Saturday, February 10, 2007

This "editorial" is a prime example of what happens when sports writers try to pontificate on social issues (as evidenced by Bill Simmons, the Sports Guy, whenever he writes about politics). The writer, Jeff Pearlman, throws this out there:

In many ways, it'd be overly simplistic to merely blame the athletes
without searching a bit deeper. For many African-Americans, a disapproval of
homosexuality comes with the racial territory. Being gay is looked upon as
something ... weird. Something ... just not right. It stems from grandpa. And
grandpa's grandpa. As rapper Kanye West noted last year, it's hypocritical for
African-Americans to complain about bigotry when they apply their own form to
others. From a young age, West noted, you're taught that gays aren't normal.
Aren't righteous. It's not an easy cycle to snap.

Personally, I have a much harder time grasping the locker-room Bible
thumpers; those myriad competitors who attend daily chapel, speak of love and
outreach and togetherness – then damn gays to an eternity of hell. I've rarely
heard a born-again Christian athlete openly complain about a teammate's vulgar
language, or a teammate's blowing off autograph seekers, or a teammate's
cheating by taking steroids. Factually, never has a born-again ballplayer
refused to play with someone because he committed infidelity. But I promise you
– in the spirit of Jackie Robinson and Pee Wee Reese – that when the first
active athlete does come out, there will be trade demands from devout
Christians.


Using Kanye West as your moral baromter? I love that he throws in a Jackie Robinson reference there. I wonder what Mr. Robinson would say to the idea that his struggle to overcome racism in Major League baseball is analogous to homosexual "rights"? Not only is Mr. Pearlman guilty of making huge leaps to link two disparate issues, he is clearly ignorant of even the most basic of Biblical knowledge. Hint, Christian atheletes don't condemn anyone to hell, our own sinful nature does unless atoned for by Christ.

Perhaps the reason that homosexuality has always been looked at as an aberration is that it is just that, an unnatural and disordered activity. Perhaps it makes people uncomfortable because it is something that SHOULD make people uncomfortable. Western civilization has recognized the inherent disordered nature of homosexuality for thousands of years. It is not a sign that we have progressed by our slow embrace of homosexuality, it is a sign of moral laxness and intellectual laziness.

Mr. Pearlman is correct that more devout Christians need to speak out against other forms of immoral behavior in sports, but that shortcoming does not mean that their criticism of homosexuality is wrong, just incomplete. I imagine that he has never taken the time to sit and seriously discuss just what the root of Biblical condemnation of homosexuality stems from, otherwise he would recognize that it is not something spoken of in “obscure” passages but a theme that runs throughout the Bible.

It is nice to see that Mr. Pearlman feels free to indulge himself in the only acceptable form of bigotry in America, at least among the pseudo-intellectual elites, unreasonable disdain and outright hatred of Christian in particular, and anyone who holds strongly to a faith system in general. Whenever an ESPN.com writer strays from writing about sports and gets into political or social commentary, they invariably come across like little kids trying to act like grown-ups. Stick to sports Mr. Pearlman and quit embarrassing yourself.

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

wow

Anonymous said...

Wow. That was an abolustely horrible column. I am also Christian, but there's a difference between those of us who believe in Christ's teachings and those of us who use Christ's teachings to hate. If you're so incredibly pro-God and pro-Bible, why not use your voice to take on a true horror to His name--the destruction of our planet via global warming. It's just a guess, but I'm thinking God is more upset about the destruction of his ultimate creation than the "deviant" sexual behavior of homosexuals. Of course, narrow-minded Christians like yourself never see that. What a shame

Arthur Sido said...

Wow, indeed. If you are a Christian, I am sure you have read the multitide of Bible teachings that address the abomination of homosexuality in particlular and sexual immorality in general, versus of course the absolute absence of any "environmental" passages. Or are you the kind of Christian that is so open minded that you ignore the Bible and create a God of your own making in it's place. Us "narrow minded" refer to that as idolatry, yet another quaint teaching of the Bible.

