Ted Haggard and the Modern Day Pharisee Christian Church - Would They Crucify Jesus All Over Again?

News: The Rev. Ted Haggard, president of the National Association of Evangelicals, admitted Friday that he bought methamphetamine and received a massage from a male prostitute. Haggard, who condemned both gay marriage and homosexuality, resigned after a Denver man named Mike Jones claimed he had many drug-fueled trysts with Haggard.

Commentary: I am a Christian who seldom walks into a church these days. I gave up on the church after I saw a striking similarity between the attitudes prevalent all over the Christian church and what I read in the Bible about the Pharisees who had Jesus killed. Ted Haggard is just the latest in a long line of high profile Television Ministers caught in activities that your average Satanist would think twice before engaging in. Why does 'Churchianity' have such a long rap sheet? Allow me to venture an answer.

1. "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom"

If you consider yourself a basically good person, why do you do good things? (1) Because you love values like truth, kindness, mercy and justice and detest their opposites - or (2) because you're afraid God will "get" you if you don't? If your answer is (2), then you're no better than a thief who doesn't steal because he's afraid he'll get caught. It's a 100% selfish motivation. "Fear of the Lord" may indeed be the beginning of wisdom - but for the end of wisdom, see James 4:18: "There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear..he that fears is not made perfect in love". But alas, congregations are much more docile and easy to fleece if you focus on fear. Meanwhile, the real message of the Bible gets lost under the bills in the collection plate.
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2. "Be satisfied with what you have"

It's a popular and holy-sounding thing to say. But who is really satisfied with what they have? And why should they be?

"Blessed are those who hunger and thirst." - Jesus

Even the richest among us are poor beyond measure. Our knowledge of our true poverty is one of the best measures of our wisdom. Trying to convince people not to desire is a lost cause. And rightfully so. Because when we cease to desire, we cease to live. The primary tenant of Buddhism is that desire is the root of all evil, and that enlightenment is obtained through the extinction of desire. But didn't even Buddha desire to achieve enlightenment?

I submit that the problem is not that we want too much - rather, the problem is that we are FAR too easily satisfied. We follow our lust when true love is attainable. We want a Mazzarati when uproarious laughter lurks just behind our lips. We want a houseful of "stuff" when FREEDOM is available. We desire a yacht - but would we own it, or would it own us?

Corpses do not desire, and they are never dissatisfied. But if you are reading this, you are still alive. Alive! Don't just 'be alive' - LIVE! To live is to desire, and to desire is to live.

Walk into a modern Christian church and what you'll hear often sounds more like Buddhism than Biblical Christianity. "Accept your lot in life" seems to be the prevailing mentality. In the more conservative churches, all forms of strong desire seem to be presumptively suspect as potential sin (especially sexual desire, even for your spouse!).

And sitting in the pews with the bland and timid suburban congregation, the shallow, soul-numbing messages of mediocrity keep on coming: "Do whatever the preacher tells you to do", and "God wants you to give us money". And above all, "Get out there and sell, sell, SELL!" I could go on and on. If the church is losing membership (and therefore tithes), it's "bloom where you're planted". Nobody planted me, jack. I am not a vegetable. Jesus had it right the first time around: "You scour the earth to win a single convert; then you turn him into twice the sons of Hell that you are!" Sadly, I find more honest people at bars among the prostitutes and tax collectors that Jesus hung out with.

Nelson Mandela summed it up just about as well as anyone ever could:

"Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, 'Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, fabulous and talented?' Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Playing small doesn't serve the world. It doesn't help anyone to shrink so that other people don't feel insecure around you. We were born to manifest the glory of God that is within us...

...and as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give permission to others to do the same. We are liberated from our own fear. Our presence automatically liberates others..

Fight the good fight every moment, until your last breath provides one last nourishment to a sleepwalking, zombie world.