Upon reading Republican Gomorrah by Max Blumenthal one cannot help but get the sense that they are reading an attempt to catalogue all the examples of religious hypocrisy to ever occur within the ranks of the Republican Party.  It reads like a grocery store tabloid laundry list of Republican politicians and/or conservative preachers who have committed adultery or have participated in homosexual affairs. 

To be sure, there are many examples of blatant and sordid sexual encounters that have occurred within the ranks of the Republican Party leadership and the conservative evangelical community over the last several years.  Without doubt, some of the criticism offered by Blumenthal is justified. 

Having said that, I will also point out that it is not just the Republicans who are committing such sins, but, the Democrats as well.  One has to only think for a very short moment or two until many examples of Democrat Party leaders who also have committed hypocrisy in the sexual arena also pop up on the list.  Let’s see, one such example I can think of right away would be former U.S. Senator John Edwards of North Carolina.  I mean…you could write a book on just that situation alone.  Anyway, you get my point.  Hypocrisy, religious hypocrisy, marital infidelity are not just specific to Republicans or conservative evangelical leaders.  For every Republican politician you can point to who was/is involved in a sex scandal, you can just as easily name a Democrat.  But, to read Blumenthal’s book, one is left with the impression that only Republicans and Christians commit such sins.  

OK, let’s take a look at the book.  By the title “Republican Gomorrah” it is clear that Blumenthal is making a strong and not so subtle statement about what he perceives as religious hypocrisy within, not only the Republican ranks, but also within the ranks of Christians in general.  Let’s be sure on one thing, this book is not friendly to Christianity.  Perhaps, Blumenthal’s sequel will be “Democrat Sodom”?

Next, the writing style of Blumenthal leaves a lot to be desired.  When reading the book, you sometimes get the feeling that you just happened to have been walking by a newsroom, back in the 1980’s, and someone forgot to turn off the UPI news ticker and you happened to stop by to read the latest news reports streaming in from the various media outlets.  And, these news stories have no rhyme or reason or correlation but, they are none-the-less news stories.  “Republican Gomorrah” has way too much detail and discusses way too many people, way too many incidents without really offering much in-depth analysis.  “Republican Gomorrah” is like an old UPI news ticker that someone forgot to turn off.

So, after having inundated the reader with a plethora of news stories and names, Blumenthal attempts to tie them all together into a vast Republican, Right Wing, Religious Conspiracy.  He fails.  It’s just way too much stuff, way too many names, way too much history, way to much religious history to try and “tie off” in the simplistic way that Blumenthal attempts to do.  Blumenthal makes no attempt to differentiate or separate-out those evangelical Christian, Republican politicians having been involved in sex-scandals from the overall pool of the evangelical Christian population.  Also, Blumenthal eqautes being an evangelical Christian as synonymous to being a Right Wing Christian Radical wanting to “take over the world”.  He makes no attempt to defferentiate within the overall evangelical population.  This is “intellectual dishonesty” as the liberals like to say.      

Next, we see Blumenthal rely heavily on the influence of Erich Fromm.  It seems even, at some places in the book, that Blumenthal appears to be offering his own psychoanalysis of certain people and events. 

Let’s get started by looking at the Introduction.  It is clear that Blumenthal seeks to portray conservative, evangelical Christians as extreme.  And, he makes absolutely no attempt to differentiate between the various groups or camps of Christians.  This is a grievous mistake by any analysis, no matter who you are.  There are many camps within Christianity. There are many denominations within Christianity.  There are many and very differing views held by Christians on a variety of subjects.  So, to simply attempt put all Christians “in a box” is a foolish way to approach one’s analysis.  

Here in the Introduction is where Blumenthal begins his psychoanalysis by quoting President Eisenhower on page 5, paragraph 3, as he states “…the rise of extreme movements could be explained only by the psychological yearnings and social needs of their supporters.”   Then, on page 9, paragraph 4, Blumenthal makes a feeble attempt to be a theologian as he states “The Christian right as a whole is called the pro-Family movement, and movement allies are known as friends of the Family.  In an actual family, blood ties are required, however, joining the Christian right requires little more than becoming born-again, a process of confession, conversion, and submission to a strict father figure.” 

