Why People Don't Like Tebow

Tim Tebow was in the news yesterday . . . again.

He was traded to the New York Jets. I truly do not think he would be in the news so much if he was not so divisive. I believe he is so divisive because he is so showy with his religion.

He has been this way since college. Some people in his ear must have told him to tone it down, from a P.R. standpoint, in the NFL. But the fact remains that he wears his religion on his sleeve. And in our culture today, be it right or wrong, that sells well. People in the Bible belt eat that up. Every time he goes down on a knee to pray on the field, even though Jesus told us to pray in secret in our closets, millions of people think he is being a true witness of their faith. And when he goes on a commercial during the Super Bowl to promote so-called the "pro-life" camp, some people just can't get enough of it.

This year will truly tell whether Tebow is just a fad or is here to stay. He had quite a story, from a sports perspective, last year, as he led the Broncos to the playoffs. Now comes his biggest test of all, as he will be put under the NYC sports microscope.

Best of luck, Tebow . . .

Liberal Media . . . War on Women . . . Enough is Enough.

The main problem with the political climate today is that everyone demonizes the other side. If we try to respect each other and understand people whose thoughts, opinions, and convictions differ from ours, we do not demonize. I call especially on those who call themselves followers of Christ, particularly in the public square, you need to say enough is enough: you may not agree with someone; but that does not give you the license to demonize them, to put them down. You can criticize someone's beliefs without criticizing them.

This problem, then, bleeds into society. Whether we like it or even realize it, we take our cues from those that we see in the news, in the media, particularly on political issues. Many times, we give in to their sweeping remarks about the other side, whether it's the "liberal media," or a "war on women," or "secular humanists," or "religious fundamentalists." Let's look at the issues and not lump everyone who disagrees with me into a phrase that I can pounce upon.

Take the above examples. Are all members of the media so-called "liberal?" Are people who believe contraception should not be included in the health care bill trying to make a war on women? Are people who believe in equal rights for all people somehow non-religious? Are people who believe that church and state should not be separate the same on all issues? Of course not to each of these examples! If we demonize, it makes it easier for us to dismiss someone who disagrees with us and their ideas.

Politics today suffer from the twenty-four hour news media and from being continually obsessed with re-election. In the midst of this, we should demand more from our politicians. We should demand that they stick to the issues, not the other side. We should demand that they actually listen to politicians on differing sides of issues and work together to compromise, rather than always throwing their hands up and walking away when they cannot get a majority to agree with them. By doing so, we would create a better political climate. And, I believe, we would be better off ourselves.

Anyone and Everyone is Welcome

I recently saw that phrase on a Facebook post, inviting people to a party.

How amazing it would be if Christian churches believed this . . . and lived this out.

Take a Chill Pill

I've got a few random thoughts rolling around today . . . so I'm going to put them down - and hopefully they will come together in some sort of cohesive fashion.

Quality over quantity. I've always heard that. And the more I journey through life, the more I believe it. I try to pack so many things into my day. And I measure my days by how much I get done in them. That's too bad.

I'm coming to realize this more and more. My wife and I have been journeying together for almost ten years now, many of those being in pursuit of a Ph.D. We finally attained that for her, recently. And now that we're there, I look back upon different stages of that particular journey; and I wish that I had stopped to smell the roses a bit more (how many cliches is that, already?).

I think this sort of relates to another thought I have been having recently. Religion that is coerced is not true religion. I'm not sure what that is; but it's not religion. I'm convinced of this more and more, with each passing day. But I recently read a blog post from a former pastor of mine, which did a good job of stating that religion that tries to make someone feel superior to someone else is not really religion. That got me to thinking about what religion, really, existentially, really is.

I have been a part of a number of religious experiences in which other people, particularly youth, are pressured into making some sort of decision. It's not necessarily a "do this or die" sort of situation. But the onus is clearly placed upon the individual. And if that individual does not do whatever the leader/speaker/preacher wants them to do, that person is considered to be a failure. The clear example, of course, is a speaker asking audience members if they died tonight, where would they go? (heaven or hell?) Scaring someone into heaven (or one's conception of heaven) has never been a good idea.

But it's not only just these obvious situations. The religious right is all about calling upon religious freedom recently to say that Obamacare (which is a gross misunderstanding of the health care bill) strips away Americans' religious freedom by making Catholic institutions give birth control to its employees. At best, that is a weak case for saying why Catholic institutions should not have to purchase birth control. But anyway, since they brought it up, if we are going to talk about religious freedom - we need to give religious freedom to all people: both for religion and from religion. The same people who are crying religious freedom were the same ones saying that mosques should not be built in certain places. These people want religious freedom for their particular brand of religion. That's not freedom; that's bigotry.

Religion, at its best, is inclusive of all people and is built upon and creates for others: freedom.

