Spiritual Screw-Up: What's Going On?
August 24, 2012 
Rep Todd Akin of Missouri messed up badly this week speaking of "legitimate rape" and saying, totally incorrectly, that women don't get pregnant from rape. There are plenty of reasons this was a very bad thing for him to do. But I'm especially interested in the spiritual aspect of his error.
It's an election year, not only for Akin, but for the entire Republican Party. Not only are all seats in the House of Representatives up for election, and a third of those in the Senate, but this year we have a presidential election too. If ever a candidate should want to connect spiritually with voters, this is the time.
Yet Akin chose this very time to make this particular mistake. Now possibly he will lose his Senate election bid, even have to drop out of the race. Possibly one more Democrat will arrive in the Senate. Possibly more women will flee to the Democratic Party and vote for Barack Obama.
What's going on?
This brings to mind Jonah Lehrer's recent, sad untruths. I was broken hearted when I learned that Lehrer had finally, after 3 weeks of skeptical questions directed to him, admitted to making up quotes from none other than Bob Dylan for Jonah's new book, Imagine.
Jonah, what could you have been thinking? Just when you were really becoming a well-respected science writer, just when you moved to the New Yorker. Exactly when all eyes were upon you and upon your book. Exactly when you needed to connect spiritually with the reading public.
What's going on?
Reader Comments (1)
Hi Julie:
Huff-Po article examines this very question in a compelling story here:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/wendy-merry/why-liars-make-better-writers_b_1773257.html
The book, The Spirituality of Imperfection, may offer some insight into epic fails like this...http://www.randomhouse.com/book/96307/the-spirituality-of-imperfection-by-ernest-kurtz-and-katherine-ketcham
FYI: Jonah Lehrer moved to the New Yorker (not New York Times)...which makes it all the more harder to comprehend his stumble!