And speaking of shooting fish in a brothel, “Jeff Gannon” [DCOW] weighs in, as you knew he would (via A Scrivener’s Lament):

Strict adherence to a moral code is not an easy task in the modern world. Many who know the difference between right and wrong and even some who preach about it to others sometimes fall short. The sensational scandals of the recent past remind us that we are all one misstep from stumbling. My own experience is evidence of that.

The phrase “hate the sin, love the sinner” embodies a basic Christian tenet that reflects God’s affection for His children. God wants us to be saved from lives of sin and instructs us to repent for our transgressions and receive forgiveness. In contemporary discourse, Christians who speak about that which God considers sinful behavior are often characterized as “hateful” and “mean-spirited.”

No. Remember: To a Republican, Hate means being held accountable.

Flynt and his ilk practice the antithesis of that principle and instead “love the sin, hate the sinner.”

No. It’s about “values for thee and not for me.” If you want to make a public virtue of your private behavior, then live up to it! If you want to use the public square to convert others so that they believe as you do, then practice what you preach! How difficult is this to understand? It wasn’t all that difficult for Jesus — see Luke 6:42 — but for today’s Christianists it’s virtually impossible.

They seize on the moral failings of public figures for use as political weapons of mass destruction.

Say, speaking of political weapons and dogs that oddly, never bark: Has Jeff ever answered the question: “Jeff, were you ever at the White House when the day changed? I’d advise Jeff that he do so, since he could be offering some poor lost soul_{mr subliminal: jeff’s “bottom” unka karl} a shot at redemption. Eh?

These provocateurs do not want their victims to stop living a sinful life; they want them to stop talking about what constitutes a virtuous one.

No. I want the virtuous to talk about what constitutes a virtuous life. In fact—and I know my Republican friends across the aisle may find this hard to believe—I even know, personally, some people that I consider virtuous, and they’re fucking quiet about it!

As bringinton so rightly says, I just don’t get it.

It looks like a Christianist perpetual motion machine to me, and the cycle goes something like this:

1. Loudly proclaim in public that you are virtuous, and use your proclaimed virtue for political or financial gain. (Luke 18:11)

2. Establish institutions or, if you can, pass laws designed to enforce your putative virtues on others.

3. Privately practice the very vice that you, as a putatively virtuous person, find most abhorrent. (See especially Mark Foley, R-Neverland, but also Denny Hastert, R-Adultery, Bob Livington, R-Adultery, Rush Limbaugh, R-Oxycontin, Bill O’Reilly, R-Loofah, William Bennett, R-Casinos, and on and on and on. (Not to mention all the Christianist pastors who abuse their authority to molest children.)

4. Get caught, maybe even because, subconsciously, you want to get caught.

5. Hold a press conference and announce that you’ve sought counseling, received forgiveness from God, you’re entering rehab, whatever. Plead for your privacy. Make sure to mention your family. A lot.

6. Return to step 1 and repeat.

(Note the difference between the Clinton scandals and this pattern of Christianist behavior: Clinton’s transgressions were in fact private—at least until the perjury trap—because he didn’t loudly proclaim his virtue or seek to pass laws imposing it on others.)

Hooked on megaphonics, that’s what these guys are. I don’t mind if they talk about virtue, at all. It would be ideal of they talked about it in the privacy of their own homes, instead of turning the public square into an arena for Pharisaical bloviation at deafeningly high volume.

NOTE Has anyone noticed that the Republican scandals are getting a lot, er, gamier as we go on? They started out, back in the day, with Hastert and Livingston. Simple adultery, so no big problem if you’re a Republican. Then we move on to Mark Foley (pedophilia, or to be more precise, ephebophilia). Now we’ve got Diaper Davey. What next, I wonder?

NOTE I have to admit that I actually have some sneaking respect for “Jeff Gannon.” And really, who does more harm in the world? The Gannons and Palfreys of this world? Or their clients?