When Christian apologist Ravi Zacharias died earlier this year, one of my cousins wrote a very nice tribute to him and described how his faith was strengthened by the apologist. I left a comment stating that he'd been very influential over me as well back when I was a Christian. I also said, "Even his scandals were pretty minor and do very little to make me doubt his sincerity." At the time, the only scandals I had in mind were Zacharias's extramarital affair and the way he lied about his credentials and work history. There were other accusations at the time, but they were unconfirmed as far as I could tell.

This week Zacharias's organization released the preliminary report of the outside investigators they hired and those more serious accusations have now been confirmed. He owned two spas and had a pattern of exposing himself to his employees, touching them inappropriately, and propositioning them for sex. These are the actions of a sexual predator. The early report hints at other abuses that they are still investigating and the full report should be out by February.

So, I have to take back what I said. His scandals weren't minor. He was dishonest and predatory, abusing the power he had over his employees, humiliating and traumatizing them. I apologize for minimizing their pain. In light of this information, I now do have doubts about his sincerity. The abuse, denial, and coverups suggest that he probably didn't believe everything he was saying on his speaking tours. It stings to realize that I spent so much time listening to someone who was so dishonest. I already considered much of what he said to be mistaken, but I didn't feel lied to. Now I do.

Here is the preliminary report.