By the above analysis given by Blumenthal, one can see that you will not be getting a very sound or critical theological review by reading his book.  Blumenthal’s casual reference to major doctrines of the Christian faith are simply jaw-dropping.  One cannot take Blumenthal seriously after this point when it comes to his analysis of anything Christian.  It appears that Blumenthal really doesn’t understand what it means to be a Christian.  Therefore, if he doesn’t understand what it means to be a Christian, how then can he possibly give an accurate analysis about anything Christian?

To prove my point further, just go over to page 10, paragraph 1 and see Blumenthal compare the crucifixion and sufferings of the Savior, as depicted in “The Passion of The Christ”, to, in Blumenthal’s words, “two hours of unrelieved pornographic masochism.”  This is an extremely inflammatory statement by Blumenthal.  I believe it represents a lot of personal anger and hatred coming from Blumenthal towards Christians and Christianity.  By making such a statement, Blumenthal shows a reckless disregard for all Christians and Christianity in total.  Such vulgarity is just unbelievable.  In my thinking, this proves that Blumenthal does not understand Christianity.  Blumenthal making such a statement appears to be a feeble attempt to sound esoteric, as he attempts to portray Christians as mentally unstable and weak minded.  I am surprised that we don’t see any quotes from Karl Marx.

Next, let’s look at page 32, paragraph 1, as Blumenthal takes aim at Howard F Ahmanson.  I just can’t help but point out that in this paragraph as Blumenthal states that Ahmanson lives in Newport Beach, he actually feels that he needs to tell the reader where Newport Beach is located.  I mean, come on already!  Perhaps, Blumenthal should have told us where California is located as well?  Anyway, back to Ahmanson.

Notice on page 33, paragraph 4, as Blumenthal portrays Ahmanson as a misguided psychopath who happened upon his wealth by default and didn’t know what to do with it until, in his weak-minded state, he linked up with the Christians.  This is exactly the picture Blumenthal wants the reader to see, not only of Ahmanson, but of all conservative, evangelical Christians.

Indeed, Blumenthal has been reading Fromm so much, too much, that he seems to think that he now is a “psychologist for the world.” 

Next, on page 37, paragraph 2, look at how Blumenthal attempts to downplay the prominence of the character of “Frodo” in the book/movie titled “Lord of The Rings”.  We see Blumenthal state that Frodo was “…the Hobbit protagonist of Tolkien’s novels who must destroy a magical ring in order to save the world”.  Let’s see, the last I heard, the three part movie series titled  “Lord of The Rings” had so far grossed over $4,000,000,000, and this ranks number 2 of all time.  I think it is somewhat of an understatement and somewhat casual to refer to something so significant to the people of the world, as Blumenthal does. 

By this, it seems to me that more than pointing out the failings of Republicans, the real goal of Blumenthal is to strike against anything Christian.  Not convinced, well let’s look at page 45, paragraph 5, as Blumenthal makes an attempt at giving Ahmanson a psychiatric diagnosis and implies that conservative, evangelical Christians are neurotic.  Perhaps, Blumenthal could suggest a medication regime for Ahmanson as well?

Next, we see on pages 224 and 225 as Blumenthal takes on the movie “Braveheart” and he attacks Mel Gibson and attempts to portray the quest of Christian men to be masculine as some sort of latent attempt to cover up homosexual tendencies that “all Christian men have”.  In no uncertain terms, Blumenthal concludes that conservative, evangelical Christians choose to be what they are, because they are trying to escape or hide from some form of inner sexual perversion. 

Next, we see on page 298 where Blumenthal mocks the Biblical manifestation of Speaking in Tongues, and expresses disdain for an African Pastor, and unsuccessfully attempts to describe what certain Christians were praying about.  Then, on page 299 Blumenthal takes a shot a Governor Sarah Palin’s religious beliefs as he suggests that she apparently believes in witchcraft.  Here, it might be pointed out that God has plenty to say about witches and witchcraft in the Bible.

So, in short, Blumenthal has failed in his attempt to psychoanalyze all Christians of the world.  Blumenthal has failed at his attempt to be a theologian.  Blumenthal has failed in his attempt to give a broad and comprehensive political analysis as he portrays Republicans and even more so, Christians as the source of all the ills of the United States of America.  Blumenthal “splashes” all of these stories into one book and then plays the psychologist for us all and tells us how we should interpret the facts.  Blumenthal attempts to compress decades of religious and political history into a few esoteric sound bites.  It just doesn’t work.  The world is more complex than that. 

