美国国家公共电台 NPR For Evangelicals, A Year Of Reckoning On Sexual Sin And Support For Donald Trump

 

MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:

Evangelical Christians² are among those who've been forced to address sexual misconduct this year. They regard infidelity as an especially serious sin. The president that they broadly support is accused of covering up extramarital affairs. And some high-profile preachers have confessed to sexual harassment⁴ and worse. NPR's Tom Gjelten reports.

TOM GJELTEN, BYLINE⁵: Stories about Donald Trump⁶'s infidelity broke during the election campaign. They could not have helped him with evangelical voters. Samuel Perry, who trained at an evangelical seminary, says the conservative Protestant view of sexual misconduct is that it's the mother of all sins.

SAMUEL PERRY: The most dirty, the most damning, the most shameful⁷ - people could have a lack of prayer life. People could be materialistic⁸. People could not be characterized by loving their neighbor. And yet what gets the gossip train going or what ruins one's reputation is really - has more to do with one's sexual past.

GJELTEN: And yet 80 percent of white evangelicals backed Donald Trump in 2016. And midterm exit polls suggest that support has held steady. Evangelical theologians struggle to explain. Wayne Grudem, a professor of biblical studies at Phoenix⁹ Seminary, has just come out with a 13,000 page book "Christian¹ Ethics¹⁰: An Introduction To Biblical Moral Reasoning." He devotes nearly 200 pages to the Seventh Commandment - thou shalt not commit adultery. He says it does apply to Donald Trump.

WAYNE GRUDEM: I have not heard of any evangelical leader who said that his marital³ unfaithfulness was acceptable or anything but morally wrong, sinful and needs to be repented¹¹ of.

GJELTEN: And yet Dr. Grudem, like most other evangelicals, voted for Donald Trump. He's among those who cite Trump's appointment of conservative judges. Others say they think Trump has changed and is now a born-again Christian. But there are more examples in the evangelical world of behavior that doesn't accord with sexual ethics. This past year has brought numerous stories of evangelical preachers engaging in sexual misconduct. What does it all mean? Wayne Grudem has an answer.

GRUDEM: Sin.

GJELTEN: Sin.

GRUDEM: (Laughter) I mean, there's sin the human heart.

GJELTEN: This is not a trivial statement. Evangelical Christians emphasize their dark view of human nature. Everybody from presidents to pastors¹³ is a sinner and needs forgiveness. Men are especially prone¹⁴ to sexual sin. Samuel Perry, who now teaches religion at the University of Oklahoma, has a new book titled "Addicted¹⁵ To Lust¹⁶." He says evangelical Christians believe God designed men to be sexual initiators and therefore potentially dangerous animals - almost like men who know they'll turn into werewolves whenever there's a full moon.

PERRY: You know, you see these scenes in movies where you've got guys who - you know, they know it's a full moon out, and they're going to - they're running around begging somebody to lock them up. I mean, that's almost what we're talking about.

GJELTEN: In this view, if a man is not at least tempted¹⁷ to commit sexual sin, there must be something wrong with him.

PERRY: Being an evangelical man and confessing to be somebody who makes sexual mistakes almost validates¹⁸ your masculinity, in a way. You know, look. I'm a man. I'm a red-blooded man who struggles with sin like everybody else. And I'm dealing¹⁹ with it.

GJELTEN: So when a man engages in sexual misconduct, it's not surprising. That doesn't mean it's not wrong. But it's understandable. This is why some evangelical men say they follow the so-called Billy Graham rule - never be alone with a woman who's not your wife. Of course, that limits what work men and women can do together.

NANCY BEACH: Our fear of potential moral failure may well drive us to conclude that the answer is to go back to our safe comfort zones.

GJELTEN: Nancy Beach, a former pastor¹² at Willow²⁰ Creek²¹ Community Church outside Chicago, last spring accused the church's founder²² of improper²³ advances. But speaking about sexual violence this month at Wheaton College, she warned against any effort to keep men apart.

BEACH: To not invite women to the leadership table and also to establish 20 more rules of how we can't be in the same elevator or anywhere near one another...

(LAUGHTER, APPLAUSE)

BEACH: ...so that no one will have the opportunity to sin.

GJELTEN: Evangelicals have obviously thought about sexual sin for a long time. But the stories of this past year have brought discussions of it forward. Politics, theology and gender²⁴ relations in church communities will all be affected²⁵. Tom Gjelten, NPR News.

