Gingrich does deserve forgiveness for past transgressions that he has confessed and admitted. That is not at issue. What is at issue is whether patterns of indiscretion (e.g. divorcing two wives for sake of personal expediency and marrying a third who was a former mistress) have bearing upon the worthiness of the candidate to hold office and be responsible for ethical and moral questions of far greater consequence. Moreover one cannot help but wonder what exactly motivated the audience to give Gingrich a standing ovation for such retorts. Would Gingrich have received as much sympathetic support if his indiscretions had been a series of homosexual liaisons or some very deviant behaviours? Could it be that Gingrich received such a groundswell of support because many South Carolinians could readily identify with his sin, and they retain some carnal desire to be able to lash out at the accusers of their sin in as powerful and effective way as he did on the big stage? Maybe this points to a worse problem than Gingrich’s character in our own hypocrisy. And maybe it’s really our own character that has been shown hollow this week rather than his.
As a schoolboy growing up in Illinois I recall being taught the principle of honesty through the example of Abraham Lincoln. So honest was Lincoln in his dealings with other people that he once walked a mile to return a penny he was overcharged in a shop. Character was modelled for us in great presidents like George Washington, Abraham Lincoln and Woodrow Wilson. It was thus very surprising to see Newt Gingrich receive a standing ovation in South Carolina last week when he railed on John King for such "despicable" behaviour in even raising the character question in light of the recent attention upon his divorces and infidelity. Moreover pundits resoundingly agree that Gingrich’s quick-witted retorts were key to thrusting him into a decisive victory among South Carolina Republican voters. Let us not forget that all of this happened in a state known for conservative “family values” and a substantial Evangelical voting constituency. Let us also not forget that two other candidates (Santorum and Romney) have relatively intact marriages and families depicting far more consistently in their lives what we would regard as strong “family values”, whether Catholic, Protestant or Mormon. But Gingrich proved victorious.
Gingrich does deserve forgiveness for past transgressions that he has confessed and admitted. That is not at issue. What is at issue is whether patterns of indiscretion (e.g. divorcing two wives for sake of personal expediency and marrying a third who was a former mistress) have bearing upon the worthiness of the candidate to hold office and be responsible for ethical and moral questions of far greater consequence. Moreover one cannot help but wonder what exactly motivated the audience to give Gingrich a standing ovation for such retorts. Would Gingrich have received as much sympathetic support if his indiscretions had been a series of homosexual liaisons or some very deviant behaviours? Could it be that Gingrich received such a groundswell of support because many South Carolinians could readily identify with his sin, and they retain some carnal desire to be able to lash out at the accusers of their sin in as powerful and effective way as he did on the big stage? Maybe this points to a worse problem than Gingrich’s character in our own hypocrisy. And maybe it’s really our own character that has been shown hollow this week rather than his. Comments are closed.
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A Bit About Barry:Barry is currently serving as the Community Pastor for Single Adult Ministries at Centre Street Church in Calgary, Alberta, having over twenty years of experience in various capacities of single adult ministry. Barry offers both a pastoral perspective as well as academic expertise on the subject having completed his Ph.D. (University of Cambridge) on the topic of Paul's discussion of singleness in 1 Corinthians 7. Barry is author of the book Redeeming Singleness: How the Storyline of Scripture Affirms the single life (Crossway, 2010). Barry is an international speaker and teacher. He is unmarried and currently resides in Calgary, Alberta. Archives
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