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WASHINGTON, May 16, 2011 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The discovery a “stash of pornography” in Osama bin Laden’s compound by U.S. commandos serves as a “warning” to all Christians not to fall into the hypocrisy of rationalizing sinful pleasures, according to well-known theologian and columnist.

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“Hypocrisy is nothing new, and we are prone to revel in it when seen in others,” Dr. Albert Mohler, president of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, said of the bin Laden discovery. 

The pornographic materials reportedly discovered in bin Laden’s compound in Abbottabad, where U.S. troops found him, included “modern, electronically recorded video” and was “fairly extensive,” according to exclusive reports from Reuters.

It is unknown whether the pornography belonged to or was viewed by bin Landen himself.

Nevertheless, bin Laden, who has repeatedly defended a strict Islamic religious morality, has been widely accused of hypocrisy. As an Associated Press report said: “The disclosure that US investigators found pornography… fuels the US narrative that Bin Laden was not the respectable or noble figure that his supporters embraced.”

Mohler points out that Osama bin Laden “repeatedly accused the United States of immorality, with specific reference to pornography and sexualized images.”  Specifically he cites a 2002 letter bin Laden wrote entitled “Letter to the American People.” 

“Your nation,” wrote the al Qaeda leader, “exploits women like consumer products or advertising tools, calling upon customers to purchase them … You plaster your naked daughters across billboards in order to sell a product without any shame. You have brainwashed your daughters into believing they are liberated by wearing revealing clothes, yet in reality all they have liberated is your sexual desire.”

Mohler observes, however, that despite the truth of these statements, Americans are more likely simply to point fingers at bin Laden. 

The Baptist leader observed that bin Laden’s possible hypocrisy may spring from a theological pitfall into which Christians could also fall. “For one thing, those who commit themselves to asceticism and denial in order to earn or supposedly deserve God’s mercy and favor almost always allow themselves some sinful enjoyments,” said Mohler.

“Christians are called to holiness, not to asceticism for the sake of asceticism. The Gospel reminds us that we do not deserve our salvation and that there is nothing we can do to deserve it. Bin Laden and his associates must have been convinced that Allah would forgive them their sexual sins because of their faithfulness in carrying out acts of terrorism in the name of Islam,” he speculated. “Christians had better see this as a warning lest we allow ourselves the same kind of rationalization.”

To read Albert Mohler’s blog, click here.