Posted on 11/03/2006 7:55:35 AM PST by Alex Murphy
Mormons do not, IMHO, fall into the realm of Christianity...so that's a straw man question.
The Copts are Orthodox...so your question demonstrates an ignorance of Christianity.
And your answers demonstrate only a familiarity with cutting-and-pasting from Wikipedia/Answers.com. I look forward to you explaining to my Baptist friends (especially the "Independent" and "Fundamentalist" ones) how they're really Protestants with "firm roots in the Protestant Reformation initiated by Martin Luther's 95 Theses".
Look, that's a common definition. I don't need to invest time in defining a commonly known (although widely denied by the prot/cults) fact.
Sort of like how the "prots" define the Pope/RCC as being the Antichrist? Widely denied by those inside it, but a commonly held/known fact by those outside of it?
Hey, if you're willing to defend a "confession" that's incapable of being defended...it's your call.
A Protestant is one who does not belong to the Catholic or Orthodox faiths. Accept or deny, it does not change the fact.
The gay sex meth using "pastor" is a protestant...no different than Osteen, Calvin or Luther.
Or the Roman Catholic leadership of the Boston Archdiocese, apparently....
Boston archdiocesan leaders during the past two decades overlooked criminal behavior committed by priests, including assault and battery of a 58-year-old woman, sexual abuse by a priest of teenage female postulants and novices, and the exchange of sex for illegal drugs, according to press reports on archdiocesan records recently released to the public.......The archdiocese’s records also outline the history of abuse and involvement in illegal drugs of Fr. Richard Buntel.
Bishop Thomas Daily was notified in 1981 that Buntel was involved in distributing drugs to minors.
Buntel left Malden in 1983 after he denied a charge that he had traded a 15-year-old boy cocaine for oral sex. Buntel was transferred to St. Catherine in Westford. That move was made against the recommendation of D’Arcy, who, in a letter to Daily, said that the archdiocese had been told that Buntel was abusing illegal drugs, was alcoholic, was engaging in homosexual activity, and was providing drugs to minors.
So your comment makes it right for Haggard to be Haggard the meth-chasing gay prostitute buying "pastor?"
Haggard's been stripped of his title, authority, and income, within a scant 72 hours of his sins coming to light. On the other hand, Fr. Buntel's activities were known by his superiors for a decade prior to his being placed on administrative leave. In other words, Fr. Buntel was never stripped of his title or income, he remained "free to celebrate Mass privately", and was only asked in 2002 to "refrain from pastoral ministry and public activity" until the accusations were settled. His name was dropped from a list of priests in the RCAB in 2003, but to my knowledge, he retired with his priesthood intact.
At least we "Protestants" - including our guilty pastors - know what to do when sin is uncovered in the Church. Such behavior is not "right" for Catholics or "Protestants". But may God have mercy on the Catholic parishioners of Boston and elsewhere, for the overseers of the Boston Archdiocese had no such compulsion to protect Christ's flock.
http://www.newlifechurch.org/pressrelease110606.pdf
Dear New Lifers and friends of New Life Church,
This is the press release from the Board of Overseers that will be released to the media this afternoon. We want you to know first what the actions of the overseers are going to be.
Please continue to pray for Pastor Ted and his family and let's all continue to stand strong together for the kingdom of God. We will get through this together. Remember, New Life Church has never been a man, or a building or anything else--we are a family.
Pastor Ross
November 4, 2006
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
New Life Church
Colorado Springs, Colorado
We, the Overseer Board of New Life Church, have concluded our deliberations concerning the moral failings of Pastor Ted Haggard. Our investigation and Pastor Haggard's public statements have proven without a doubt that he has committed sexually immoral conduct.
The language of our church bylaws state that as Overseers we must decide in cases where the Senior Pastor has "demonstrated immoral conduct" whether we must "remove the pastor from his position or to discipline him in any way they deem necessary."
In consultation with leading evangelicals and experts familiar with the type of behavior Pastor Haggard has demonstrated, we have decided that the most positive and productive direction for our church is his dismissal and
removal.
In addition, the Overseers will continue to explore the depth of Pastor Haggard's offense so that a plan of healing and restoration can begin. Pastor Haggard and his wife have been informed of this decision. They have agreed as well that he should be dismissed and that a new pastor for New
Life Church should be selected according to the rules of replacement in the bylaws.
That process will begin immediately in hopes that a new pastor can be confirmed by the end of the year 2006. In the interim, Ross Parsley will function as the leader of the church with full support of the Overseers.
A letter of explanation and apology by Pastor Haggard as well as a word of encouragement from Gayle Haggard will be read in the 9:00 and 11:00 service of New Life Church.
Oh what a shame you feel this way. I don't blame Catholics or the Church when one of your own has sinned. I am so sorry that you feel this way about Protestants. I certainly do not defend this man if he has sinned, but Jesus will if he confesses.
I suspect Ted Haggard will issue apologies and tearful pleas for forgiveness from family, friends, congregations. That would be nice and I suppose everyone will "say" they forgive him. Forgiving and forgetting are different. He will never regain the trust he has lost. He didn't just step forward under his own steam. He didn't choose to confide and ask for help from other pastors regarding evil and temptations he was battling. He didn't seek help wracked with guilt and shame for his behavior. If the gay prostitute hadn't of come forward Ted Haggard wouldn't be feeling so "sorry" now.
He had thousands of reasons to say NO. He would have had more support and help than anyone I know if he had asked for it. Personally, knowing the consequences, and having been so blessed I simply don't understand how he justified (in his own mind)what he was doing.
Amen!
I was wondering what all the follow-up on this story would be. I'll read the thread and see.
Baptists aren't Protestants.
So Baptists are Catholic? Or are they Orthodox?
Didn't think so...
Welcome to Protestantism...Baptist doctrine is a creation of John Smyth and those like him in the early 1600s. Face it, you're a Protestant.
No, I don't feel that all Protestants are bad.
I am, however, very much disgusted with the continued attacks and accusations that the more nutty of the Calvinists, Baptists and other Protestants launch against the Catholic Church nearly every single day on this forum. That's become a tired, old statement from them.
It's actually amusing to see them attempt to defend their doctrine and to hear them say "b-b-b-but we're not Protestants...he's not one of ours."
Indeed, that was the point of my posting...however, Bakker is another example of those in high places whom power seems to have overwhelming corruption and influence. Bakker (and Tammy Faye) began as lowly disciples of the word but were done in by the lure of riches and other things. Christ admonished us all that evil strikes its temptations at those who believe they are most insulated; he also warned us about scribes and pharasees who fall because of their weakness and inability to remove the plank from their eye because of the speck in others (Bakker, Swaggart, and...Haggard). Billy Graham, IMHO, is the only evangelist who is most forgiving--Falwell and Robertson are not!
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