Update #10

On Monday, New Yorkers received a shock as Governor Eliot Spitzer was accused of engaging the services of a prostitute. On the same day, Spitzer held a press conference in which he apologized for "disappointing" his family and citizens of New York,[i] but notably refrained from naming his offenses.

This is particularly interesting given Spitzer's reputation as a crime fighter and a crusader for law and order. His tenure as attorney general of New York was marked by highly publicized prostitution and money laundering busts, as well as the arrest and prosecution of a number of Wall Street executives for business practices of questionable legality.

It is on this reputation that Spitzer was elected, and he promised to act in similar fashion as governor as he had while attorney general--that he would take on corrupt institutions and actors in an effort to clean up New York.

Perhaps the supreme irony of the incident is that Spitzer appears to have been caught by the same tactics he used to break up money-laundering ring; following the trail left by suspicious financial transactions.[ii] When federal investigators noticed that thousands of dollars of cash were being transferred to an account used by a prostitution ring, they took a closer look; this led to the wiretaps which implicated Spitzer in the act of hiring a prostitute.

It is clear that Governor Spitzer has abdicated any moral authority he held as the elected leader of New York; no matter how much corruption he may have ended in New York, he is now known for abetting and engaging in corrupt practices rather than fighting to bring about their end.

In Judges 13-16, Samson was ordained by God to stamp out the tyrannical practices of the Philistines and united the children of Israel as one people. In the end, however, his moral failings were his undoing, and eclipsed his victories against Israel's enemies.[iii] 

At the same time, it is important to view the incident in the proper light. Many of Spitzer's legal and political foes see his fall as the well-deserved comeuppance of a man who was overzealous and self-righteous during his time as state attorney general.

Whether or not this is true, to rejoice at the downfall of a hypocrite is to miss the point entirely. Focusing on the perceived hypocrisy rather than the wrongdoing runs the risk of excusing the sin that Spitzer committed and the laws which he broke.

It is right and proper that there are consequences for leaders who do not live up to the moral standards they are elected to uphold. At the same time, it is important to remember that we are all flawed and sinful; God's moral standards are by their very nature difficult to uphold. To denigrate the standards is to excuse the sinner. We are called to hold our leaders to account for their moral failings, which can only be done if we remain focused on the One who holds all of us to account.