(SOUNDBITE OF NEW ORDER SONG, "CEREMONY")

1 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

2 Christians   

n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Christians of all denominations attended the conference. 基督教所有教派的人都出席了这次会议。
• His novel about Jesus caused a furore among Christians. 他关于耶稣的小说激起了基督教徒的公愤。

3 marital   

adj.婚姻的，夫妻的

参考例句：

• Her son had no marital problems.她的儿子没有婚姻问题。
• I regret getting involved with my daughter's marital problems;all its done is to bring trouble about my ears.我后悔干涉我女儿的婚姻问题, 现在我所做的一切将给我带来无穷的烦恼。

4 harassment   

n.骚扰，扰乱，烦恼，烦乱

参考例句：

• She often got telephone harassment at night these days.这些天她经常在夜晚受到电话骚扰。
• The company prohibits any form of harassment.公司禁止任何形式的骚扰行为。

5 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

6 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

7 shameful   

adj.可耻的，不道德的

参考例句：

• It is very shameful of him to show off.他向人炫耀自己，真不害臊。
• We must expose this shameful activity to the newspapers.我们一定要向报社揭露这一无耻行径。

8 materialistic   

a.唯物主义的，物质享乐主义的

参考例句：

• She made him both soft and materialistic. 她把他变成女性化而又实际化。
• Materialistic dialectics is an important part of constituting Marxism. 唯物辩证法是马克思主义的重要组成部分。

9 phoenix   

n.凤凰，长生(不死)鸟；引申为重生

参考例句：

• The airline rose like a phoenix from the ashes.这家航空公司又起死回生了。
• The phoenix worship of China is fetish worship not totem adoration.中国凤崇拜是灵物崇拜而非图腾崇拜。

10 ethics   

n.伦理学；伦理观，道德标准

参考例句：

• The ethics of his profession don't permit him to do that.他的职业道德不允许他那样做。
• Personal ethics and professional ethics sometimes conflict.个人道德和职业道德有时会相互抵触。

11 repented   

对（自己的所为）感到懊悔或忏悔( repent的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He repented his thoughtlessness. 他后悔自己的轻率。
• Darren repented having shot the bird. 达伦后悔射杀了那只鸟。

12 pastor   

n.牧师，牧人

参考例句：

• He was the son of a poor pastor.他是一个穷牧师的儿子。
• We have no pastor at present:the church is run by five deacons.我们目前没有牧师：教会的事是由五位执事管理的。

13 pastors   

n.（基督教的）牧师( pastor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Do we show respect to our pastors, missionaries, Sunday school teachers? 我们有没有尊敬牧师、宣教士，以及主日学的老师？ 来自互联网
• Should pastors or elders be paid, or serve as a volunteer? 牧师或长老需要付给酬劳，还是志愿的事奉呢？ 来自互联网

14 prone   

adj.(to)易于…的，很可能…的；俯卧的

参考例句：

• Some people are prone to jump to hasty conclusions.有些人往往作出轻率的结论。
• He is prone to lose his temper when people disagree with him.人家一不同意他的意见,他就发脾气。

15 addicted   

adj.沉溺于....的，对...上瘾的

参考例句：

• He was addicted to heroin at the age of 17.他17岁的时候对海洛因上了瘾。
• She's become addicted to love stories.她迷上了爱情小说。

16 lust   

n.性(淫)欲；渴(欲)望；vi.对…有强烈的欲望

参考例句：

• He was filled with lust for power.他内心充满了对权力的渴望。
• Sensing the explorer's lust for gold, the chief wisely presented gold ornaments as gifts.酋长觉察出探险者们垂涎黄金的欲念，就聪明地把金饰品作为礼物赠送给他们。

17 tempted   

v.怂恿（某人）干不正当的事；冒…的险（tempt的过去分词）

参考例句：

• I was sorely tempted to complain, but I didn't. 我极想发牢骚，但还是没开口。
• I was tempted by the dessert menu. 甜食菜单馋得我垂涎欲滴。

18 validates   

v.证实( validate的第三人称单数 )；确证；使生效；使有法律效力

参考例句：

• Other research validates that when it comes to chocolate, type does matter. 其他的研究也证实了不同种类的巧克力确实功效不同。 来自互联网
• Trouble shoots equipment, review and validates data and complete reports. 管理错误描述设备，审查并确认试验数据，完成试验报告。 来自互联网

19 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

20 willow   

n.柳树

参考例句：

• The river was sparsely lined with willow trees.河边疏疏落落有几棵柳树。
• The willow's shadow falls on the lake.垂柳的影子倒映在湖面上。

21 creek   

n.小溪，小河，小湾

参考例句：

• He sprang through the creek.他跳过小河。
• People sunbathe in the nude on the rocks above the creek.人们在露出小溪的岩石上裸体晒日光浴。

22 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

23 improper   

adj.不适当的，不合适的，不正确的，不合礼仪的

参考例句：

• Short trousers are improper at a dance.舞会上穿短裤不成体统。
• Laughing and joking are improper at a funeral.葬礼时大笑和开玩笑是不合适的。

24 gender   

n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。
• Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。

25 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。