Who should you trust?

So many depressing stories out there these days. Chances are, your local politician is a crook. At least one of them. Between the governor, the mayor, senators, representatives--somebody is skimming money, paying off a prostitute, selling out their district's interests for cash. Not the kind of thing you want to hear when waking up in the morning.

Guess what, there's a chance your religious leaders are doing something terrible too! And possibly working with those corrupt politicians. When this guy is getting arrested, there's something really bizarre going on. Luckily, no matter what your affliation may be, chances are somebody of the faith has been arrested lately. Rabbis, Ministers, and of course...this guy.

Tony Alamo, a one-time street preacher who built a multimillion-dollar ministry and became an outfitter of the stars, was convicted Friday of taking girls as young as 9 across state lines for sex.

Alamo stood silently as the verdict was read, a contrast to his occasional mutterings during testimony. His five victims sat looking forward in the gallery. One, a woman he "married" at age 8, wiped away a tear.

"I'm just another one of the prophets that went to jail for the Gospel," Alamo called to reporters afterward as he was escorted to a waiting U.S. marshal's vehicle.

Must have missed the part about having sex with nine-year olds in my Bible...oops.

Now, your spiritual leader is probably not this guy. I would hope. But it does reinforce the need to know that the people who lead you in worship of whatever God you believe in and the people who you feel can "change things in Washington" are flawed and human. They will make mistakes. Sometimes, they turn out to be cretins, but that's rare--it's best not to think about it. But they will fail. Like you will. Think about things when they say them, because you need to be careful accepting somebody else's word as gospel.