Caught in a web of news and rumors about sex games so sordid that journalists declined to report many details, the big man decided he had to speak.<\/p>\n\n
\u201cI do not plan to whitewash my sin,\u201d he said. \u201cI take the blame. I take the fall.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
The key word was \u201csin,\u201d when the Rev. Jimmy Swaggart set the standard for media confessions a decade ago. For 30 tear-drenched minutes he confessed sins against God, his wife, his children and his church. He even commended journalists for reporting his sins. Finally, he faced the camera and said: \u201cI sinned against you. I beg you to forgive me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
Swaggart knew his followers needed him to repent, before they could forgive him. President Clinton is stuck with a more mysterious and divided flock. For a generation, America has been torn by culture wars over the moral status of sex outside of marriage \u2014 affecting issues from abortion to the legal status of same-sex and live-in relationships.<\/p>\n\n
The bottom line: It\u2019s hard to repent of sexual sins in your personal life when, in your political life, you\u2019re in charge of defending the sexual revolution. On sexual issues, it would be hard for Clinton to embrace the word \u201csin\u201d without being accused of political blasphemy by the lifestyle left. Meanwhile, the government\u2019s sexual harassment laws are more morally conservative than the doctrines being proclaimed by some churches.<\/p>\n\n
It was easy to detect these religious tensions after the president said his inappropriate relationship with intern Monica Lewinsky is now a private matter \u201cbetween me, the two people I love the most and our God.\u201d Here\u2019s a sample of reactions.<\/p>\n\n
* While her father, the Rev. Billy Graham, has remained politely silent, writer Anne Graham Lotz said the president \u201chas no moral character.\u201d She was just as appalled by the public\u2019s reaction. \u201cWhen I drove to this studio this morning, I had to obey all the traffic laws, the markings on the street. I couldn\u2019t crash through a red light,\u201d she told Fox News. \u201cGod\u2019s moral laws are like those traffic markings. They\u2019re for our benefit.\u201d The president, she said, is a reckless driver and \u201che\u2019s going to hurt himself and a lot of others, and the American people seem to stand by and cheer him on.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
* The dean of Washington National (Episcopal) Cathedral praised Clinton for his efforts on behalf of women, minorities and homosexuals. But the Rev. Nathan Baxter added, in a Sunday sermon: \u201cOur desire to keep sin private is a judgment upon all of us. Unless we acknowledge moral failing \u2013 without excuse \u2013 the soul of our nation will not heal. More importantly, our children will be even more confused as to whether the truest treasure of our common life is found in the state of the economy or the character of our moral integrity.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
* As always, Clinton and other Southern Baptists have been free to disagree. The denomination\u2019s spokesman on social issues called for Clinton\u2019s resignation and suggested that former President Jimmy Carter, a Southern Baptist, be asked to serve as vice president under Southern Baptist Al Gore. \u201cBill Clinton looked the American people in the eye and lied to them for seven months, then refused to apologize. And there is probably worse news to come,\u201d the Rev. Richard Land told Baptist Press.<\/p>\n\n
Meanwhile, a Baptist Alliance leader tried to walk a fine line, speaking to the \u201cmoderate\u201d Associated Baptist Press. \u201cLet\u2019s don\u2019t define morality so narrowly that only personal concerns count and at the same time let\u2019s not define morality so broadly that personal moral concerns don\u2019t count,\u201d said the Rev. C. Welton Gaddy, author of the book \u201cAdultery and Grace.\u201d<\/p>\n\n
* The president remains a Southern Baptist, but he now worships at Foundry United Methodist, his wife\u2019s church and a center for progressives. Shortly before Clinton spoke, Foundry\u2019s pastor appeared on CNN and compared him with a troubled biblical leader. \u201cKing David did something that was much worse than anything that President Clinton is alleged to have done,\u201d said the Rev. J. Philip Wogaman, referring to David\u2019s plot to kill his lover\u2019s husband. \u201cAnd King David, if I read my Bible correctly, was not impeached.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Caught in a web of news and rumors about sex games so sordid that journalists declined to report many details, the big man decided he had to speak. \u201cI do not plan to whitewash my sin,\u201d he said. \u201cI take the blame. I take the fall.\u201d The key word was \u201csin,\u201d when the Rev. Jimmy […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":610,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1041","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n