One-Word Answer for Theological Justification of Mr. Wead and His Secret Taping

Hugh Hewitt, notes that the person who surreptitiously taped telephone conversations with then-Governor George W. Bush, was not only supposed to be Mr. Bush's friend, but a member of the clergy. Hewitt asks if there can be any good theological reason for such a "friend" to secretly tape their phone calls.

My answer as a pastor of twenty years, a student of the Bible, and the holder of a Master's of Divinity degree, is "No." I can think of no good reason for what Mr. Wead did.

Nonetheless, I agree with Ann Althouse that Mr. Bush is cast in a postive light by the tapes.

CHECK OUT: My original post on this subject here.

UPDATE: Smart Christian Blog has linked to this article. Thank you so much! UPDATE: Smart Christian Blog has linked to the fully updated version of this article (scroll down to see). Thanks to all for your interest in this post.

ANOTHER UPDATE: Hugh Hewitt has also linked to this article. Thanks a lot!

WHILE WE'RE AT IT: Thanks to all the bloggers who regularly link to this site. I'm especially grateful to those who are so encouraging. That list includes, but is not confined to: Rob Asghar, Tod Bolsinger, Mark D. Roberts, Craig Williams, Tom Parsons, Mark Sides, Deborah White, and my kid brother, the comedian Marty Daniels.

LATEST UPDATE: Doug Wead has expressed public regrets and apologies for secretly taping conversations with then-Governor George W. Bush and for making them public. He's to be commended for this. I agree with Hugh Hewitt that this statement by Wead deserves as much public comment as the actions which led to it.

ANOTHER UPDATE: Blogger Paul Hogue has also linked to this post. Thank you, Paul! In his post on the subject, he expresses concern over the long-term effects of incidents like that surrounding Mr. Wead and his tapes on the witness of Christians.

After Paul kindly wrote to say that he had linked this post to his site, I wrote the following email to him:

Paul:
Thanks so much for linking to my post and for taking the time to write to me about it. I was taken aback when Hugh Hewitt linked to my blog. As you can imagine, it's made for a lot of traffic. He did that one other time, last year when he was vacationing. For three days, there were a bunch of hits. The guy has incredible influence.

As to the Wead case, we all are sinners, of course...forgiven and otherwise. Because Mr. Wead chose to be so public with this act of betrayal, it was only appropriate for him to express his repentance publicly. To his credit, he has done that. From the standpoint of heaven and his fellow Christians, the case is closed. But that can't be said, of course, of a largely irreligious American public who will see Mr. Wead's surreptitious taping and subsequent release of his conversations with Mr. Bush as confirmation of the hypocrisy and worthlessness of Christian faith.

God bless!

Mark