This goes to show that when you set yourself up as "a moral authority" things seem to fall apart.

I get a certain sense of pleasure when someone who attacks the morality of my being gay when they have been accused of child molestation.

The similarities between this story and similar stories involving major religious organizations is of course striking.

In a general way, I think two recent studies shed some light on this phenomenon:

[1] Religious devotion sets the United States apart from some of its closest allies. Americans profess unquestioning belief in God and are far more willing to mix faith and politics than people in other countries, AP-Ipsos polling found. "Americans’ religion stance stands out." The Associated Press (June 6, 2005). http://www.columbiatribune.com/2005/Jun/20050606News006.asp

[2] More than one in four U.S. adults per year have some form of mental illness or substance abuse. Many of those cases are mild, but 14% of the population has moderate or severe mental illness, say Harvard Medical School's Ronald Kessler, PhD, and colleagues. Lifetime prevalence is even higher. About half of all Americans will meet the criteria for some type of mental disorder sometime in their lifetime, with first onset usually in childhood or adolescence, Kessler writes in June's Archives of General Psychiatry.

Hitti, Miranda. "Mental Illness Common in the U.S." WebMD Medical News. http://my.webmd.com/content/Article/106/108372.htm

Even though I count myself a person of faith and do not necessarily see myself as any more crazy than my fellow citizens, I suggest that these two findings are not only closely related, but they have truly disturbing implications for public policy, for instance:

-- Do people with toxic intent to injure others, born of their mental illness, have have an essential right to restrict the civil liberties and equality of other citizens?

Let me get this straight... a big, white, dopey bible-thumping Christian Coalition leader who says his morals are better than us... has been focking his little daughters and nieces... for years now.

That's on more Lars fan to prison.... if Larsy keeps seeing all his listeners go to prison... who's gonna be left to listen to all his penis patch commericals?

Well, the righties do have their share of those who claim "moral authority" (whatever that is) that do horrible things to children.

But then, the lefties have theirs too. Such as the newest Oregon teacher to rape a child:

Not exactly, I just meant to say lefties seem to put teachers on the same pedestal that righties put preachers.

They are all just people, with same ability to "fall from grace".

I don't think there ought to be a statute of limitations on this sort of behavior. He should be locked up for the rest of his life. This is the fifth religious leader/pedophile I've actually known and spent time with, and I will say each one of them had a very unsettling, creepy way about them that was very hard to peg, but very palpable to me even before I knew of their abuse. There was a reserve there that kept you at an emotional distance, though their behavior wasn't necessarily unusual.

I could be entirely wrong about this, and my opinion is hard to explain, but I have come to believe that somewhere along the way these people disconnected from self and from others (or perhaps they never learned about empathy). They do not recognize their own souls, and they do not feel empathy for others because they don't understand the soul of others, either. But they can play their role in life quite convincingly. They see those around them merely as tools they can use to get what they physically want, but they don't know how to satisfy their souls, which remain empty, so that they are continually driven to search for more gratification. The disconnect from soul is, in my opinion, why these people are creepy in such an inexplicable way. You simply cannot connect with them like you do with "normal" people. I think the same disconnect from the soul is to varying degrees also behind serial killing, compulsive lying and heartless manipulation, and a lot of other sociopathic behavior. Perhaps the cognitive dissonance is tolerable to them because there is no judgment or right and wrong - it is all about survival in what they perceive as a soulless world. Their "act," e.g., being a religious leader, is a protective device, rather than a reflection of who they really are. When they judge the behavior of others, it is because it is part of their act - they are playing a role reflecting their perception of the expectations of others for a person in that role - not a result of their personal beliefs about the behavior.

It is truly fascinating how many religious leaders have extreme sexual problems like this. Is this a reflection of the overall percentage of the U.S. population who are sociopathic, or is it more a common occurrence among religious fundamentalists? The cognitive dissonance involved in simultaneously being a religious leader and a serial pedophile is fascinating and frightening. Anyone know of actual studies and statistical information in this area?

The left has its abusers. This is a problem that transcends the population. We just hear about the religious abusers because people have the guts to face religious figures. Abuse kills faith in a God, so why be afraid of the religious consquences? The social consquences are different, and that's why I applaud the women. They have more guts than I do.

Uhhhh... Jon... I don't see any mention of this teacher leading a coalition of people who demand that their particular moral values be imposed on all the rest of us.

Kudos to Jon and Pat Ryan for keeping the discussion civil. But I have to award Jon a "Lars Larson Medal of Mouth-jitsu" for trying to sneak such a weak example of "Oh yeah, well you're another!" by us.

