How strange, sad and ironic, that once again a “Good Christian Man” who dedicated his life to to a faith which condemns homosexuality as one of the worst sins imaginable has been outed for his own closeted homosexual practices and forced to resign as Pastor of an evangelical church:
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. – The founding pastor of a second Colorado church has resigned over gay sex allegations, just weeks after the evangelical community was shaken by the scandal surrounding megachurch leader Ted Haggard. […]
On Sunday, Paul Barnes, founding pastor of the 2,100-member Grace Chapel in this Denver suburb, told his evangelical congregation in a videotaped message he had had sexual relations with other men and was stepping down.
Dave Palmer, associate pastor of Grace Chapel, told The Denver Post that Barnes confessed to him after the church received a call last week. […]
On the videotape, which The Post was allowed to view, Barnes told church members: “I have struggled with homosexuality since I was a 5-year-old boy. … I can’t tell you the number of nights I have cried myself to sleep, begging God to take this away.”
Imagine that. Pastor Barnes has struggled with his sexuality since the age of five. And why is that? Because our society is not truly a Christian society, that’s why. It is all too often a society based on prejudice and bigotry toward anyone who is different, whether that difference be one of skin color, ethnic identity, gender or sexual orientation. So bigoted, in fact, that a man such as Barnes who has known since childhood he was gay has repressed that essential part of himself, choosing instead to live a life of secret shame and guilt, and, in all likelihood, a life in which he castigated those who shared his sexual orientation, rather than accepting them as the full and complete human beings that they are.
What a country.
