It’s a dumb question, but I get it all the time. I write about Christian scandals, hypocrisy, and clergy sexual abuse. I write these stories to build a body of evidence supporting the assertion that being a Christian does not make one moral any more than being an atheist makes one amoral. We should be judged by what we do and not by what we believe. It’s simple really, and I do not tire of telling the story.
I’m hooked because pastors are screwed up people. Like pastor Ray Bentley of Maranatha Chapel. He allegedly directed that the tuitions for a few high school basketball players be paid by his church, which is a clear violation of CIF policy and is considered cheating. Of course, when you import a 6’8” Chinese ringer and have him play ball for your high school team tuition free, you might consider that cheating too.
A number of high school basketball players at Maranatha Christian Schools had their tuitions paid by its affiliated church, Maranatha Chapel, at the direction of Pastor Ray Bentley and basketball coach Rle Nichols, the documents said. This happened despite misgivings by school officials, including the superintendent, Dennis Frey, who stated to the investigator that he was “clearly bothered by the situation” and “near tears” when talking about it.
And the story for star Chinese basketball player Chen Chai.
Additionally, star basketball player Chen Cai from China “was the only student at Maranatha that does not pay tuition,” the report said. The same report said Chen also was the beneficiary of funds provided by sports marketers in China who formerly worked at Nike.
Why would a Christian pastor stoop so low? Cheating at high school basketball is crazy. Why cheat for high school athletics at all? Damn, people have their priorities screwed up. The only high school sports program worth cheating over his football in Texas…. everybody knows that.
The school in question, Maranatha High School, will pay a heavy price for this scandal.
"We have come to the conclusion that Maranatha Christian High School and some of its players had unfortunately violated CIF rules in regards to eligibility," said Maranatha Christian School superintendent Dennis Frey.
