Manson, Moore, Judgment, Hypocrisy, and Forgiveness - Thoughts for the Week

As I write this, a lot has happened this past week - a whole bunch of celebrities (both infamous and famous) have passed on, including David Cassidy, Della Reese, Anne Wedgewood, Mel Tillis, and perhaps the most notorious, murderous madman Charles Manson.  Naturally, in social media forums like Facebook, these things generate discussions, and some can be quite heated.  Additionally, the "Harassocaust" of allegations (false and true) continue against many public officials, and the one that has garnered my attention is former Alabama judge and now US Senator Roy Moore.  As this is a blog about theological and spiritual issues, much of what I will be addressing here today has to do with the various comments and discussions I have heard from those professing Christianity, and what shocks me is the blatant ignorance and hypocrisy that many comments I have heard truly reflect - it is actually somewhat dumbfounding honestly.  I want to talk about Manson's death first, and then we'll revisit Judge Moore's situation.

In 1969, a self-proclaimed hippie "guru" who had gathered a following around himself of mostly young girls initiated a set of gruesome murders - they occurred on Saturday and Sunday, August 9th and 10th, 1969, exactly three months before I was even born.  The first was a murder of a beautiful young actress and expectant mother by the name of Sharon Tate, and the second was the murder of a wealthy businessman and his wife, Leno and Rosemary LaBianca.   The "mastermind" behind these events was this "guru" named Charles Manson, a demonically-driven psychopath who was caught up in his own apocalyptic utopian fantasies which he believed were embodied in a Beatles song called "Helter-Skelter," which in time also became the title of prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi's book chronicling the trial of Manson and his young, gullible shills.   Although Manson was locked up in 1971 and was in prison the rest of his life, he has never shown any remorse for his actions; on the contrary, he glorified his demonic deeds while at the same time proclaiming himself both Christ and Satan at the same time.  The man fits in a class that would also encompass people such as Caligula, Rasputin, and Adolf Hitler, and his Machiavellian/utilitarian approach to using religious terminology and actions made his legacy more menacing.  His death a few days ago at age 83 was something that was long-overdue honestly - Manson has been freeloading off of and laughing in the faces of hardworking taxpayers for decades when he should have been executed, thanks in no small part to the "progressive" career politicians (Pelosi, Jerry Brown, and company) who kept him alive.  Despite the lives he ruined, and the agony he caused families of his victims, Manson died without ever having a change of heart, and it is with certainty I say that he busted hell wide open when he died.  Yet, despite the evidence, there are some professed "Christians" who actually are trying to consign him to heavenly glory, and that is where we're going now.

Every time I get on Facebook or some other social media site, I have two general reactions to the things people - meaning those professing to be Christians - post.  The first is a disgust, as the concupiscent limitations I have in my own nature would love to take those people and bash their heads into rocks or something for being so stupid.  The second is a feeling of thanksgiving - most of the people doing this are ironically supposed to be professing Protestant Evangelicals, and given the state of those groups over the past couple of decades, the thankful part of me is that I am no longer associated with them;  I really thank God on every morning I wake up that I have been a Catholic Christian for almost 20 years now, and honestly I would not want it any other way.  Evangelicalism has changed for the most part, and not for the better - it has gotten more worldly in its values, inconsistent in its witness, and less recognizable as preserving a historical Judeo-Christian worldview.  Although occasionally I am asked why I don't any longer identify as Pentecostal-Evangelical, my answer is this - when one tastes a filet mignon, why would one want to go back to eating wieners?   Catholic faith has strengthened me, and it has brought me a maturity I was sorely lacking in for many years.  Now, does that mean that the Catholic Church is perfect?  Certainly not - Catholics have their own issues at times to sort out, but for the most part they are rather minor compared to the identity crisis that has infected American Evangelicalism.  Also, I want to point out as well that this in no way implies that I have totally forgotten where I came from - I grew up in a much more solid type of Evangelical Christianity, and still value much of that.  And, there are many good individual Evangelical Christians I know who I still consider Christian brothers and would never in a million years question their faith.  However, as a whole, Evangelicalism is decaying spiritually, and I count myself blessed and fortunate I got out when I did.  I use this as a preface to talk about some attitudes I have seen in regard to two distinct situations this week, as this decaying Evangelical legacy is what produced the fruit I have seen this week, and a poisonous fruit it is too.

