UNITED STATES
Marshfield News Herald
by Oliver Thomas, USATODAY
The United Nations’ scathing denunciation of the Vatican last week over its mishandling of sexual misconduct by priests is symptomatic of a larger credibility crisis for clergy. In a single generation, clergy have gone from being some of our most revered community leaders to some of our most reviled.
Atlanta real estate developer Tom Cousins recalls that when he moved to the city in the late 1950s, he was struck by the fact that three of the 10 most influential people in the city were ministers.
“I thought it spoke well for the city,” he recently told me. Last month’s issue of the popular Georgia Trend magazine identifies the 100 most influential Georgians, and there’s not a minister among them. More telling is that a December Gallup poll found that only 47% of Americans consider clergy to be honest and ethical – an all-time low.
Why such a precipitous fall from grace for America’s spiritual leaders? At least three possible causes spring to mind:
Politics. The mixing of religion and politics has always yielded a combustible brew, but the covert became overt when the late Rev. Jerry Falwell formed the “Moral Majority” in 1980. Ensuing decades found evangelical groups looking more like “the Republican Party at prayer.” Similar charges were levied about the cozy relationship between black churches and Democrats.
Money. Jesus said to give it away. But the money scandals of Jim Bakker and other televangelists left many wondering whether clergy were following the almighty dollar rather than the Almighty.
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