Travelling

I love to travel. I always have. I love going places. I love eating different foods. I love being around different people. I love seeing new things. I love going to games in different stadiums.

I also love planning travel. At one time, I thought of being a travel agent. I like to research cities, places to go, things to do, places to stay, places to eat.

Everyone needs to pursue their interests, their passions, the things they enjoy doing. I believe these are God-given. And we are fully human only as we pursue those things that get us going.

Grace For All People

After news broke last week of Josh Hamilton "relapsing" with alcohol, I did not have much grace for him. I have not been a big Josh Hamilton fan for the last year or so. I have grown tired of the way he wears his religion on his sleeve, particularly since it is a brand of the Christian faith that I do not exactly identify with. Then, last season, when he injured himself, he blamed it on the third base coach. That did not seem to be the stand-up, Christian characteristic that I would have hoped for in him.

Then, I heard some details about his relapse with alcohol on local sports radio in the DFW area a few days ago. These details were, well, raunchy, to say the least. It showed me why I thought there was more to this relapse when he sort of apologized in his press conference. That's because there was more to it than alcohol. I let Hamilton have it pretty hard, even if it was only in my own head.

But that doesn't really matter. It took another radio program, on that same sports radio station, this morning to show me that I was the one, in fact, who was being hypocritical. The guy on the radio program, who is admittedly not enamored with the Christian faith (or at least the version of it he sees in popular culture), talked about how impressed he has been by the Christians who surround Hamilton that continue to stick by him throughout all of his ups and downs. The radio personality said that these people should be commended for continuing to encourage Hamilton, even when the details of his relapses are as scandalous as they are.

I was wrong. I might disagree with Hamilton, on a whole host of issues. But it is not my job to judge him. I root for the Texas Rangers; so I should root for Hamilton, both on and off the field. I preached a sermon a while back about judging others. In it, I used the illustration of Heathcliff Huxtable (Bill Cosby's character in The Cosby Show) trying to be a professional plumber in an episode of the show by attempting to fix a leak in the bathroom, when he should have let the professionals come in and do the job. It's the same with those who follow Christ. It's tempting, sure, but it's not our job to judge. We have no idea what it's like to be in the other person's shoes. The sad reality is that we often do much worse than Cliff, who jacked his bathroom up pretty good. We can easily demonize others and do both harm to them and to us . . . even if it's someone we don't even personally know, like Josh Hamilton.

Moving On . . .

http://www.star-telegram.com/2011/11/03/3498674/texas-rangers-need-cj-wilson-back.html

Check it out . . . I think Galloway is right about some stuff (not so sure about the C.J. discussion he has going on there). I won't "move on," either. I can't just forget it . . . as much as I have tried to.

In the midst of this past season, I realized that I was putting too much of myself into it. I knew that I was investing too much of my time and energies into a baseball team. I had decided that I would back way off of following the Rangers as much next year. And I was even telling myself that during Game 6, before, well, you know what happened.

But a funny thing has happened in the week or so since that fateful game. I am more of a fan now than ever. Now I have definitely come to realize that there needs to be boundaries with my fandom. I need to keep things in balance. But I can't just give up on the Rangers, or quit being as much of a fan, even at the most opportune time ever to give up on them. Being a fan and backing a team is a spirit, an attitude more than it is watching every single pitch of a season.

I think where it all started to turn for me was Game 4. Game 3 was horrific. Having been there in person for the 16-run slaughter by the Cardinals was miserable. And the hours leading up to Game 4 were not very pleasant. But something happened in the parking lot, while tailgating, and on our way walking up to the Ballpark. I suddenly had a feeling. I said that Holland would throw 7 scoreless innings that night. He threw 8 1/3.

Optimism, being positive. Those are not things that the Rangers have always instilled in me (and with good reason). But something happened there, right before Game 4. And something has happened in the time since Game 6 (Game 7 didn't really matter--we were done by that point, anyway--how's that for optimism?). I'm optimistic, I'm looking forward to next year.

Can't wait until pitchers and catchers report in February . . . there's a life lesson in there somewhere.

Cherish Life?

When I tell people the town I live in, many times they say, "Oh yeah, that's where they kill people." Unfortunately, it's true. Huntsville is where the death penalty is played out for inmates on death row. Being a strong opponent of the death penalty, I take no pleasure in this.

I was driving around town, in Huntsville today, and saw a billboard that read: "Cherish Life" at the top, with a picture of a baby below it. Without even having to look back, I knew what the billboard must be referring to. Sure enough. It was about abortion.

Here's what I don't get. People want to apply a certain "ethic" of life to the abortion issue. Their slant is that people should not be intentionally killed, as they apply their line of reasoning to an unborn fetus. But these same people will then say that people who do especially bad things should be killed (i.e. the death penalty).

