The Song "China Wine" and Troublesome Christian Clergy

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Song evokes misdeeds of Christian clergy into mind

This song by Sun Ho, Wyclef Jean, Elephant Man, and Tony Matterhorn is from 2007, but it reminds me of an old topic matter, which I first learned about two years before the start of the new millennium (2000). I was still an elementary school kid then.



One Saturday evening a news documentary program ran a feature on one woman who claimed she was raped by her uncle, a priest in one of the poorest provinces in the Philippines. The woman and her friends spend a night at the priest's convent. (I think they went around places, and they decided to stay for the night at the convent.) A demon could have possessed the priest right that moment. About the time that evening, the priest kind of uttered some bad words (if I remember correctly), and when it was already night, he raped his niece, who later bore his child. It was my first exposure to a fact: Priests and members of the clergy are vulnerable to sin.

Can't recall if it was in 1998 or 1999 when I heard about a priest who got killed in a motorcycle accident. This priest was from another village. I heard people say that he was addicted to the bottle. Years later I learned from my language teacher, who lived in the same village as of that priest, that he was forced into the priesthood by his parents. Depression probably favors no one, especially priests.

I don't know if priests are magnet for trouble, but one time lawmakers in the Philippines clamored the late Pope John Paul II to remove the late Archbishop of Manila Jaime Cardinal Sin from his post. Sin was critical of former president Joseph “Erap” Estrada, whose downfall Sin helped ushered in in 2001.

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In 2003 news were rife about the clergy sex abuse scandal in America. It was a shock for the faithful to know that there are priests who would molest young children. That time one bishop Teodoro Bacani was accused of being touchy with his secretary. While the local media reported on the Bacani scandal, they would brought up another clergy scandal, that of one archbishop Yalung who impregnated a woman. During that time, I remember my late father saying we must pray for the priests.

Two years later, a priest who was rumored to have fathered a love child was assigned to my town's parish. This priest got a habit of tardiness.

At college, one Social Science instructor shared to us about a priest and a married woman who were romancing each other in the latter's own house when caught by two thieves. The thieves later spread the news around.

Other than priests, there are also troublesome and erring ministers or pastors.

There was this pastor who occupied one of my late relative's plots of land to build his church but did not obtain the latter's permission. The pastor was allowed to operate his church on my late relatives's land, provided he remit some income. Years later, the church fully owned the plot.

One local celebrity's brother, a pastor of his own church, was arrested for multiple cases of rape. The celebrity learned of her brother's misdeeds only after being informed by their late father in a dream.

One crime detection/expose program on TV have multiple times busted ministers or pastors who solemnize marriages without the necessary permit to do so. One minister/pastor was caught solemnizing a marriage – in a fastfood restaurant.

What about ministers/pastors in illicit relationships and prostitution scandals? One married minister and a married women went to a motel for a tryst, the trip later leading to their arrest. In America, one popular evangelist was busted for hooking up with prostitutes. Somewhere in Africa, a number of pastors were involved in sex scandals, aside from foolishness.

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If allegations of sex abuse can bring a priest down, financial corruption does with a minister/pastor. In Singapore, a very popular megachurch pastor and other leaders were convicted of fraud. The pastor and his aides were alleged to have used church funds in an attempt to turn the pastor's wife into an international pop star in hopes of attracting more followers. The wife is the woman in the video you have just watched. The wife was the direct beneficiary of the corruption. She too is involved in the controversy of love gifts, money deposited by church members in a multi-purpose account set up by husband and wife.

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Financial scandals are rife among pastors in America, Africa, South Korea, and the Philippines. We have read about pastors who have lived opulent lifestyles and used church funds for their own personal needs. One American megachurch pastor refused to discuss finances because of Jesus. Some pastors get flak for preaching a lot about prosperity gospel or wealth, and there are also pastors who persuade their followers to join in networking scams. Pastors and ministers are no stranger to bankruptcy, even asking their followers for help in their own financial problems.

I do not write this post to defame the clergy of Christianity, but to narrate what I can remember from “China Wine”, one of the worst songs I have ever heard – a song I can say is birthed by Satan himself.