William Lobdell has written an article, Religion beat became a test of faith, and it boils down to him seeing the worst of those who claim the faith, thereby destroying his. Sadly, I understand his perspective and the journey that he has taken. He has seen some of the worst of the Roman Catholic church and the Evangelicals (through TBN). I can’t help him, or anyone with that. As I read his article, it emphasized how much of his faith journey was on the outside, not on the inside. With that being the case, and the years of covering the seemingly never ending sins of abuse, that it is no wonder that his faith has suffered.
I don’t, nor should you, condemn him. He deserves love and prayer, not condemnation. I didn’t read any of the comments that other readers wrote, but I would guess that if falls into two camps, (1) You (faithless), jerk, how dare you attack (which I don’t find that it is) our faith (or our church), or (2) religion is evil (yada, yada, yada). Basically, scorn towards a person who is hurting, or scorn from people who scorn those with faith. Probably little love.
He latched onto the wrong thing, he should have latched onto what the nameless Roman Catholic friend said, “Keep your eyes on the person nailed to the cross, not the priests behind the altar,” but that’s hard to do. This physical, fallen, world is easier to get attached to, and be betrayed by.