This isn't a thread about faith healing although it could be included here. I just don't want to get into a whizzing contest about "proven miracles" as that topic has been beaten to death ad nauseum. My earlier post about the protection of pedophiles touched on this although no Christian wanted to go there as they were more interested in protecting the Christian church's reputation from any heathen journalism out to smear their good name.

What I'm talking about is the belief that mental deficiencies such as pedophilia and ailments such as sexual addiction can be cured by some sort of religious ritual magic schtick. When Jimmy Swaggert got "caught with his pants down", he went before a board of church elders and received "prayer and counseling" and was thus deemed "delivered", contrary to what a board certified psychiatrist who appeared live via sattlelite with Geraldo Rivera stated during the incident. Ted Haggard also claims similar deliverance. In the transcripts of interviews with law enforcement officials and the late Dr. Bob Gray, retired pastor of Jacksonville's Trinity Baptist Church/College, just before he was "retired' and "sent to teach in Germany", Gray's pedophile crimes were beginning to surface (which had dated back some decades) and he went before a group of church officials and answered to some of his alledged misdeeds and "asked for forgiveness" and was thus granted, "redeemed" by the church. Some 20 years or so later, he returned to Jacksonville in terminal failing health where he faced formal charges, some dating back to the 1960's and 70's. He was arrested, required to surrender his passport and he retained council and died before the case could be formerly tried. Since then, former members of TBC have filed civil suits.

Now contrary to what I've been accused of, I have no intentions of trying to "smear the name of Christianity" or to even "paint the church with a broad brush". I just question the wisdom of A) Keeping a pedophile in a position of authority AFTER the crimes have come to light and B) Not turning these sickos in to authorities and C) Trusting a religious practice of prayer,laying on of hands, public confession to members, whatever in lieu of professional treatment. The psychiatric community has stated emphatically that there is no "cure" for pedophilia, that the best case scenario is to keep the pedophile away from children,ditto for sexual addiciton, yet in most cases, the ones I've seen anyway, the church does a holy roller song and dance and tries to declare such person "redeemed" or some such.
So my question to Christians is, if you had a case where a pastor, let's say a dynamic one as Gray was, who was said to have "Led souls to Christ by the thousands" accused of molesting a child and there was no denial from this pastor and no form of disciplinary action from the church (as well as no reporting to authorities), would you be so quick to trust the church's form of "cure"? Would you let your child be counseled privately by such a pastor after his alledged "cure"? Would you NOT want this pastor to answer to formal charges from local authorities for his crimes like anyone else? Do you really believe that ailments such as pedophilia and sexual addiction can be "cured" by some religious ritual such as an exorcism, laying on of hands or other holy ritual magic schtick, contrary to what the medical community states?