Mitch:"Do people with toxic intent to injure others, born of their mental illness, have have an essential right to restrict the civil liberties and equality of other citizens?"

I agree with you 100%, however have mental illness doesn't necessarly imply the person is a lost cause. Even in the case of sex offenders I have known people that have rehablilitated.

One of the keys to this is better mental health treatment that is more available. This goes especially for children, because one would hope that if people are reached at a young age there is a better chance of sucess.

Becky: I looked in a couple diffrent places for an article about cognitive dissonance and religous leaders and wasn't able to find anything. If anyone finds something, I'd be interested to read it.

In terms of the article, if he is guilty, then he will get what he deserves.

I think lefties should count to ten before making smug comments about this kind of report. Sure, it does seem that those who take leadership positions in the effort to enforce social conformity are often found to be predators, but the human tragedy of such situations should leave us sober, not triumphant.

On the other hand, we should not hesitate to reference such revelations when next the hounds of conventionality hunt those who dare to be different.

Becky,

Email me.

I'd hope we don't overindulge in feeling morally superior, seeing that's the error into which such hypocrites have fallen: arrogating to themselves the right to judge the morals of others from an unassailable position of moral authority. All in service of a religion that acknowedges that we are all sinners, saved only by grace and obliged to love each other as we love ourselves.

It takes no great moral authority to convict anyone proven guilty of such crimes. More to be abhorred are the authoritarian organizations that afford cover for such scoundrels.

Or I could have just posted "I concur, Tom!" had I known.

There was a spate of such stories in the 1980s. Of course such behavior knows no party. But one station played a Beres quote from earlier, saying that Multnomah was "the most godless county in the country". Now it turns out a more appropriate statement for him would be "People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones".

But must everything be "the righties vs. the lefties"?

This guy used moral superiority as a political weapon, but today someone (GOP official?) said that the Christian Coalition didn't catch on much in this state and Beres was "kind of a one man band".

I don't think it is gloating to say someone who had harsh words for others and who turns out to be imperfect is getting the scorn deserved by a public scold who held himself up as better than others.

Anyone who was involved with the Christian Coalition should know that Jesus said "Love your enemies" (the remark about Mult. County doesn't sound like that) and do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

This story deserve publicity (as one reporter said) the same way a member of the Sierra Club board who turned out to own a polluting business deserves the heat of publicity.

But it is also time to remember the other Biblical injunctions which some on the Beres side of the spectrum try to turn into "statements of the religious left", such as Jesus saying "as ye do to the least of them, ye do unto me". Or as someone said in the early 1970s, Jesus Christ was the first non-violent revolutionary.

Why not start asking self professed Christians where they stand on that, and whether they consider help for the poor and needy to be a "traditional value" . Rather than arguing whether there are impure people on all sides of the political spectrum. Helping the needy seems to me to be more of a virtue than claiming other people are ungodly because you don't like their lifestyle.

Uhhhh... Jon... I don't see any mention of this teacher leading a coalition of people who demand that their particular moral values be imposed on all the rest of us.

Granted. Although I have come across some teachers who behave that way, and some Christians who dont.

I guess my biggest concern is that most media outlets seem to go nuts when the abuser/rapist is a "big, white, dopey bible-thumping Christian Coalition leader" (to quote Sid). But when its a teacher, it doesnt seem to be discussed with near as much vitriol. In fact, when its a feamle teacher that does this, I even hear & read dopey comments like "gee, I wish I had her as a teacher when I was in school." (not here, but other places)

The point that Bible-thumping Christian conservatives get undue attention for their moral indiscretions is wrong. The reason why it's more of a story when Lou Beres or Spokane mayor Jim West is caught in a display of moral turpitude is that these people have dedicated their careers to condemning how other people live. Although the immoral conduct of a schoolteacher or even an elected official on the left is no less reprehensible, it is less newsworthy because HYPOCRACY is the story, not just the indiscretion itself.

If a leader of the environmental movement was caught polluting on a large scale, I would similarly expect heightened news coverage.

Ohhhhh, ...so THAT's what they mean when they talk about the "Laying on of hands".
Uhh-ghh, creepy!

Religious devotion sets the United States apart from some of its closest allies. Americans profess unquestioning belief in God and are far more willing to mix faith and politics than people in other countries, AP-Ipsos polling found.