On the day Charles Manson finally died and went to his eternal punishment, my great-aunt posted a small blurb about it on her Facebook status.  What she said was that it was essentially "good riddance," and I agreed with her.  However, some other woman posted on there that we "should not judge" and even went as far as to declare that Manson and eventually Hillary (!) would be in heaven.  Of course, where this deluded woman got this craziness from is an ad nauseum interpretation of Matthew 7:1-3, and in recent years this Scripture has been twisted by many apostatizing Evangelicals to justify a lot of junk.   As mentioned though, the problem with that interpretation is that it is way out of the context of the passage - the passage is not meant to sanction bad behavior and somehow "bless" it, as it is often interpreted.  Rather, in the context of the passage it relates to the commandment in Exodus 34:28, which is a prohibition against character defamation, gossip, and slander.  We see it also addressed in Proverbs 6:16-19, which sort of expounds upon the commandment by specifically condemning three things that are associated with "bearing false witness:"

1.  Lying
2.  False witness proper (meaning gossip and slander)
3.  Sowing discord "among brothers"

It is also further expounded in Exodus 23:1-2, which prohibits the teaming up of a faithful person with a wicked man to slander and gossip against others maliciously, especially against another "brother."  In other words, what "judge not" actually means is not judging falsely, and what the ignorant woman who basically canonize Manson on my aunt's social media post was saying about it is not applicable to Manson or any other situation where factual evidence is abundant and staring one in the face.  The passage in Matthew 7 is also not a pretense for justifying bad music or behavior in churches either, as it is often used.  Therefore, in the situation of Manson's death and eternal consequence, evidence shows that the man had no change of heart, conversion, or examination of conscience in regard to his actions - on the contrary, evidence suggests that he died unrepentant and is eternally lost.  While that is a tragic reality, we must indeed mourn the fact that a soul was lost, but God didn't send him to his fate - Manson sent himself by refusing to accept forgiveness and salvation from Jesus Christ as propitiation for his sins.  Another aspect of this would have been also a matter that would not require the intellect of a rocket scientist either - had Manson been converted or had he experienced some sort of transformation, it would have been public knowledge.  Manson's recanting of his past deeds and attitudes, or a religious conversion, would have been the story of the decade had it happened.  Those who would believe it would have been talking about it joyously, and those who didn't would have been skeptical, but there would have been conversations had it happened.  Therefore, a little common sense must be used here - Manson did not, at least as evidence testifies, have a change of heart on anything, and he died just as arrogant, deluded, and dangerous as he has been for all those years.  Therefore, the heretical universalist tendency of some professed Christians needs to be given a reality check.

The second part of this discussion centers on a living person, Judge (now Senator) Roy Moore, and it does invoke the true context of Matthew 7.  A sad commentary on Evangelical Christendom, especially in America, is the tendency it has for being fickle, subject to gossip and hearsay, and also the propensity to "shoot its wounded."  In the case of Judge Moore, it must be remembered a few years ago that he was the man who courageously paid for and installed a replica of the Ten Commandments in an Alabama courthouse, and he caused a big firestorm among progressive secularists.  At that point, Moore was the hero of Evangelicalism, a courageous cultural warrior who made an unpopular stand for the truth.  After finally resigning from his post as a judge, Moore decided earlier this year to run for the US Senate, and to be honest, the Senate needs a lot more like him.  However, upon his win, some woman just all of a sudden appeared out of the woodwork and accused him of sexually harassing her almost 40 years ago, and now what has happened is that Moore is now Public Enemy #1, even among Evangelicals who formerly touted his virtues.  Personally, I don't believe the allegations to be true, and Moore himself vehemently denies them (although in all fairness he needs to "beef up" his defense a little).  It just seems to me that there is something very fishy about the timing and the circumstances surrounding these accusations, because if this woman really had something to stand on, the question is why she didn't come forward with it back in the 1990's when Moore was on the liberals' "hot seat" for the Ten Commandments display?  What is worse though is how many supposed "Evangelical Christians" have gotten caught up in the slander against Moore - one of them is a professor at my former college where I did my undergrad work, and although this particular professor was himself a target of slander (some liberal students called him a "racist" for his perspective on the Trayvon Martin/George Zimmerman issue, which he is not) and has also written some very insightful political insights on his periodic blog posts, I was frankly disappointed at the way he just sort of abandoned Moore, giving heed instead to hearsay and slanderous allegations (a direct violation of Matthew 7 aforementioned, incidentally), and he was not alone.   When I tried to inject some reason into the discussion, one of my so-called Evangelical "brothers" started getting nasty with me, calling me "Machiavellian" and accusing me of "idolatry" for saying that we need to see substantial proof first before we draw conclusions.  It honestly angered me - the ignorance and direct disobedience of these people in defiance of what Scripture explicitly says was appalling, and I gave them a mini-sermon on it.  Fortunately, there were others who saw this too, and called out the same people on it.  And, that being said, I want to now give a very sharp Bible lesson to point out a couple of things.

