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If a woman you didn't know asked to be let into your church pulpit to "witness" and you, acting in good faith, let her and then she turned out to be a radical feminist from PP would you feel like you've been lied to?

Another bad analogy, since she would never be allowed to take the stage without knowing what topics she would cover. Besides, this isn't about what the woman said or did. Remember that.

But I'll play. If a random, unknown woman was sponsored by a deacon to come speak on the gospel of John, and we welcomed her, and she then SPOKE on John, and everyone enjoyed the message, and she sat down, and then the deacon said, "Oh yeah, nyah nyah, her area of expertise is MATTHEW" - well, little would happen.

But see, it's not like that. A better analogy would be if my church was an Episcopal church, and the occasion was the anniversary of the ordination of the first gay priest, and someone on the lay committee wanted to bring a woman to give a homily on inclusion and unity, and she did, and everyone loved it, and then AFTERWARD, the sponsor stood up and said, "oh, by the way, she used to be a lesbian but she has since renounced homosexuality"...THAT would be a closer parallel.

So long as the messenger was the person promised, of the character promised, and delivered the promised message, I'm not sure there's much to beef about. If there's a standing policy that "no messenger shall be A", and you lie and say "they're not A", that's bad. However, I think there's good precedent for saving 'inconvenient but not disqualifying' truths for later. Unless you think that Judge Alito shouldn't have been confirmed...

Another bad analogy, since she would never be allowed to take the stage without knowing what topics she would cover.

You continue to make my points for me. Harvey/Jessen represented this as a celebration of a CP survivor.

I wrote a quick note to the speaker of the House explaining that Gianna is an advocate for cerebral palsy.

It was checked out in advance. But Harvey/Jessen lied about their intentions and, having gotten the microphone, did something different and completely unrelated. Jessen was promised as "A" which was accurate and "A" was acceptable but Jessen was "A" and "B" when it was known by Harvey that "B" would be unacceptable.

The enduring message delivered to the Speaker of the House and anyone listening was that "Harvey the Christian" cannot be trusted. But the Speaker's a baby-killing infidel and it's OK to lie to them? You only have to be truthful to other Christians? Is that your point of view?

So, using your post as an analogy springboard.

Suppose your church announces that Sunday's sermon is "The Abomination of Homosexuality". You're a church member, you don't agree, and you want to "spoil the party". So, at the last minute, you discover a lesbian woman who's a Christian singer and you want to use her to make a point. She has a history as a Christian signer and has produced several CDs of traditional hymns. Her lesbianism appears nowhere in her music. You ask the pastor if she can perform and, since time is short, based on the strength of her work and based on faith in your recommendation he agrees.

She performs traditional hymns and enthralls the congregation. The pastor and all the congregation are all clearly pleased at her great faith as expressed in her music. At that point, just before the sermon, you pounce and announce she's a lesbian and that the pastor is about to condemn her.

Have you behaved in a deceitful manner? Will you deserve the condemnation that is sure to follow from the other members of the congregation?