You are joking when you quote this right? When we the last time an American walked into a crowd and blew him or herself up in the name of religion? I am pretty sure that I read somewhere that countries like Saudi Arabia and Iran are actually ruled by religious leaders. The last time I checked very few of our government leaders are ordained. Also, what is our national religion? I must have missed the memo.

Now, when you compare us to Europe, yeah, we are more religious but to say that we are "far more willing" than other nations defies common sense. There is a danger in blindly following any poll without overlaying sound judgment and you just stepped in it. If I were you, I would be careful.

Maybe the answer is to stop stereotyping. How many who post here would like to be steretyped into "all the Blue Oregonians........"? How many reporters like being included in stereotypes of "the press"?

Anyone who says either "all Christians" or "all teachers" is doing the same thing.

There is a verse from Micah "What does the Lord require of you, but to do justice and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God."

Beres went against that verse when he said harsh things like Multnomah being the most ungodly county in the country. There are many religious people who do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly who may have been embarrassed at what they consider nasty outspoken behavior which violates WWJD. But have there ever been news articles pointing that out?

I think it is the hypocrisy angle as much as anything. Imagine if McCain were found to be accepting soft money while pushing McCain Feingold, or someone from an environmental group being part owner of a gravel mine, or someone from a major business group complaining about overregulation while breaking laws. I believe this is much the same thing. But I would no more stereotype every person who calls themselves Christian over this than I would say every teacher is a potential abuser just because there was a recent teacher sex abuse case in our local courts.

It is the same mentality that talks about "the public schools" or "the unions" or "the Democrats" or "the Republicans " as if they are single celled organisms rather than large groups with many individual differences.

You all do yourselves great disservice by the anything-but subtle gloating. It is little less then appalling that you would assume guilt and pass around cyber high-fives at the mere possibility of something so heinous. I too find the apparent hypocrisy difficult to stomach, but you expose a laughable lack of logic when you throw out an entire belief system for one man's failings. 'Ad hominem' I believe is the technical term...

It is ironic that a similar scenario unfolded last year regarding a Portland mayor, as has been mentioned. Equally disturbing, yet it was handled as a travesty, a sad and sickening story about the failings of humanity, not another hole in Democrat ideology.

A little intellectual honesty would be nice for change.

Hey, something just popped up on the radar-screen that I think is germane:

SENIOR CONSULTING DEMOGOGUE

Major political organization has an immediate need for a Senior Consulting Demogogue. Must have your own car, Bible, and nuclear family. The position involves both hardcore and softcore calumny, slander, and enmity; the ideal candidate will be a master of deceit and calculation. Sorry, no wimps need apply: hypocrisy and opportunism are absolutely essential. This is a demanding position. Skills include design, manufacture, and distribution of highly toxic materials over the broadest possible target field. The qualified candidate will have a long track record in acting as well as the highest leadership experience in the Republican Party. Long, hands-on experience with issues of child abuse are essential to success in this field. This is an equal-opportunity position: all straight white males between the ages of 40 and 80 are encouraged to apply.

Whatever happened to the concept of innocent until proven guilty? It seems liberal and conservative Kool Aid drinkers only trot it out when one of "their own" is the accused.

Doretta -

Could you please tell me how you come to the conclusion that Christian Coalition is "people whose self-described claim to fame is their superior grasp of morality and whose self-appointed purpose in life is to marginalize other groups of people based on that superior understanding"?

If you are talking about one individual, that is fine, for there are bad eggs in every basket. But you seem to say this one man's mistake points out the failings of an entire group of people.

I'm not too familiar with the Christian Coalition myself, and have never been a big fan of their leadership, so I spent some time looking around their website and I can find no evidence of "people who systematically attack other people based on the imagined personal immorality of those other people." Instead, the one theme I found was "getting Christians involved in politics." Is that something so abhorrant, a "scam that deserves to be exposed"? Perhaps it is...

having met this man through a previous employer who was also on the religious right (which is why I, with my pagan fish bumper sticker was usually ostracised by other "more" christian members of his family, no longer work there). lou beres was always sort of in your face with his ideas, loud, pushy, condescending - I never liked him and as I heard this news on the radio, I thought to myself, isn't always the ones who cry the loudest and fight against ideas they term "evil" they are the ones who seem to have something to hide! Only the lowest of the low and dperaved prey on children.

The louder they scream about morals, the more we ALL have to worry about our children.

I will sleep very well tonight knowing this sleazebag and Oregon's true GOP hero will get a seat next to the fire... someday soon... so slide on down Lee Atwater! And hey, Tricky Dick, there's a new boy in town!

