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In this episode Trent discusses scandals within Christianity, what we can learn from them, and how we should respond.
Responding to Scandal in Catholic Apologetics (Voice of Reason)
Transcription
Trent:
Last month, a young Catholic lay apologist was accused of sexual misconduct leading to many people discussing it online. I’m not going to talk about this person by name or any other Catholic by name in this episode because I don’t want this episode to be about particular people. Instead, I want to focus on the perennial lessons that we can learn from these scandalous episodes since given that we live in a sinful world, they’ll continue to happen with unfortunate frequency. The first lesson is that we shouldn’t rush to judgment in this recent case and in many other similar cases, there are allegations that come forward that are unclear or unconfirmed, and people will spread them even if they have not been confirmed or turn out to be false. So when we hear about scandalous behavior, we should take a breath, maybe not offer our 2 cents or share things we can’t confirm and just pray for everybody involved until the facts have been established with some kind of moral certainty.
It’s much better to say nothing than to spread a lie, even unintentionally, because it’s almost impossible to undo the damage of calne, which the catechism defines as remarks contrary to the truth that harms the reputation of others and gives occasion for false judgments concerning them. The catechism also says, respect for the reputation of persons forbids every attitude and word likely to cause them unjust injury. He becomes guilty of rash judgment, who even tacitly assumes is true without sufficient foundation, the moral fault of a neighbor. But even if the allegations of scandal or wrongdoing turn out to be true, there is a second lesson to be learned. Not every scandal needs to be made public. It can be a sin to share a truth about someone that others have no right to hear about. This is called detraction, and the catechism says it happens when quote, without objectively valid reason, one discloses another’s faults and failings to persons who did not know them, and a helpful memory device.
The L in calne refers to lying and the T and detraction refers to truths that shouldn’t be shared. A person’s sins should only be publicly disclosed if there’s a good reason to disclose them, such as bringing to light, criminal, or predatory behavior that puts other people at risk. So while it can be wrong to reveal sins that ought to remain private, it can also be wrong to not disclose sins that should have been made public. A person’s inaction can make that person an accomplice to evil, which often happens when a person says, but this influencer does so much good for the church, or This priest or pastor does so much good for the church. We shouldn’t let one mistake stop that. This was the justification many diocese used during the 20th century Catholic sex abuse scandal. But the same rationale is used among popular pastors, coaches, and many other famous figures today.
Which leads to the third lesson I want to talk about, which is accountability. In today’s episode, I’m talking about Christian influencers, but in a very broad way. When we think of an influencer, we usually think of someone who spreads a certain message through social media and has built up a certain brand in doing so. But the label applies to anyone who is popular at spreading messages about the faith, including authors, public speakers, pastors, and priests. I saw some commenter saying that laypeople, which would include me I suppose, should not engage in public apologetic work because some lay apologists engage in scandalous or at least prudent behavior. They say this kind of work should be left to priests and bishops and that lay apologists and speakers foster a dangerous celebrity culture that can easily go to your head and lead you into sin. Well, they’re right about the dangers of celebrity culture, but they’re wrong about La Apologists.
My colleague Joe Hess Meyer addressed this issue on his channel and offers many quotes from Pope Paul, the six saying that the laity have a right and duty to exercise and apostolate of evangelization. Check out his episode in the description below. In fact, Catholic apologetics saw revival in the 1980s and nineties because many priests and bishops believed apologetics wasn’t necessary in an age of ecumenism. Even those priests and bishops who appreciate the need for presenting solid defenses of the faith can’t study apologetics full time because they have to shepherd the many needs of their spiritual flocks. So many faithful lay apologists and teachers of the faith have stepped in to fill that void and they’ve led countless people to Christ. But the critics are correct that if you accomplish a lot of good, that is an occasion for the sin of pride. And Proverbs 1618 famously says, pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall.
There have been celebrity Protestant pastors and celebrity Catholic priests that ended up falling into grave sin, so that’s not unique to the laity. Venerable Fulton Sheen was a great example of how a quote, celebrity Catholic can remain humble and not fall into scandal. And I pray all Catholics with large platforms be they priests or laypeople follow his example, but obviously scandal won’t go away if you restrict apologetics to priests and bishops because as we’ve learned the hard way in the past few decades in the 20th century, priests and bishops are not immune from falling into serious sin. It does show that it’s important for people in the public eye to have oversight like a priest being accountable to a bishop and bishops holding each other accountable. So lay people who want to evangelize on digital platforms should also cultivate wise people to keep them accountable in their work.
I’m grateful that I have the staff and leadership team at Catholic Answers to hold me accountable. Our president Chris Check routinely asks the staff at Catholic Answers to attend Mass and pray No Venus because he knows that no one is above temptation and we all need to grow in the spiritual life as much as possible. I’d also recommend that new converts not rush into becoming independent online influencers. One Timothy three, six says, A bishop must not be a recent convert, or he may be puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil. I myself have been Catholic for a decade before I joined the staff of Catholic Answers, which shows how accountability from others can help someone see if he or she is ready for this kind of an apostolate. The fourth lesson scandal teaches us is that there are no easy solutions.
