Covering "Religion" Sickens Christian Reporter

When Los Angeles Times staff writer William Lobdell got his wish and was named the paper’s religion writer he believed God had answered his prayers. But after just a few years on the faith beat his dream felt more like a nightmare. Now he rather write about almost anything else.
Lobdell described himself as a “serious Christian” in a recent LA Times story that details his disillusionment with the Catholic Church and other Christian institutions, specifically the Trinity Broadcast Network (TBN). He explained that before taking over the Times’ religion post he often “cringed” at how the mainstream media covered faith and Christianity, making them look like a “circus,” or worse yet, “a freak show.” But the closer he came to seeing how these Christian insiders really worked, the more disillusioned he became with them.
“I understood that I was witnessing the failure of humans, not God,” Lobdell said. “But in a way that was the point. I didn’t see these institutions drenched in God’s spirit.”
The one-two combination that knocked Lobdell to the canvas began with his assignment to cover the sex abuse scandals that engulfed so many Catholic priests. Before he was finished with the abuse scandals, he understood the degree to which the priests and bishops involved had betrayed God and the children entrusted to them. And in the case of Trinity Broadcast Network, Lobdell’s inside view revealed nothing more than a pit of greedy vipers with no motivation beyond their own material enrichment. Worse yet, respected Christian leaders like Billy Graham and Robert Schuller appeared as guests on TBN, helping to convince viewers the network is something better than what it is—an elaborate confidence game.Lobdell managed to keep his faith, but he asked the Times to assign him to a new beat. Maybe the mainstream media is right: many of our Christian institutions are freak shows. Many, but not all. And that’s why we must insist that those which remain genuine and authentic act and speak with courage on the great questions like war and economic injustice. Here on earth we are all God has to accomplish good. When we fail, God fails.