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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsA ray of sunshine: A megachurch preacher repents.
Author of Christian relationship guide says he has lost his faithJoshua Harris says his marriage is over and apologises to LGBT+ people for promoting bigotry
Harriet Sherwood - Religion correspondent @harrietsherwood
Mon 29 Jul 2019
Link: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jul/29/author-christian-relationship-guide-joshua-harris-says-marriage-over
(snips)
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To those who read my book and were misdirected or unhelpfully influenced by it, I am sincerely sorry. This month he announced on Instagram that he and his wife were separating after 21 years of marriage because significant changes have taken place in both of us. Another Instagram message posted nine days later said he had undergone a massive shift in regard to my faith in Jesus.
He wrote: The popular phrase for this is deconstruction, the biblical phrase is falling away. By all the measurements that I have for defining a Christian, I am not a Christian. Many people tell me that there is a different way to practise faith and I want to remain open to this, but Im not there now.
He added: I have lived in repentance for the past several years repenting of my self-righteousness, my fear-based approach to life, the teaching of my books, my views of women in the church, and my approach to parenting to name a few. But I specifically want to add to this list now: to the LGBTQ+ community, I want to say that I am sorry for the views that I taught in my books and as a pastor regarding sexuality.
I suggest this guy start a rehab center for evangelical preachers led astray by the almighty dollar and thirst for power.....
gratuitous
(82,849 posts)How does Harris propose to undo some of the damage he's done?
KY_EnviroGuy
(14,490 posts)I suspect he's still in a state of shock or PTSD after all those years of holier-than-thou, but it would be interesting to follow his progress in making amends.
catrose
(5,065 posts)TruckFump
(5,812 posts)stevesinpa
(143 posts)he's taken the first step in his recovery, he needs to get himself right before he can begin to work on correcting past mistakes. don't be so quick to jump on him. he has admitted his mistakes, give him time. he spent his entire life being brainwashed and then brainwashing. it takes time to get out of that.
you should be welcoming him, not attacking him,
gratuitous
(82,849 posts)I'm not attacking Harris, but I'm not giving him a free pass on all the misery he's inflicted on people for years either.
elocs
(22,571 posts)or withholding them, now I know. I'm sure I wouldn't want such a power.
gratuitous
(82,849 posts)After all, dude said he was sorry.
So, if your gay kid thought he or she was worthless, got into drugs, maybe even committed suicide, well, Harris said he is sorry now. So, we all cool with that?
calimary
(81,238 posts)But I believe in healing and recovery and deathbed conversions, too.
Hermit-The-Prog
(33,342 posts)It's just another fucking stunt for ratings and "offerings". See Swaggert, Bakker, et. al.
yellowcanine
(35,699 posts)Needs to do a lot more than just apologize. How about all the money hé made trashing people who were different?
CentralMass
(15,265 posts)KY_EnviroGuy
(14,490 posts)See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joshua_Harris_(pastor)
Snip:
Apparently, he's finally going to get an education....
Link: https://www.christianitytoday.com/news/2015/february/why-joshua-harris-kissed-his-megachurch-goodbye-clc.html
Snip:
I have lived a sort of backwards life. Without meaning to, I have experienced life out of the normal order and sequence of events, Harris told attendees at Covenant Life Church (CLC) in Gaithersburg, Maryland, on Sunday, January 25. I havent completed any post-graduate study. I dont even have an undergraduate degree. In fact, I have never attended a formal school full-time in my life.
Harris, who was homeschooled, has enrolled at Regent College in Vancouver, British Columbia, for the fall of 2015. His last day as CLC senior pastor will be in April. He leaves with his church's blessing. Harris began his crazy, backwards life in high school when he began publishing his own magazine geared toward fellow homeschoolers.
No damn wonder so many are ignorant enough to follow Trump. Most have not experienced much life out of the Christian bubble.
These guys are the grifter's grifter.....
Maraya1969
(22,479 posts)And, of course a masters in divinity. He has 3 kids and everyone of them was first home schooled and then sent to Christian colleges, (one went to the Fallwell university......can't remember the name)
He believes the craziest shit and has taught it to his kids. Now 2 of his kids have 3 kids also.
And the beat goes on.
catrose
(5,065 posts)Compare and contrast with Episcopalians, who require you to have at least two years of therapy with your years of seminary. I'm not sure if the therapy comes first or concurrently, but still!
bobbieinok
(12,858 posts)Many contend he has 'betrayed god'!!
KY_EnviroGuy
(14,490 posts)received dozens of search results from Christian magazines and they rode him out of Jesustown on a rail.