Some commenters said that this recent scandal showed there’s something deficient in what they call Catholic Incorporated, which seems to be a reference to Catholics that have conservative but not socially marginalized views who use social media to defend the faith but don’t identify as traditionalists or may even be critical of some traditionalists. Some of these commenters said that we need truly traditional men to call out deviancy and not those who they say engage in tone policing, but that doesn’t follow. There have been scandalous episodes involving mainstream priests and Catholic influencers, but there have also been episodes involving traditionalist priests and self-identified traditional members of what you might call trad incorporated influencers who make money from their traditionalist articulations of the faith. And there’s nothing wrong with providing an orthodox traditional view of the faith and even earning a living from doing that provided that the endeavor bear spiritual fruit.
But this group is just as liable to scandal as anyone else. Recently there was the case of a popular influencer who often criticized the church of Nice, who himself was caught sending shirtless selfies to male coworkers. There are several well-known traditional priests and self-proclaimed exorcists who have fallen into scandal. One of these men who was platformed by traditionalist YouTube channels abandoned the priesthood to marry a high schooler and ran off to Europe with her. The lesson is that no one, absolutely no one is above grave sin. So trying to de platform groups of people to prevent sinful scandals isn’t a helpful solution. That’s no different than when non-Catholics try to blame sexual abuse on Catholic priests and say, we need to get rid of priests or at least get rid of priestly celibacy. That won’t do anything because sexual abuse can be found among all Christian denominations, non-Christian religious groups, and in many secular communities.
It’s a universal problem because sin is a universal problem, and if there are laypeople who are good at defending the faith, then we should support them, especially by encouraging them to be a part of Episcopal approved apostolates that provide them with accountability and oversight. Other people said the problem with scandal among Catholic influencers or popular speakers stems from people becoming too focused on apologetics, and this criticism has a kernel of truth to it. In my episode on the problem with Catholic Content Creators, I said, there is a problem with creators who want to grow their platform, so they just copy and paste what they think is successful. And apologists who are great at answering objections and debunking opponents tend to be very popular if you focus just on reactions and web content that owns people or stokes the right emotions, you can get a lot of engagement and grow followers very quickly.
But is that YouTube subscriber plaque worth your soul? Now, there’s nothing wrong with apologetics or the rational defense of the Christian faith, and there’s nothing wrong with some people specializing in apologetics as a full-time profession if it generates spiritual fruit for the body of Christ. But there is a temptation to reduce the faith to the defense of the faith and becoming an apologetics junkie, which is not good for anybody’s soul. For example, imagine a husband who spends all his time trying to protect his family, and so he ignores his wife and kids while he practices martial arts and tactical shooting. It wouldn’t be surprising if he had an affair or his wife left him. His marriage will have failed because he confused protecting his family with loving his family. Protection is a part of love, but it’s not identical to love. Likewise, it’s good to learn how to protect your faith from arguments against it and to teach others how to do the same, but protecting your faith is not identical to loving your faith and living it out in communion with Christ in his church.
If you spend all or even most of your time on apologetics and you neglect prayer, spiritual direction and the corporal works of mercy, you’re setting yourself up for some real problems. Influencers who are good at teaching apologetics are great. Just don’t expect them to provide for every one of your spiritual needs because no single person can do that. That’s why we have the body of Christ and the communion of saints so that the whole body with all its unique parts serves one another. And what’s worse is that Christian influencers can also take people down with them if they fall into grave sin. If you converted because of their materials, then you might doubt whether you made the right decision if they fall into scandal. And there’s also a danger that if a person goes off the rails, he may not repent and he’ll even take some of the faithful with him.
How many times in church history has a charismatic priest or layperson gathered a following and then left the church taking many of his followers with him at a parish I used to attend? There was an incredibly charismatic and popular pastor. He was so popular that after he was excommunicated for hosting his own ecumenical church services on Sundays, a third of the parish staff went with him and left the Catholic faith. It reminded me of how Jesus said he saw Satan fall like lightning and how the great dragon’s tail swept down a third of the stars of heaven in Revelation 12, four. All of this places a heavy weight on the shoulders of those who choose to defend the faith publicly. James three, one says, let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, for you know that we who teach shall be judged with greater strictness. I talked about this in my recent dialogue with William Lane Craig, and he gave me some sound advice. It’s interesting when I will share my books and I’ll do debates and people will come to me and they’ll talk about how, oh, Trent, your book helped me to go back to church or believe in Jesus, thank you so much. But what’s really is I can feel this big weight on my shoulders of just like, and when people say that, I always say back to them, praise be to God
For how he used my book in your life. But it’s like this humbling weight of a person’s spiritual journey having some kind of dependency on me. I’m just a man. I’m just a fallible individual who makes all kinds of mistakes and will make more mistakes. I don’t know if you’ve felt that in how you manage that.
