BODY,.aolmailheader {font-size:10pt; color:black; font-family:Arial;} a.aolmailheader:link {color:blue; text-decoration:underline; font-weight:normal;} a.aolmailheader:visited {color:magenta; text-decoration:underline; font-weight:normal;} a.aolmailheader:active {color:blue; text-decoration:underline; font-weight:normal;} a.aolmailheader:hover {color:blue; text-decoration:underline; font-weight:normal;} ANOTHER POTENTIAL SCANDAL TIED TO DC "FELLOWSHIP" HOUSE?
What is really going on at the non-descript house at 133 C St. SE
in Washington, DC?
Until a Harper's Magazine expose and subsequent revelations
in the Washington Post, few were aware of the mysterious
"Christian Fellowship House" which serves as a religious retreat
for fundamentalists, and dorm room for some leading members
of Congress. It is also a listening post and headquarters for a
shadowy group that organizes the National Day of Prayer breakfast,
has a multi-million dollar operating budget, and has existed under
as labyrinth of different names. Residents at the C Street enclave
often refer to it as "the Family" or "the Fellowship."
Now, the group is receiving special media scrutiny because of a
widening series of sex scandals involving key Fellowship members
who happen to be members of the U.S. Congress. The first involved
Rep. John Ensign who, while preaching religious correctness and
probity from the congressional well, carried on an affair with the
wife of a key office staffer.
A second resident of the C Street enclave is now caught in
similar accusations. Last week, reports appeared stating that GOP
Rep. Charles Pickering carried on an extra-marital affair according
to documents filed by his now-estranged wife, Leisha. Court papers
also reflect that "the other woman," Elizabeth Creekmore Byrd,
wrecked the marriage and, for all intents and purposes, destroyed
Pickering's political future. The Fellowship house is mentioned
as a venue for Pickering's peccadilloes, which suggests that the
self-righteous atmosphere of bible study, prayer-chanting and paeans
to Jesus does not seem to attenuate the temptations of the flesh.
One blog posting recommended that the rest of the C Street boy's
club --Reps. Mike Doyle, Bart Stupak and Zach Wamp -- start looking
for new digs inside the beltway, least they be tarred by the brush
of this scandal.
In the days before the religious right took over DC and turned the
podiums on Capitol Hill into thundering pulpits, there were still
scandals a' plenty for news hounds and tabloids.
President Lyndon Johnson reportedly enjoyed his regular phone
conversations with FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, who regaled
the Commander-in-Chief with reports of the latest hanky-pank
involving the high and mighty. Johnson allegedly mentioned these
revelations in casual conversations with the offenders, usually when
he needed votes on deadlocked legislation. There was a surfeit of
other scandals, too, but most did not receive the sort of media
or public interest we have today --that is, until October, 1974
when one of the most powerful politicians in Washington -- House
Ways and Means Committee Chairman Wilbur Mills -- was pulled over
by DC police on a speeding violation. Comfortably tucked into the
passenger seat was a stripper, Fannie Fox," known affectionately as
"the Argentine Firecracker." When police approached the automobile,
Ms. Fox promptly fled the vehicle and jumped into the Tidal Basin.
The Mills-Fox story quickly exploded in the news media, in part
since Mills was up for re-election. The congressman's 38-year
career on the Hill ended in resignation. Since then, however,
politicians and other public figures have learned to survive the
cultural fall-out from such escapades. Bill Clinton, for instance,
weathered impeachment proceedings and today is considered a elder
statesman.
The difference between the escapades of the Mills era and today,
however, is that most of the leading contemporary philanderers
display a badge of religious probity and self-righteousness. They
want the
Ten Commandments displayed in schools, they work incessantly to
return organized, unison prayer and Bible reading to our public
schools (Mr. Wamp, take note sir!) and they proclaim their sectarian
affiliations and beliefs as a credential for public office.
In other words, they are hypocrites and liars. One pundit recently
accused them of being polygamists, since they were, in effect,"taking
more than one woman."
These powerful men also join a growing rogue's gallery of other
ne'er-do-wells -- preachers, especially, along with pedophile
priests -- in hustling religion while leading a life that does not
quite follow the popular notions of what Jesus taught. Indeed,
if we believe the biblical tales, Jesus would have more sympathy
and understanding for Ms. Fox than he might for Rep. Mills.
What would Jesus say about Rep. Larry "wide stance" Craig's visit
to airport restrooms, or Gov. Sanford's out-of-town excursions to
rendezvous with his mistress? And there's Gov. Spitzer, and now,
Rep. Pickering, and surely there will be more.
The ethical transgressions of these men against their wives is
something they must deal with. Ironically, Atheists, Secular
Humanists and other non-believers may be more understanding (and
perhaps more forgiving) of these dalliances than the religious.
We see such behaviors from a psychological and even evolutionary
perspective. This body of knowledge does not forgive such actions,
but it helps psychologists and others comprehend why this occurs
and, if appropriate, how to deal to deal with such events.
Mix in religion, however, and the focus must change abruptly;
we go from unsanctioned and often hurtful human behavior to the
real of sheer hypocrisy, lying, and betrayal of the public trust.
The religious right needs to put it own sordid house in order;
its sentinels of public morality seem, in increasing numbers, to
be paragons of public disgrace. And maybe, the building at 133 C
Street is overdue for a house cleaning as well.
-- Conrad F. Goeringer
Editor, AANEWS
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