What caught my attention here at RSI was the way that Vitter declares that matter closed by emphasizing that he's already confessed and been forgiven.
"Several years ago, I asked for and received forgiveness from God and from my wife in confession and marriage counseling."
Maybe Wendy Vitters does forgive him. As is usual in these rituals of public confession, the U. S. Senator looks like a plastic megajerk while the wronged wife comes off as multi-dimensional, mature, and real. Maybe we should start electing people like Wendy Vitter rather than her husband.
But I don't think the Christian god is going to forgive him. Jesus is pretty clear about what's going to happen to those who lust on the scale of David Vitter:
But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart. And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. And if thy right hand offend thee, cut if off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. (Matthew 5: 28-30)Jesus appears to be very strict about lust here. If a man lusts after a woman, he is already committing adultery in his heart. If his eye is "offending" him through it's participation in the sin of lust, a man should "pluck it out" rather than spend eternity in hell. The same with a man's right hand. Of course, the primary organ of lust is the penis and the obvious implication of the New Testament here is that a man should "pluck out" his penis rather than lust after women. Ouch!
What about a guy like Vitter who lusts on a large scale? According to Jesus, the question is not whether David Vitter confessed and asked forgiveness. The question is whether he plucked out all the members of his body that were involved in his adultery. If his eyes were involved with the good ladies of the D. C. Madam's escort service or the New Orleans bordellos, Vitter should have had them plucked out. The same with his hands, his penis, or his tongue--maybe his nose too. Otherwise, Jesus demands that his whole body be cast into hell for eternity.
That's a long time. Even longer than the 552 days George Bush still has in office.
One of the most famous passages in the Gospel of St. Matthew says that "narrow is the way which leadeth unto life (Matthew 7: 13-14)." Or heaven. When someone goes as far out of "the way" as David Vitter, he should have thrown all his lust-filled baggage overboard. If that means plucking out his eyes, his hands, and his you know what, then that's what Vitter should have done.
I'd be surprised if David Vitter's priest hasn't already suggested this. After all, the Bible is the unerring word of God.
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2 comments:
Excellent Post!
This is an article about Larry Flynt and his role in "outing" Vitter:
Larry Flynt Exposes GOP Senator David Vitter
July 11, 2007
Monday’s confession of marital infidelity by GOP right-wing marriage-protection advocate Senator David Vitter of Louisiana was the result of a multi-pronged investigation launched and run by Larry Flynt.
Vitter’s number appeared on the phone records of Deborah Jeane Palfrey, the so-called DC Madam. The Washington, D.C. number, (202) 543-1752, is listed on the Sprint itemization of calls for February 27, 2001 at 3:06 p.m. The call lasted 1.2 minutes.
A member of the investigative team, Dan E. Moldea, personally obtained the phone records from Palfrey once the injunction against releasing them was lifted. Palfrey released the records to a select group of reporters before posting them on her Web site. On Friday, while spot-checking D.C. numbers on the list, Moldea found the number and linked it through multiple reverse searches to Vitter. He immediately informed HUSTLER of his discovery. Investigative journalist Moldea was also involved in exposing Congressmen Robert Livingston and Bob Barr in 1999.
At around 2 p.m. West Coast time on Monday, HUSTLER Research Director Mark Johnson called the Senator’s D.C. office and left a message with a staffer, saying we were working on a story about Sen. Vitter and would like to get his comment regarding information that we had obtained. The call was never returned. At that point only Larry Flynt and the HUSTLER investigative team knew that Vitter’s number appeared on the D.C. Madam’s phone records. Vitter went public shortly after our call.
Flynt’s team is currently continuing its investigation into improprieties by Vitter and other high-ranking elected officials. While the Vitter matter is not directly related to the recent $1-million offer in the Washington Post, we are currently pursuing several promising leads from roughly 250 tips generated by the ad.
HUSTLER appreciates how ABC got the ball rolling with their initial investigation and we now know that ABC did not have the same phone records as we did.
Read about DAVID VITTER'S HYPOCRISY
VITTER AS FAMILY MAN: Senator Vitter is a married churchgoing Catholic and father of four children. A staunch supporter of President Bush, Vitter has built his reputation on such “family values” as marriage protection and abstinence. The 46-year-old Vitter was elected to his current office in 2004.
VITTER ON MARRIAGE: In 2004, Vitter campaigned with a promise of "protecting the sanctity of marriage," and was a co-author of the "Federal Marriage Act" that sought to prohibit same-sex marriage. Vitter quote: “Marriage is a core institution of societies throughout the world and throughout history. It's something that has provided permanence and stability for our very social structure.”
VITTER ON ABSTINENCE: In June, Vitter wrote a letter to the chairman of the U.S. Senate Finance Committee expressing support for the reauthorization of the Title V Abstinence Education Program of the Social Security Act. Vitter quote: “We must reauthorize this program so we can continue the incredible strides we have made in teaching teens about both risk avoidance and protecting themselves from potential abuse.”
VITTER’S PAST: This isn’t the first time Vitter has been caught with a hooker. During Vitter’s gubernatorial run in 2002, New Orleans prostitute Wendy Cortez alleged that he had carried on a long affair with her in 1999.
VITTER AND GIULIANI: Sen. Vitter was tapped by Giuliani to serve as his Southern Regional Chair. Ironically, Giuliani’s choice of Vitter to marshal Southern support was apparently designed to show that even a clean-cut religious conservative like Vitter could get behind Giuliani.
VITTER’S CRIME: Vitter apologized for his “sin,” but neglected to mention that what he did was a crime. Soliciting sexual services from a prostitute is illegal in most states, including D.C. and Louisiana.
VITTER AND LIVINGSTON: Ironically, Vitter took over the House seat for Louisiana’s 1st Congressional district from GOP Representative Robert Livingston, who resigned after his extramarital affairs were also exposed by Flynt in 1999.
VITTER AND KATRINA: Vitter, a native of New Orleans, grossly misrepresented the seriousness of the flood disaster in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Vitter quote: “In the huge majority of areas, it [the water] is not rising at all. […] I don’t want to alarm everybody that, you know, New Orleans is filling up like a bowl. That’s just not happening.”
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