Focus on the Family Hires Goeglein, an Admitted Plagiarizer
By Dan Gilgoff, God & Country
Focus on the Family has hired Tim Goeglein, the former chief liaison to Christian right groups from the George W. Bush White House to be its new Washington representative, Christianity Today reports. Goeglein left during the administration's final year after admitting to widespread plagiarizing..
Largely unknown to the public, Goeglein was probably the most important permanent link in the Bush administration for conservative Christian groups that provided a crucial support base for President Bush. For two decades, Goeglein had penned an occasional column for his hometown Indiana paper, the Fort Wayne News-Sentinel. In 2008, the newspaper found that Goeglein has plagiarized dozens of the columns.
Christianity Today noted that a story about Goeglein's hiring in Focus on the Family's Citizen magazine neglected to mention his admitted plagiarizing. A press release quietly posted on Focus's website last month did, however:
Goeglein resigned from the Bush administration last February, after admitting to plagiarizing columns written for his hometown newspaper. He has accepted full responsibility for his actions, Daly said, and the matter is behind him.
"Tim has been forthright about his mistakes and humbly accepted the consequences of them—a pretty rare thing in Washington," Daly said. "He is a Christian, and being a Christian doesn't mean you're perfect—only that there is grace and forgiveness when you confess your imperfections. Tim has done that, and we welcome him to our team enthusiastically."
I remember looking for statements about Goeglein's plagiarism and resignation last year from Christian right groups like Focus on the Family. Couldn't find any.
In 2006, when another Christian right ally in the White House—Claude Allen, whose appointment was seen as a thank you to conservative Christian groups for the role they played in Bush's re-election—resigned as President Bush's top domestic policy aide amid shoplifting allegations, organizations like Focus were also silent. When Allen pleaded guilty to those charges, more silence.
In 2007, when Focus on the Family ally David Vitter, U.S. Senator from Louisiana, admitted to using a Washington, escort service, the Colorado Springs-based organization was also mum.
At some point, don't conservative Christian groups like Focus have to worry about their credibility in lobbying for a morals and values agenda while keeping quiet about the ethical lapses of their Washington allies?
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Tim Goeglein
Despite the claims of Christianity Today, Focus acknowledged Goeglein's plagiarism long before the January press release. The following article appeared on page 29 of the November 2008 edition of Focus on the Family Citizen magazine.
The departed aide
What sets this president apart is what Aristotle called “a greatness of soul,” an inner moral compass that is rare in American statecraft. The president knows who he is, what he believes and why he believes it.
I experienced the greatness of his soul up close, because after nearly eight years of service as his deputy director of the White House Office of Public Liana, I admitted tin March that I had plagiarized. It was entirely my fault, rooted in vanity and without excuse. I hurt my family deeply. It was the worst chapter of my life.
After I resigned, I went to see the president and apologize. The first thing he said was, “I forgive you. I have known grace, and you are forgiven.” Dumbfounded, I told him that I did not deserve this forgiveness, but he repeated, “I forgive you, Tim. That’s the past. Now what’s ahead of you and your family?” The heart and soul of George W. Bush was large, wide and deep that day.
--Tim Goeglein
FOF and Honesty
Where is the issue in hiring Goeglein?
It is not as if Focus has been known for any interest in honesty. It has been noteworthy for its absence in their operations for decades now. They have regularly pushed claims in their agenda that are demonstrably false. Rather than rely on solid scientific research, they hire people that will tell them what they want to hear, people presenting pseudo-credentials.
Yeah, what about Joe Biden?
Biden is a politician, not a representative of any moral agenda or religion. The moral standard is lower for him than it is for religious leaders.
Many of us often ridicule religious leaders for the flaky things some of them do. The fact is, however, that we hold them to extraordinarily high moral standards, and we do this while nursing a great degree of cynicism. When these leaders exemplify high standards day-after-day for years, we then honor them because they help convince us that our cynicism is not entirely warranted, that there are still good men and women in the world and, that man can be more than a wicked beast. For some of us, these leaders may support the possibility that there is a God because, we may suspect, that only God can inspire the sort of moral greatness these leaders have demonstrated.
When religious leaders fall they fall from a great height, chiefly because of the high expectations we place upon them. Unlike failing policial leaders, failing religious leaders confirm for us that there is no God, that we are just beasts, and that we float in empty space on this acursed rock for no reason at all.
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