c. 2006 Religion News Service

(UNDATED) The Rev. Ted Haggard, one of America’s most prominent and influential Christian leaders, was fired from the 14,000-member New Life Church in Colorado Springs after a church investigation confirmed Haggard’s “sexually immoral conduct” with a male escort. He’s now undergoing a long process of “spiritual restoration.”

In September, Florida Republican Rep. Mark Foley resigned when his sexual advances toward congressional pages were made public. Foley quickly entered a rehabilitation program where he still remains out of sight.

In July, film star Mel Gibson was arrested in California for driving under the influence of alcohol. After an ugly verbal attack aimed at women and Jews, and a suspension of his driver’s license, Gibson announced he was seeking help for his personal problems.

Last May, Rep. Patrick Kennedy, D-R.I., had a late night car accident near the Capitol. He told police he did not recall the incident, and Kennedy immediately entered a rehab center to treat his alcoholism and addiction to prescription pain killers.

Because cases involving religious, entertainment and political leaders are becoming the common _ even cheap _ currency of American society, I have a modest proposal aimed at benefiting an increasingly weary public and the individuals involved in sex abuse, drug usage, alcoholism and a host of other maladies of body and soul: a National Day of Atonement.

Since confession, repentance and atonement are central to Judaism and Christianity, our new National Day of Atonement would allow our erring leaders to come forward and publicly announce their various wrongful acts of omission and commission.

What a relief it would be for a jaded public to hear all the confessions on the same day; it would be a wholesale operation, and a needed catharsis for the sinners. The existing public confession _ a relentless numbing retail operation, done one at a time _ could be scrapped for a collective process.

By now, we well know the choreographed dance of public confession. Someone accuses a public figure of wrongdoing by producing incriminating e-mail or taped phone conversations. Or there is an arrest for an illegal action. The accused, especially in drug or sex cases, first blames the media, and then feigns ignorance or innocence. The initial denial is followed by a carefully constructed verbal denial that frequently leads to a partial admission as more incriminating details become known. Ultimately, as in Haggard’s case, there is a full public confession.

It’s all so … predictable.

So why not utilize the rich spiritual resources of Judaism and Christianity and immediately cut to the chase, er, confession? The Jewish Yom Kippur liturgy _ our very own Day of Atonement _ is especially helpful since it contains an extensive litany of sins to which all humans inevitably fall prey, including “misuse of power over others, following a multitude to do evil, sinning in secret, participating in slander and gossip, employing unethical professional business practices, receiving or offering bribes, and abusing the love and trust of family members.”

On a National Day of Atonement, CNN and NPR could schedule a dozen sinners an hour. In a single five-minute period, we could learn first-hand about the sins of our leaders and celebrities, their plans for repentance and atonement, and, if needed, the type of rehab required.

There would, however, be an important restriction. The person seeking atonement cannot offer half-truths, cleverly worded evasions or other attempts to deceive the public. Like Yom Kippur itself, total honesty would be required.

Within 10 hours, the American public could learn of 120 cases of abuse involving sex, money, power, drugs and other forms of unethical behavior. The process would be akin to the proverbial barber shop sign: “No Waiting!” A National Day of Atonement would also end the duplicitous shock and surprise Americans love to express upon hearing how another of the mighty has fallen.

With so many folks entering secluded rehab centers, it’s clear that physical and psychological rehabilitation is a growing successful business enterprise. Indeed, “going into rehab” is the modern equivalent of Hamlet’s famous advice to Ophelia “Get thee to a nunnery. Why wouldst thou be a breeder of sins?”

KRE/JL END RUDIN

(Rabbi Rudin, the American Jewish Committee’s senior interreligious adviser, is the author of the recently published book “The Baptizing of America: The Religious Right’s Plans for the Rest of Us.”)

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