As much as I despise what the Christian Coalition is doing to my friends and neighbors, I will not take any pleasure in seeing their leader accused of child molestation. All I can think of is the poor Beres family and the pain they must have been going through for years.

This is a "how the mighty have fallen" story, but please remember something about Lee Atwater. When he was diagnosed as terminally ill, he had his research staff find out if all religions had anything in common. Turned out that the Golden Rule "do unto others as you would have them do unto you" was right up there. So he spent the rest of his life writing apology letters.

Those who prey on children are the lowest of the low. What Atwater did was attack ads--nasty ones, but he was no abuser.

If we want to raise the level of debate from in-your-face to more intelligent discussion of issues, we all need to get the facts straight.

Atwater belongs in the same category as DeLay, Armey, and all the other political attackers. Was he financially corrupt as it appears DeLay and Abramoff (and perhaps Ralph Reed) are? Or just the king of the attack ads? Some say that such people will never go to heaven. But please don't get carried away and mistake them for criminals. The best way to punish attackers is to defeat them as Mike Kopetski defeated Denny Smith after that obnoxious "voice of Hitler ad".

Look here, get past the sensational salacious gossip aspect of this story to the concrete lesson posed: the unnatural melding of political power and religious moral crusading will attract the scum of the earth to positions of undue authority and lead to its abuse. It's why the separation of church and state was written into the Constitution!

I repeat myself...

Whatever happened to the concept of innocent until proven guilty? It seems liberal and conservative Kool Aid drinkers only trot it out when one of "their own" is the accused.

I am no fan of the CC or Mr. Beres. And he may - emphasis on "may" - be guilty. That being said, the vast majority of you have tried, convicted and sentenced the man. And solely on a news report. I thought we liberals were supposed to be - well, liberal. Too many of you sound exactly like the conservatives I grew up around... and they are one of the main reasons I chose the liberal path.

It is no wonder we are losing ground with independents. I, for one, am considering joining their ranks.

Ed has it right about morality squad work attracting twisted personalities. Miller's The Crucible is a good exploration of the sad phenomenon.

"Innocent until proven guilty" is used as a ruse whenever a homeboy causes embarrassment. Of course, defendents are assumed innocent under the law, as is proper and necessary to preserve liberties and rule of law. That does not mean that the public cannot and should not take an indictment, or even an accusation, seriously. Would LJ leave his/her child alone with someone accused, but not yet convicted, of child molestation? I think not.

LJ -

If Beres was innocent, his family would be standing behind him. Instead, they're standing behind his three victims. His defense is that their accusations are politically motivated. What? Why would his own family be politically motivated to out him? So many factors in the story preclude a presumption of innocence that it is, in my opinion, absurd for the public to give him that courtesy. The Court ought to presume his innocence, as that is the right of every American. But I think the prosecution will have little difficulty proving for the jury that he is, in fact, very guilty. Provided, of course, his case gets to trial.

I'm tired of the right pushing its values on us. If the Christian Coalition had its way, I heard they were trying to push Christians and their values down our throats.

Their plan? They wanted to pass a law mandating that I had to hire a person claiming to be a Christian over someone else. How? They would open the courts to say that if I refused to hire this person, maybe even someone totally incompetent, that this bible thumping wussy could take me to court.

Then, they wanted to tell me I had to rent to one of these Beres types. And again, I'd be threatened to be taken to court if I somehow chose to rent to one of my gay friends instead!

I'm sick and tired of the right trying to push its moral agenda on the rest of us. Live and let live. Go thump your bible all you want in your church building, but don't stick your religion into my face or my politics.

And if Beres is guilty of the charges, castration is the best remedy. Not to mention a long, long stay in the crowbar motel.

Doretta -

While I have never appreciated Lou Beres' attitude or tactics, I am again a little bit perplexed by the way you paint people who have different points of view then you with the brush of their fallen leaders. Tell me this, do the ideals you hold have no hypocritical spokesperson, no flawed individual you wish would never have been associated with your values? I find that hard to imagine. I think we all know the frustration and anger of an embarassing or tarnished figurehead.

You act as if a few individual's personal failure is exposure of a greater lie, proof of a systemic termite problem in those who stand on a certain moral structure. Attack Lou Beres all you wish, hold court, pick out your executioner's mask, and feed on the death of his massive hubris, but please have some respect and tolerance for those who would hold other perspectives then you about issues of birth, life and social values. Again, it is a logical fallacy argumentum ad hominem that has no place in public debate.

You would ask the same of us, I ask the same of you.