GetReligion » "The press . . . just doesn't get religion." — William Schneider

GetReligion » "The press . . . just doesn't get religion." — William Schneider: "A Washington Post profile of Senator Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) tries to put his various roles at odds with each other, including his role as a Southern Baptist deacon.

The article begins with the Southern Baptist deacon angle, but don’t expect to learn much in terms of actual journalism — you know, like new information — about being a deacon at his church or specifics about his beliefs. The “faith section” focuses on Sen. John Ensign’s sex scandal.

Being a deacon, doctor and lawmaker gets complicated.

Coburn found himself the target of critics earlier this year when he invoked doctor-patient privilege regarding conversations with Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.), about a high profile sex scandal.

The reporter seems to connect Coburn’s role as a deacon with his friendship with Ensign. But I’m guessing that that Coburn’s role as a deacon in his Southern Baptist church (hello, which church was that?) has nothing to do with his relationship with Ensign. Each church probably has different expectations for their deacons, but this Southern Baptist checklist gives us the idea that he probably helps with Communion, visits people in the hospital, and evangelizes. So whatever relationship Coburn had with Ensign probably falls outside his deacon responsibilities.

Coburn and Ensign lived together in the C Street House where Christians share a home and have Tuesday night Bible study. The Post reports that Ensign’s mistress’s husband called Coburn about getting a payout from Ensign.

Speaking more like a preacher than a politician in his Senate office,
Coburn said the focus of his talks with Ensign and Hampton was to help them keep their marriages intact. Other officials have run from the increasingly isolated Ensign. “If somebody disappoints you, do you abandon them or try to help them?”

But how does that quote make Coburn sound like a preacher? It sounds more like a friend, maybe a friend who’s a Christian, but not necessarily a preacher."