I wish I could say I'm shocked, but this is now an entirely familiar tale: the talented genius of a man who, because of his creativity and unique way of thinking, believes himself uniquely unbound by standard morality. The Vatican tolerated Michelangelo's relationships, and the result is the Sistine Chapel. I've been debating whether or not to read Thomas Mann's "Doctor Faustus". So much of his life was noble, but he was a pedophile. Theologians are not immune. Barth's menage a trois is now infamous. All these people, I suspect, justified their sin as an oddity of their genius, much as megachurch pastors justify their sin because they have worked themselves to exhaustion for the sake of the Lord. It is a warning to us all, but the answer is not to stop reading books by sinners. Rather, it is to take heed lest we too should fall. And the Lord will make us stand - he has done so for many. But the key is humility. We must never for a moment think our talents are anything but gracious gifts. They do not grant us the right to behave immorally. I have written five novels, and I know it is often necessary to wade into darkness to produce such things, but there is a difference between wading into darkness and participating in it.
ISTM that trying to study Macarthy’s work apart from the context that gave rise to it risks misreading it. My grandfather and my father were both Christian ministers whose ministry bore fruit in the lives of many people. Meanwhile, their unacknowledged abuse of their daughters wreaked havoc on our family. Deep study of the family line of the OT is what helped me reconcile the pattern in these stories, one that continues in the stories of men like Macarthy and those in my family. Whatever common grace truth and beauty was birthed, it was conceived and nurtured by wickedness. If the work is to be honored, the girls whose lives and futures were shattered to produce it should at minimum be acknowledged, and the work at least declared tainted because of it.
This makes me think about Bill Cosby. What a disappointment. He harmed his fellow actors in that show as well, both financially and career wise. I find it hard to watch knowing what I know. But there was still good work and message there.
I wish I could say I'm shocked, but this is now an entirely familiar tale: the talented genius of a man who, because of his creativity and unique way of thinking, believes himself uniquely unbound by standard morality. The Vatican tolerated Michelangelo's relationships, and the result is the Sistine Chapel. I've been debating whether or not to read Thomas Mann's "Doctor Faustus". So much of his life was noble, but he was a pedophile. Theologians are not immune. Barth's menage a trois is now infamous. All these people, I suspect, justified their sin as an oddity of their genius, much as megachurch pastors justify their sin because they have worked themselves to exhaustion for the sake of the Lord. It is a warning to us all, but the answer is not to stop reading books by sinners. Rather, it is to take heed lest we too should fall. And the Lord will make us stand - he has done so for many. But the key is humility. We must never for a moment think our talents are anything but gracious gifts. They do not grant us the right to behave immorally. I have written five novels, and I know it is often necessary to wade into darkness to produce such things, but there is a difference between wading into darkness and participating in it.
Dang I hadn’t heard about this yet. Very depressing.
ISTM that trying to study Macarthy’s work apart from the context that gave rise to it risks misreading it. My grandfather and my father were both Christian ministers whose ministry bore fruit in the lives of many people. Meanwhile, their unacknowledged abuse of their daughters wreaked havoc on our family. Deep study of the family line of the OT is what helped me reconcile the pattern in these stories, one that continues in the stories of men like Macarthy and those in my family. Whatever common grace truth and beauty was birthed, it was conceived and nurtured by wickedness. If the work is to be honored, the girls whose lives and futures were shattered to produce it should at minimum be acknowledged, and the work at least declared tainted because of it.
This makes me think about Bill Cosby. What a disappointment. He harmed his fellow actors in that show as well, both financially and career wise. I find it hard to watch knowing what I know. But there was still good work and message there.