Finally, Blumenthal attempts to portray Jesus as an anthropomorphic manifestation of misguided, narrow-minded, neurotic, ego-dystonic homosexual Christians.  Blumenthal attempts to get the reader to believe that American Republicans are the only people in the world who are serious about their Christianity.  And, that because of this they are evil and dangerous.  In reality, Blumenthal’s book doesn’t seem to be about Republicans so much as it really appears to be a book written to ridicule and make a mockery of Christianity.             

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My wife and I moved to Colorado back in the Summer of 1987. We lived there for just over nine years. Our two sons were born there. We lived in Lakewood the first few months and then moved to Castle Rock in January of 1988. Castle Rock sits just off Interstate 25 and is situated just between and, is a short drive from Denver and Colorado Springs. In fact, many people from the three communities would go back and forth to the different churches in the three cities.

I recall the one and only time I met Pastor Ted Haggard. It was in either late 1988 or sometime in 1989. At that time, New Life was still meeting in the building they were using just previous to the newer buildings they currently meet in. I was invited to go visit New Life with an elder of the church I was attending at the time, in Castle Rock. This particular elder was telling me that he and his wife had attended Pastor Haggard’s church a few years earlier when there were just a few people. He stated that he would like to go see how things were going for New Life and say hello to Pastor Haggard.

The elder and I made the short trip down the freeway to Colorado Springs and attended the service that evening and then afterwards went up front to meet Pastor Haggard. Indeed, this elder was well known by Pastor Haggard as they began talking and asking each other about many mutual friends and acquaintances and, talked about how the church used to be in the early days. I may have spoken three sentences to Pastor Haggard. And, I certainly am not naïve to suggest now that I believe that he would even remotely remember meeting me. I mean, he has probably had tens of thousands of such encounters, meeting a friend of a friend kind of a thing. But, my meeting him is not the point.

New Life is not just any church. New Life is a regional megachurch. New Life is well known and well connected within the national evangelical, conservative Christian network. New Life could even be considered a “Flagship Church” of the Religious Right. New Life sits just off of Interstate 25 on the east side. It sits on a rolling hill which is somewhat elevated above the freeway and the front entrance to the church building faces in a slightly southwestern direction facing the southern most tip of the United States Air Force Academy and Pike’s Peak. The view from the entryway of New Life Church is what people take vacations to see. It is breathtaking in late Spring and early Summer as Pike’s Peak shimmers in the early morning sunshine reflecting off a heavy mantle of freshly fallen snow. Pike’s Peak is a 14,000 foot mountain that kind of sits out by itself from the rest of the Front Range. Then, just south of the church is the Chapel Hills Mall. The mall has an upper level grouping of restaurants with a southwestern wall with large 10 – 15 foot windows that provide the restaurant guest with a fantastic view of Pike’s Peak. My wife and I have dined there many times.

Pastor Ted Haggard is not just any Pastor. If you were to use a military analogy to describe all of this, then Pastor Ted Haggard would be a Three Star General of the Religious Right. He would be like a commander of an entire theater of operations. He would be like a leading officer who has been entrusted with some of the mission’s most sensitive secrets and strategies. And now, he has “gone bad”.

It must be understood that New Life was built on sound and fundamental Christian orthodoxy, on strict guidelines of Biblical interpretation, on sound and proven doctrines of the Christian faith. One of those is the doctrine that marriage consists of a covenant relationship between a man and a woman. Another of those is the doctrine that homosexuality is a sin. But now, you have Pastor Haggard saying that he is confused on the subject of sex. He is saying that he is attracted to men as well as being attracted to his wife. He is saying that he is having trouble figuring out his own sexuality. But, at that same time, he is asking New Life Church to accept him the way he is, without any reservation or consideration of the foundational principles of New Life. This is the same church that has been taught and believes very strongly that same sex attraction is very much against God’s will and that it is sinful to have and/or act upon same sex attraction. In fact, Pastor Haggard was quite instrumental in teaching against and rallying against same sex attraction in the past. But now, after he himself has gotten caught participating in same sex activities, he is saying to the church, “hey, it’s not a big deal, accept me the way I am”. It is called “wanting to have your cake and eat it too”.

