important post from jenell paris on the haggard story

lynnette davidson directed me to an important post by jenell regarding the response of the evangelical church to the ted haggard incident:

NAE says Ted Haggard’s situation was individual, not institutional. I don’t know anything more than I’ve read in the media about Haggard or the NAE, and I’m not implying anything about that specific situation. In principle, however, I don’t buy it. When evangelical institutions distance themselves from disgraced individuals, they perpetuate the radical individualism that marks evangelicalism. They are also acting more to preserve themselves than to necessarily tell the truth or to love anyone. My suspicions are these: a person is rarely caught the first time they do something. There’s usually a pattern, and there are usually people who saw the pattern unfolding. Even if no one knew about the sexual issues, people knew about how the person handled power, secrets, and authority. Institutions also hold people accountable for how they spend their money and their time. When individuals sin boldly, there are usually institutions and individuals in institutions who commit the sin of self-deception. They know, but they don’t want to know, so they tell themselves they don’t know.

read the rest here: Notes from an out-but-not-so-proud evangelical