How Many Inconsistencies can you Count?

by Bill Creasy

Tim LaHaye, fundamentalist minister and co-author of the Left Behind series of novels based on the Christian Apocalypse, gave the following quote in Newsweek:

[The interviewer asks, about the millions of dollars LaHaye earned from the series of books,] How does [LaHaye] reconcile that with Jesus' injunction to sell all you have and give it to the poor? [LaHaye says,] "I can accomplish far more from my present lifestyle and the giving that I do to Christian work," he says. "If I just sold everything and gave it to the poor, I can't see where that would advance the Gospel as much as I'm doing." But wouldn't it advance the poor? "Well," he says," you know how much I pay in taxes?" [Newsweek, May 24, 2004, "The Pop Prophets," p. 48.]

I hope WASH members can amuse themselves by looking for inconsistencies in this quote. I'll start off with a few:

1. LaHaye says he takes the Bible literally, but he seems happy to disregard the parts that he doesn't agree with. He has based a series of novels on his interpretation of the book of Revelations, but when it comes to reading and following the Gospels, he seems willing to ignore the parts that are inconvenient to him.

2. He puts his own ego and opinion above a commandment from Jesus. He seems to think he knows God's plan for him better than a clear statement in the Gospel. Wouldn't it be a clear statement of his faith if he did give away his money? Wouldn't this impress unbelievers about his faith? Why would he presume to know what is best?

3. He thinks that he fulfills a religious requirement by paying taxes to a secular government. He rationalizes that he is fulfilling the requirement to help the poor by paying taxes to the U. S. government, which is explicity secular. This is such a bizarre avoidance of responsibility as to be hard to grasp.

4. He supports a president, President Bush, who advocates cutting taxes and cutting social programs to the poor. If he really thinks that paying taxes fulfills a religious duty, shouldn't he support more taxes?

Have fun finding more!