All of this has put New Life Church in an impossible situation. Even though Pastor Haggard has been away for some time, he is now back in Colorado Springs and this is a very serious problem for New Life. I said to my wife when I first learned that Pastor Haggard was returning to Colorado Springs “New Life is going to have a very serious problem on its hands”.

If you were to use a political analogy, we could look at the example of former President Richard Nixon. Let’s say, after having been impeached and exiled by the leaders in the national government, President Nixon would have returned to Washington after a year. And, upon his return, President Nixon could have started holding interviews with the national media saying things like “they did me wrong”, “they don’t know all the information”, “they are mean-spirited”, “and, I think I still deserve to be President”, “and, you know what, if this government won’t accept me back as their President, then, maybe I’ll start my own government”.

Such a thing would have been a nightmare you say, even dangerous to the stability to the country. That would have been quite true. Well, in a microcosmic sense, this is the same type of scenario that you have playing out in Colorado Springs. You have a Pastor who was relieved of his command and sent away in exile. However, that same Pastor has now returned saying all sorts of things that suggest he is probing to see if there is any chance he could get his old command back, and, there are rumblings that if he doesn’t get his old position back he may start another church. All of this is just ruinous for New Life. And, on top of it all, there is now another individual who has come forward who is telling his story of very sordid and evil things that went on between him and Pastor Haggard.

There is an even larger and broader element at play in all of this. One has to ask the question why is the liberal, secular media going “ga-ga” over Pastor Ted Haggard. Why is he getting these prime-time interviews with some of the top names in the TV talk show world. There is a reason and, it is very sinister. For you see, Pastor Ted Haggard represents to the very liberal left wing of politics and to the homosexual community what I call the “missing link” in the debate over homosexuality. If you caught the pre-release interview done between Anderson Cooper and Alexandra Pelosi on CNN the other evening you could hear sounds and tones of what I am saying.

It is because of the church that Pastor Haggard used to pastor and it is because of the doctrinal belief system that Pastor Haggard is coming out of that makes him a most exquisite prize for the homosexual agenda. For you see, here you now have a very high ranking Pastor within the camp of the Religious Right coming forth and saying that he is confused about his sexuality. This gives the liberal left and the homosexual community an example of what they are saying proves that homosexuality simply cannot be confined to, or portrayed as, a lifestyle that is evolving out of the far-left. It is an opportune moment for the homosexuals to show that homosexuality is, in their minds, mainstreamed within our society. In street, they are saying “Hey look, if you are going to say that homosexuality is only for a few of us misguided individuals on the far-left, look here now at this Pastor who is a leading figure within the far-right religious community who is now saying that even he is confused about his sexuality”.

All of this has now moved the debate on homosexuality to the forefront. It is no longer an issue that Christians can choose to ignore because they might be uncomfortable with it. If this were a game of chess, one might say that the opponent has begun advancing the pieces from the back row. This debate will grow increasingly intense with greater and greater ramifications for our society. If you are still not convinced and don’t want to get involved then consider the following. If you are familiar with the policy in the military concerning gays which says “Don’t ask, Don’t tell”, then you know that this is now being reviewed for updating or being changed. The suggestion is that gays be allowed to openly serve in the U.S. military. Not much difference than what is going on now you may say. But wait, consider this, if you simply change the policy from “Don’t ask, Don’t tell” to allowing military members to serve openly as gays, then, in short order, some of these members will start getting married, and, that marriage would then be sanctioned by the U.S. Government. If then, a marriage between two gay members of the military is endorsed by, confirmed by, officially recognized by the U.S. Government, then, how can any State Government within the U.S. say otherwise?

My wife and I have some very dear and close friends who are currently attending New Life Church and have been attending there for many years. So, writing about all of this is somewhat sensitive and I must take much care. But, one thing the Body of Christ cannot ignore is that what we see unfolding in Colorado Springs will affect the entire Body of Christ as the consequences of this saga are very far reaching in scope and substance.

Publish Date: January 29, 2009

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