We knew it was coming, Congressman Joe Wilson was to be taken to the woodshed yesterday . The House did not disappoint. Their most common punishments for members are expulsion, censure, reprimand or fine. But they decided to use a lesser measure, a "resolution of disapproval." Wilson's conduct was cited as a "breach of decorum and degraded the proceedings of the joint session, to the discredit of the House." The vote was, understandably, divided along party lines. I'm not sure if the Democrats have exhausted their outrage, yet. Presumably, they are now ready to get back to business as usual.
Here is an irony. Fox News has been showing a series of video-taped interchanges between Acorn staff members and a filmmaker and associate posing as a pimp and prostitute. Click here to watch one. Here's another. A fourth videotape was shown last night and another is promised for today. The one from last night was outrageous! I have no doubt there will be an ample supply of spin and dissembling from those associated with Acorn. I am confident that the film-makers and their work will be scorned and discredited.
But how can you watch these interviews and not marvel at Acorn staff members' nonchalance, even enthusiasm, while their clients outline a scheme that reeks of debauchery? Where is the shock, where is the outrage? Where is the staff member who warns, "What you are doing is terribly wrong. You need to get your life headed in the right direction."
What a contrast between Acorn staff's casual response to gross immorality and the passionate ado of The House over a two-word breech of decorum. Mind you, I am not making little of House Democrats. Let them enjoy their diversion. But the quickness and intensity of their disapproval serves to highlight its absence at Acorn.
What a sad commentary on our society that many view immoral behavior with casual acceptance, even with a tinge of pride in their enlightened tolerance. The Apostle Paul dealt with something similar in what was the "sin city" of his time, Corinth. A young man was having a brazen affair with his step mom, and those who knew the parties involved were celebrating their enlightenment in accepting this as normal. Paul declared, "It is actually reported that there is immorality among you, and immorality of such a kind as does not exist even among the Gentiles, that someone has his father’s wife. You have become arrogant and have not mourned instead, so that the one who had done this deed would be removed from your midst" (1 Cor. 5:1-2).
One of the litmus tests of the health of our society, and our churches, is our ability to lament sin. If the response of Acorn staffers is a window into the heart of our culture, heaven help us. When Jesus said, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted” (Matt. 5:4), He was talking about being broken-hearted by the things that break God's heart. My heart is broken by what these Acorn interviews say about who we are becoming. God forgive us.
The Crying Game:
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