Roy Moore, with all the slander that is damaging him now, is in good company.  In the Gospels, we are vividly shown the contrast in attitudes between Palm Sunday and Good Friday in regards to our Lord, and what we see is equally shocking - on Palm Sunday they are out there throwing down palm branches and calling him "King," and only 5 days later they are screaming for His blood as they goad Pilate into crucifying Him.  How fickle the human race can truly be, seriously.  You would think that as Christians, with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and the continued transforming work of supernatural grace that is supposed to be elevating, healing, and perfecting our concupiscent nature, would be doing better.  Yet, I have seen it over and over again - good people have had reputations destroyed because of something the secular press said, and all of a sudden they "fall from grace" with the church crowd and are ostracized.  It makes me muse that the majority of Evangelicals in the US are due for a lobotomy or something, as they are acting insane.  And, that leads to the second aspect of this little study.  Although I sincerely doubt the truth of the allegations against Roy Moore - as I said, too many things smell fishy about the whole thing - let's just say he did what he was accused of doing.  For one thing, these allegations are 40 years old now, and in that time even if someone is guilty of something there is a good chance that repentance has taken place, and given Moore's Christian convictions, that would have been a given honestly.  So, if he did do it and Jesus forgave him for it, it is under the blood and we need to do likewise - our judgment of Moore then will have consequences on us, either if he's innocent of these accusations or if he repented of them and Jesus cleansed him.  And, that is the very thing that Matthew 7 is talking about - bad judgment and slander against a brother.  And, in the New Testament, there is a further reality check for those who attack Judge Moore unjustly like this, and they are about to get schooled.

Let us look at I Corinthians 6.  In the passage of St. Paul's Epistle to the Church in Corinth at that time, he is writing pastorally to a number of new Gentile converts to the Church who came out of some ugly backgrounds - some were formerly homosexual temple prostitutes, others were involved in criminal lifestyles, and yet all of them were now new creatures in Christ through the redemptive Blood of Christ through the sacrament of Holy Baptism.  St. Paul was telling these people that certain behaviors would not be tolerated in the Kingdom, and that only Jesus Christ could save them.  The context of the passage is definitely traditionally evangelistic, and expands on what John 3:16 taught - that Christ died to save all men, and anyone who believes can have that salvation.  What the Apostle was telling the faithful in the Corinthian Church was that they don't need to be condescending to others who are in sin, because they need to remember where they came from - it in essence compliments Jesus's command in Matthew 7 to "not judge," and the reason is that at one point they were just as reprehensible.  This passage is something that those who condemn Roy Moore really need to study, and I am going to tell you why.  How would you, as a faithful Christian who maybe came out of a rough background and you have been walking with Christ for years, like it if someone threw your past back in your face?  I mean, Jesus forgave you of that, and you are not that person anymore, right?   And, you haven't engaged in activities you used to engage in prior to your conversion since you were baptized, right?   Therefore, for someone to judge you on the basis of your past like that would be like taking your testimony, stomping on it, and throwing it in the trash.  What is even worse is when a fellow believer does that to you - it would be the ultimate insult to both you and the salvation Christ gave you.  And, as a believer, that is something we never should be doing anyway, right?   Yet, here some of you who are even reading this now doing just that with Roy Moore - shame on you!  For one thing, you are guilty of false witness if you repeat that crap - stop it now!  Secondly, if you do that to him, one day it will return to bite you - judge not lest you be judged, in the correct context in this case.  If you have any ounce of wisdom within yourself, I would suggest you both bite your tongue and also refrain from judgment until you know what the hell you are talking about.  Unless you do that, you are in grave sin, and you'd better recognize that quickly!   Hopefully this mini-study will wake you up then, as obviously your pastor has either been doing a poor job of teaching it or you have been too lazy to listen to him.   Bottom line - get it together, people!

The final thought on this today is that oftentimes we tend to set ourselves up as arbiters of salvation - we tend to sanctify celebrity and yet shred those among us who are up against challenges.  It is time that we get our priorities straight, and you Evangelicals in particular need to pay attention - you talk about your sola Scriptura (in reality, it is one's interpretation and bias of Scripture rather than the words of Holy Scripture itself that get elevated by people professing this) and have your high standards, yet you fail to listen to what Scripture says and you set your own bars higher than even God does.  So, instead of defending bad music and stupidity in your churches with the "do not judge" clause, why don't you apply that principle properly by leaving Judge Moore alone?  Have a happy Thanksgiving season, and hopefully you will thankful for some common sense in these issues at some point.  God bless.