Vance, Thank you for reading the article and for your comments. I think you offer a nice summary in pointing out that this is a human condition and not necessarily a Christian thing. I too like David French's writing most of the time. And like you, something was just off, which was the inspiration for writing my article on the question. I had to sort it out though.

I've written a whole lot about the challenges in the church. There are definitely some serious flaws and challenges. And the more I write and think about the church, the more I see that it's human flaws and challenges that happen to be in Christianity, and not something specifically Christian that is the problem. Of course, the church does itself no favors though, as I pointed out.

In some ways, this just reminds me about the debates around economic theories. It's not the economic theories that are the problems, it's that people try them and in doing so, never stick to the theory. or maybe are incapable of sticking to the theory. Then again, theory is often not realistic either.