The truth hurts. And that is why it is the truth.

Sometimes I have had occasion to write critically about how the church handles religious matters. I've been assailed for doing so. My pastor, leading prayer, complains about people in the media "exposing sin in the church" and asks God to stop them. I get complaints that, as a Christian, I should do my little part for the team by neglecting to talk about matters and issues in the church that the world as a whole would be concerned about.

And then I saw this artcle this afternoon, Foley says 'bad examples' biggest hurdle for evangelisation, and I felt a little better after reading this quote

"Ironically, the good news about the church is more likely to be believed when it is made known through the secular media, first, because they are viewed as not having a vested interest in telling such good news and, second, because they are better known for having published so much bad news," he said.

I would suggest that if Christian journalists strove for holding the church properly accountable for its sins we would do a much better job that those who may be clueless about the issues involved. We shouldn't leave hard hitting coverage to those who may overtly hate the church. We should do it ourselves, so it is done accurately.

The link, by the way, is from Kathy Shaidle's Relapsed Catholic, a uniformly fine weblog. Check it out.