Biblically-literate" as they should be, you're setting
yourself up for a big fall.  As Jesus implied
again and again, one of the biggest reasons we should forgive those who sin
against us and hold back when we are getting ready to judge others is because
sooner or later we're going to be the guilty one caught in the act. 

Already, there are voices on the Right arguing that
Democrats are in no place to criticize the Republicans over their cover-up of a
pedophile.  Democrats have done bad
things too.  After all, we had Clinton and that unwashed
dress.  But the big difference is that
Democrats never claimed to be God's mouth-piece, whereas the Republicans and
their supporters have (just check out the blogs from the Values Summit in DC
last week).  Because they have stood on
the street corners proclaiming their righteousness for all to see, they have
set themselves up to be held to a much, much higher standard.  They have stood as God's judge, jury, and
political executioner as they champion supposedly Christian and moral values.  And they have risen to power and mobilized
their religious base by attacking Democrats as a Party opposed to "family
values" and lacking faith and a proper respect for God.

I've got some sobering news for these folks.  In the New Testament there is only one sin
God feels is bad enough to deserve the death penalty:  it is hypocrisy.  Ananias and Sapphira didn't have to sell
their property and give it to the Church. 
They did not get into trouble because they broke some rule.  As Peter makes explicitly clear, their sin was
that they told others that they had given all they had to God so that they
would receive glory when they were really holding some of the money back for
their own use.  They sought to appear holy so that they would be
honored rather than to be holy so
that God could be honored.  As was the
case with the Republican leadership, they sold their honor and their faith for
the few metaphorical pieces of silver that are the fleeting acclaim of the
world…

I do not like doing posts like this one.  I desperately want our country set back on the
right course, but I wish it didn't require such horrible mistakes to be made by
the other side and lives to be ruined in the process.  It's like when your team wins a football game
because the other team's kicker misses the final field goal.  It's better than the alternative, but it's not
the way you wish things had gone.  I have
no desire to see Republican leaders suffer, and it deeply saddens me to try to
imagine what leads a person to do what Rep. Foley did or how blinded by power Boehner
and others must have been to have felt it was more important to talk to
political strategists about Foley than to see that the Congressional pages were
protected. 

In the books of Revelation and Ezekiel, the prophet is given
a scroll with the words of prophetic judgment, which he consumes.  The scroll is sweet to the lips but then
leaves a sour and bitter taste in the stomach, signifying the two-edged sword of
delivering judgment.  It feels good at
first to see sinners get what is coming to them and to be vindicated,
especially when they have been so righteous and hateful to others in the
past.  But even when the judgment is
just, Schadenfreude leaves one empty and bitter inside. 

We need to speak out against these abuses because as
citizens of a democratic society it is our duty to speak the truth to bring
about change.  We cannot and should not
revel in this development, however.  And
we must be very careful not to give into the temptation to pick up the same
stones Republicans have been using and cast them back.  Democrats do not speak for God any more than
Republicans do.     

What we need is for the faith community to come
together, to put aside our partisan differences, and with one voice say that
what the Republican leadership did was wrong. 
We cannot allow any excuses; we can't allow this to become a partisan
mudslinging contest; and we can't "take a pass" on speaking up because our
doing so might have partisan implications. 
We are all diminished when our leaders make these mistakes regardless of
which Party we belong to.  We need to openly
face our mistakes; we need to learn from them; and it is only then that we will
be able to move forward.