Several commenters have been speculating on why I hadn’t yet blogged about Indiana Rep. Mark Souder adultery-resignation news, among other stories. Rest assured, there’s no editorial conspiracy here — I just don’t have time (especially having just returned from a major trip) to blog about everything, and sometimes I make a judgment call to hold off for a day or two so that I can put a breaking story into an appropriate religion beat context.

Having said that, here’s my $.02 on the Souder situation: yet another moralizing public figure caught with his pants down? You would think that politicians and prominent pastors would realize by now that, especially in this media-saturated day and age, they’re going to get caught. (I’m rolling my eyes at you, Ted Haggard, John Edwards, Mark Sanford, Eliot Spitzer, John Ensign, etc., etc., etc.) What’s particularly ironic here is that Souder, an evangelical Christian, has been active in promoting abstinence — including recording a video in which his mistress, staffer Tracy Jackson, interviews him on the subject. (Yeesh.)

Check out these links for more on the Indiana senator’s politics and beliefs:

• GOP’s Mark Souder latest politician  with sex troubles (AP)
• In praise of conservative Christian adulterer Mark Souder (Rod Dreher, for Beliefnet)
• Representative Mark Souder: The Hypocrisy of the Hypocrite (Diana Butler Bass, for Beliefnet)
• Mark Souder: Would he have resigned if he were a Democrat? (Christian Science Monitor)
• Why do politicians like Rep. Mark Souder stray? (Indianapolis Star)

What do you think? Share your thoughts in the Comments section below.

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