CLIP:
Well, I’ve certainly felt the humility that you mentioned when people tell you that God has used you in their lives, that is so gratifying and humbling, and I am aware that as a public Christian, it’s vitally important for me to maintain my marriage and to try to be sure that my children come to know and follow Christ as well. If we fail in our marriages and our families, then it does not matter what sort of accolades of success we have academically or ministry wise. We will have failed in God’s sight. So anyone who does want to embark on this sort of ministry, first and foremost, needs to guard his heart and to cultivate those relationships with wife and children that honor God and will keep you from disgracing the name of Christ by falling into sin and the way that so many Christian leaders have.
Trent:
Hey, real fast at this point, a lot of people would say in a video, here’s the word from our sponsor, but I love that our supporters are so generous. We don’t need sponsorships. We can just focus on sharing and defending the Catholic faith. And if you want to help us to keep doing that, please hit the subscribe button and support us@trenthornpodcast.com, where for as little as $5 a month, you get access to bonus content and you make all of this possible without any sponsorships. And now back to the episode. Finally, there’s the temptation When we hear about scandal in the church, to want to throw in the towel to just leave because we’re sick of all the phonies. I was baptized in March of 2002, two months after the Boston Globe broke the story about the church’s sex abuse scandal that went on for decades and evolved over a thousand victims as portrayed.
In the 2015 Film Spotlight. My non-religious friends mercilessly teased me about becoming Catholic when the news broke and it felt like a gut punch. But as my friend Tim Staples likes to say, you don’t abandon Peter because of Judas. I know people who left the church during this period, and it reminded me of these words from John chapter six. After this, many of his disciples drew back and no longer went about with him. Jesus said to the 12, will you also go away? Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. Pope Paul, the six said of the church that she is therefore holy, though she has sinners in her bosom because she herself has no other life but that of grace. It is by living by her life that her members are sanctified. It is by removing themselves from her life that they fall into sins and disorders that prevent the radiation of her sanctity.
This is why she suffers and does penance for these offenses of which she has the power to heal her children through the blood of Christ and the gift of the Holy Spirit. There will always be phonies because deep down, that’s what sin does to everybody. That’s why we should not treat those who fall into sin as inhuman monsters, but pray for their conversion like we want anyone to pray for us. That’s why our Lord said there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 righteous persons who need no repentance. Maybe you and I haven’t committed certain kinds of grave sins, but when we stand before God on Judgment Day, our self-righteous smarmy attitude of, well, at least I wasn’t like those people, well, that’s going to dissolve into dust before the terrifying gaze of the Almighty. It’s easy when we hear about scandal to become self-righteous and forget about our own sins and weaknesses.
In fact, I have to confess that in 1997, I went and saw Batman and Robin in theaters and I enjoyed it. Now I realize I was an immature 12-year-old. I didn’t fully understand the gravity of what I’d done. I asked for your forgiveness. Sorry, I’m just trying to lighten things up a little bit because it’s never pleasant to talk about this stuff. But you can’t appreciate the good news of the gospel unless you appreciate the truly bad news about sin and human weakness. One author who wrote a book about the nature of evil invites us to take part in an experiment to better understand our own evil nature. First, take out a piece of paper and a pen and describe in detail the worst thing someone has ever done to you. Then take out another paper and describe in detail the worst thing you have ever done to someone else.
Now, compare the two. It’s almost certain that the second description about what you did or what I did, it’ll be filled with excuses and qualifications and circumstances to make it more understandable, things you won’t find in the first description. That’s why we desperately need the grace and mercy of God because it’s the only thing that we can rely on when we face God’s rightful judgment. So I hope we can learn the following lessons from scandals within the church. First, don’t rush to judgment and spread things that have not been confirmed, especially if they’re being posted by anonymous accounts. Take time to pray and resist the temptation to engage in calie and detraction. Second, however, don’t think that it’s better to hide extremely grave sin that warrants public disclosure. Don’t think it’s better to do that in order to accomplish some kind of good end. Third, remember that no or group is safe from scandal, so we should all take practical steps in our own lives in order to prevent scandal and encourage this in the lives of others.
All of us should set up personal boundaries and accountability to keep ourselves from falling into sin. And finally, when people do fall, we can’t let that become an excuse to abandon God or his church. Instead, these kinds of incidents should be a wake up call for all of us to clean closer to God and pray for those who have fallen into sin or pray for those who are about to fall into sin, that God will rescue them from their sinful snares. If you like to learn more about how to spot misconduct in the church and how to respond to it, I would recommend my friend Randall Rouser book, disabuse How to Prevent, detect, investigate, and Eliminate Abuse in Churches and Faith-based Organizations. Thank you so much for watching, and I hope you have a very blessed day.