Evangelical Leader: Some Games Are Okay. Others, Not So Much...

Nice try. Here's a bit of a semantics lesson:

When I say "In power" in this instance, I do not mean that he rules the world, nor the U.S., nor even a state, nor even a city, a town, or a neighborhood. We can say that these are extremes and absolutes. He doesn't even rule the people in his congregation.

However, he does influence their opinions. Most people in power get very very rigid for fear of losing that power, he's shown himself willing to say things that some of his congregation very likely disagrees with.

So he's in power, not afraid to use it, and is stepping out from the safety of his crowd, when he could just stick with folks like jack thompson and whats-his-face from westboro, and get all the praise he wants.

And here's a lesson on human nature!

People are like dogs by nature. While often much more complex than it first seems, for a person to do something there must be a reward. From scratching their ass (the itch stops) to not doing it in public (it offends others, which generally makes less good things happen) to leading a congregation.

There's a whole lot of negative that can befall him from him or his congregation perceiving him misleading them. If there is no positive/reward/benefit to him changing, he's going to sit on his hands and take no risks. He took a risk, and while it wasn't a complete "come when called" (as far as dog commands go), he took steps in the desired direction.

So while we can't control the actions of others and actions of people reacting to him, we can ourselves provide praise and encouragement for him to take a few more steps towards us. Or we can bludgeon him so that he steps back, away from us, towards the side that provides him more benefit.