November 08, 2006
Frum = Moral idiot
How did I miss this?
One of them marries, raises a family, preaches Christian principles, and tries generally to encourage people to lead stable lives.
The other publicly reveals his homosexuality, vilifies traditional moral principles, and urges the legalization of drugs and prostitution.
So, in David Frum’s world, it’s better to get married, have kids, and pay for a gay prostitute and use drugs secretly, then to publicly embrace your homosexuality while doing the same. That’s the only difference. Both men perform the same act, but one does so openly and the other hides – and publicly denounces what he privately does.
Let’s ignore for the moment the obvious straw man of comparing Haggard (who this is clearly about) with an openly gay guy who sees prostitutes and uses drugs. (I don’t know that gays are, as a group, arguing for the legality of drugs and prostitution.)
How is the first one more moral? Because he publically says something different from what he privately does? Because he’s trying to do the right thing? He’s not.
The first man lacks the moral ability to admit who he is, and hides behind a faced of what he thinks people expect him to be – using his wife (and children) as a shield from the disapproval he thinks he’ll get if he admits who he is. Do you think Haggard’s wife is thinking to herself ‘Well, he’s gay, but at least he’s trying to live a straight life. Good for him.’, or do you think she feels lied to and victimized.
Is a priest who molests kids, but preaches on Sunday about the ills of child molestation really better than the guy who molests a kid at a park? This is what Frum seems to suggest. But, isn’t the priest worse because he holds himself out as a moral guidepost, while privately thumbing his nose at all the things he allegedly professes to believe?
The other difference between man 1 and man 2, is that man 2 is arguably only harming himself. You can choose to disagree with his choices (IE, drugs, prostitution, even the gay thing), but he’s upfront about who he is and isn’t using anyone. Man one not only lied to his family, but he risked his family’s health by having sex with a prostitute while doing drugs. How is that more moral?
Frum ends with this gem:
Except Haggard (the first man) didn’t overcome anything. He just lied about it.
I always knew Frum was an idiot. I didn’t know how much an idiot until today...