Now I believe there should be consequences for bad things, particularly evil, sinister things, like murder. But I just do not think it's okay to kill people. How can the same person who says, "cherish life" about babies not apply the same ethic to babies who grow up to be adults? How is it ever okay to kill people?

I Might Be Done with Dr. Pepper

Dr. Pepper now has a commercial for their new drink, Dr. Pepper 10, that proclaims the drink is not for women. I understand what they are trying to do: they are trying to market this drink towards men. I get that. But at the expense of women? I expect that many women are offended, and rightfully so.

We do not need to be tied to gender roles, defined by anyone. In the book of Galatians, Paul declares that: "There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus." Human-made categories do not need to define us. If a man finds that he is somewhat "macho," as culture defines it, that is okay. But a man that is not macho need not feel that he is not okay, just as women who might not fit into culturally-defined roles does not need to feel less worthy.

I guess that is in my mind because of my life situation right now. I am searching for a position, while my wife has a great job. We are happy and things are going well. I wish I had a job; but I do not despair that I do not. Many people that we meet and talk with think our situation is odd, because I do not have a job that our lives are centered around. In that sense, our situation probably goes against much of what our culture (our traditional culture) has said is "okay."

We do not need to be tied to what others think of our lives, such as the way others define gender roles.

Coping With Loss

Well that was a pretty pitiful sports weekend. The Rangers had the worst World Series collapse in history. The Cowboys-who knows how they ended up. I turned it off at 21-0. In fact, I turned off two very important games for two very important teams to me mid-way through the games. That's a first. But it just hurt too much to keep watching.

That's the word that I think best describes all of the bad feelings that came along with that horrible weekend of sports: hurt. There's anger, sure, and embarrassment and shock and denial, all that stuff. But hurt seems to be the most prevalent feeling and emotion.

Hurt because I watched just about every Rangers game since early August; and I kept up with every Rangers game that I didn't get to watch, all season long. I put lots of time and energy into going to games and keeping tabs on Rangers' news and happenings. The Rangers players became sort of like family, as I knew what was happening to them and saw them virtually everyday. Of course, all of this goes back for almost thirty years. I have been a fan of every Rangers team for as long as I can remember.

All the while, I have dreamed of a championship. Dreamed but never really expected it to happen. Then there it was. We had it. It was ours. It was so much ours that Twitter-land and Facebook-land and, for that matter, all of internet-land had already proclaimed the World Series trophy to be ours. Then it wasn't. Then it was again, one inning later. Then it wasn't. Then it really wasn't in the 11th inning.

Sure, there was a Game 7. But after the collapse of Game 6, we never really had a chance. That's why I had to turn it off in the fifth inning of Game 7. Just couldn't bear to watch it anymore. Why? I guess it hurt too much.

So what do you do now? After a season of being so close, so attuned to everything that happened with a sports team. After being so stinkin' close to a championship that it was basically already ours only to have it stolen away at the last possible second? Many people, it has been reported, have given up. Not only on the Rangers but all of sports. And that is totally understandable and really doesn't seem like all that bad of an idea. Because this hurt is too deep, too painful.

But for me, I have to keep on keeping on. A wise man once told me that the pain of losing is a far greater feeling/emotion than the joy of winning. That was told to me after watching the Braves fall apart and lose a playoff game and a playoff series at the same time. The Braves have become my adopted NL team. And it hurt at the time, when they lost. But this . . . this Rangers collapse is just ridiculous. And that wise man is right: the pain of losing, especially this way, must be a feeling that is much stronger than what I would feel if Nellie would have made that catch in the 9th inning . . . or if Feldman could have just gotten one more strike in the 10th. The joy of winning it all would have been great. But this pain from the collapse is a much more intense feeling.

I have to keep on keeping on because sports really is the ultimate reality show. Sports mirrors life in so many ways. And now I understand that it can really help us cope with life in ways that are really profound. That's because this is life. Things go good, things go bad. Just when it seems that something incredibly good might happen, it's snatched right away from us . . . and vice versa.

There are other lessons to learn from this season, too. For many people, myself most definitely included, they invested too much of themselves in the Rangers. Sports is good-but I need to balance my love for it and passion for it. It needs to be kept in check. That's tough when your team is having such a good year. And there's nothing wrong with rooting for them and getting behind them. But it needs to be kept in balance. If that doesn't happen, your life can be completely shaken when your team seems to fail you. Sports teams are made up of people, doing their best (or at least we hope they are)--nothing more, nothing less. Sports is supposed to be entertainment. When taken too seriously, sports becomes something that it shouldn't be.

So, we move on. I'm already wondering what will happen for next year: Will we keep C.J.? (I hope not.) Will we sign C.C.? We move on because . . . well because that's really all we can do, no matter how much it hurts.