The article comments were quite entertaining, labeling him apostate and evil.....
superpatriotman
(6,247 posts)Nt
Aristus
(66,328 posts)She is a recovering conservative evangelical, Pentacostal, charismatic, spirit-filled, Bible-believing, etc., etc., etc.,
What my progressive views and liberal Methodist outlook could not do, Trump and his 81% among Christian evangelicals accomplished quite nicely; turn Mrs. Aristus into a God-skeptical liberal Democrat. When she saw Trump's support among the people she grew up with, it shocked her to her core. I've never seen such a severe crisis of faith. She is now firmly in the Dem camp, and can't wait to vote against Trump next year.
Anyway, this guy and the subject of his book was our topic for discussion last night. She said that, as a Christian conservative, she married her abusive first husband at 19 just to be able to have church-approved sex; only to discover that he had no sex drive of any kind. She stayed with him for fifteen years and somehow managed to have three kids, who are grown now.
Her son, my stepson, raised in the evangelical church and an admirer of the "Kissed Dating Goodbye" book, also married young just to be able to have sex, only to discover that his new young wife had......well......Daddy issues. They divorced after a miserable year and a half together.
He remarried a wonderful woman, and a far more progressive Christian than he had been. He told his mother not long ago that he threw away that book.
KY_EnviroGuy
(14,490 posts)Having been raised in a very genteel main-line Southern Baptist Church in the 50s and 60s in a small TN farm town, I struggle to understand this spike in popularity of evangelical churches. I supposed it's simply became many people's entire social life and escape from modern reality, complete with theater-quality sound and video - not to mention valet parking!
Now, like most American fads, I'm thinking eventually megachurches will suffer the same fate as megamalls. People will tire of them and tire of giving them their tithe, and maybe transcend to something like fast-food style religion.....
Hell, Christians nowadays could save lot of time and gas by just holding prayer meetings in their local Chic-Fil-A or Home Depot.
What I do know is that America is slowly becoming less religious (10% drop from 1990 to 2008) and that's evidenced in your story.
However, there's probably a practical limit to that because human psychology suggests that so long as mankind has something to fear (including death) or things that are unknown, we'll keep on inventing gods and religions.
Celerity
(43,348 posts)bucolic_frolic
(43,149 posts)to make the other side payoff.
These guys ought to be defrocked so they can go do factory work and support themselves
Funtatlaguy
(10,870 posts)LastLiberal in PalmSprings
(12,585 posts)But then again, I'm a pessimist, so what do I know?
Initech
(100,068 posts)Marcuse
(7,479 posts)Javaman
(62,528 posts)...from those very sins.
he can go fuck off.
keithbvadu2
(36,790 posts)Judas was an early modern day conservative disciple.
Judas got 30 pieces of silver, but just once, for selling Christ.
Pat Robertson, Jim Bakker and their ilk get millions of dollars repeatedly for selling Christ.
Judas was a fool for doing a one-time sale.
elocs
(22,571 posts)will be good enough for them. I guess not only Christians are judgmental. Perhaps a list can be made of all of the things this megachurch preacher is expected to do before he is "forgiven" for who he once was, what he once said.
KY_EnviroGuy
(14,490 posts)what this man does with himself after he completes college. After all, he's only 40 and may surprise us with some darn good deeds going forward.
Dale Carnegie
I think my criticism would lean toward the church for allowing someone with so little life experience and education to wield this much influence on their youth and to ascend to that level of power so quickly. The most memorable, loving an humble pastor of my youth was a man who was a veteran that had been through ferocious battles in WWII prior to entering the ministry.
Mr. Evil
(2,841 posts)and thirst for power."
That would be a good start.
empedocles
(15,751 posts)Girard442
(6,070 posts)Not at all clear from the article. If hes publicly doubting the existence of God, hed better be living in an undisclosed location.
KY_EnviroGuy
(14,490 posts)Quote:
Like me after finding sobriety at 43 Y.O., I had to start from scratch with my understanding of life (he's now 44).
KY......
VOX
(22,976 posts)Makes me think hes found a more lucrative grift, since the Jesus-thing was fizzling out after 30-plus years of book sales.
LonePirate
(13,419 posts)We dont need another right wing hate monger who now wants to live his true life after causing so much pain to other people.
Neema
(1,151 posts)I'm so tired of self-loathing, damaged, closeted people taking out their rage and jealousy on everyone brave enough to live their truth.
Neema
(1,151 posts)best-seller? What the actual fuck does an 21 year old know about relationships with enough expertise to write a book? And who the fuck would publish it or read it? God, it just shows how gullible these fake Christians are. Someone writes a book telling them what they want to hear and that's all they need.
I have a feeling one or both of them came out as gay (likely him) and realized all the bullshit he'd been fed and was feeding his followers was just that...utter bullshit.