What is the real shame is that you fail to see the irony of calling yourself a Christian without the vaguest idea of what that means or what Christ taught.

Anonymous said...

The lack of environmental passages!? Are you insane, or just ignorant? Let's start with Genesis. Where did God place Man? On a planet that took him a week of intensive work to create. Are you so dumb and blind that you need it to be spelled out--'Don't kill the Earth.' Does the Bible--translated by man, of course--have to spell everything out, literally, for you to follow it? Or can you read between the lines? Earth is God's greatest creation. The home for Man. And you think destroying it is his will? You think damning homosexuality is more important than saving the Earth?
There's a reason morons like Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh draw people like yourself. Because you are narrow-minded, unfocussed and blinded by Biblical hate.
Oh, and one thing: Are you pro slavery? Because the Bible clearly endorses the practice ...

Arthur Sido said...

Before I respond to your “argument”, two things I noticed….

First, you accuse me of “hate” but then use the following to describe me (not knowing anything about me of course)
- blind
- dumb
- insane
- ignorant
- unfocussed
- narrow minded

And I am the one with a heart full of hate?

Second, you call yourself a Christian, but what do you know of Christ? Who is Christ to you? Apparently the Bible is inadequate to tell you authoritatively about Christ, so what do you base your Christianity on? Are only the passages you personally find acceptable authoritative?

As far as Genesis is considered, let’s do start there. I think every discussion of matters of Christianity should tie back to Genesis. What does God say?

Gen 1:26 Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth."
Gen 1:27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
Gen 1:28 And God blessed them. And God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth."
Gen 1:29 And God said, "Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food.
Gen 1:30 And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food." And it was so.
Gen 1:31 And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

Note that there is lots of talk of dominion and subduing of the earth. Not much about tree hugging. Now, I am pretty sure that if God wanted us to focus on preserving the earth, He might have mentioned it and that we need not read between the lines. What we do need to do is read His Word.

Anonymous said...

Absolutely, positively unbelievable. Only a truly blind man could interpret Genesis to mean that man should ravage the earth, kill it and leave it for dead. True Christianity, my friend, is not only about following a book to the letter (again, if so you'd be a slave owner, or at least approve of the practice). It's about trusting in God's spirit and love and positive energy. Jesus, you MUST know, walked with the prostitutes and the sinners. Do you really think He would endorse denying gays health care? Or visitation rights to a loved one? I mean, do you really, really think so? If the answer is YES, it is you, poor soul, who must look into his heart and question the moral makeup of your soul. For my God--THE God--is not one of hatred and greed and ruination. He is a God who worked hard to create this earth, and wanted man to use it in a positive way. He is a God who loves all creatures--man, woman, black, white, gay straight.

He might even love a lost, blind, moderately inane soul like yourself.

Though, quite frankly, I believe you and your parishoners of ignorant Christianity are truly doomed to the heated underworld. To a place where the sun never shines.

Again, in your heart, do you REALLY believe global warming is God's desire? Do you really, really, really, r-e-a-l-l-y think he wants his planet destroyed?

Arthur Sido said...

You seem unable to see a moderate position where this is concerned. There is a difference between saying that the primary purpose of man is not to hug trees and making a leap to claim that I am advocating wholesale world environmental destruction. The environment is a political issue. Homosexuality is a moral issue. Environmentalism has no part in the Bible. Sexual immorality does and never in a positive light. I would lay out the Scriptural basis for that, but you undoubtedly have no interest in hearing what God has to say on the subject (or on any subject for that matter).

>> Jesus, you MUST know, walked with the prostitutes and the sinners. <<

True, but Christ didn’t tell them their sins were OK. Take for example the most often misquoted passage in the Bible, the woman caught in adultery. Many stop when Jesus says in John chapter 8, verse 7 to 11:

7 And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, "Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her."
8 And once more he bent down and wrote on the ground.
9 But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones, and Jesus was left alone with the woman standing before him.
10 Jesus stood up and said to her, "Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?"
11 She said, "No one, Lord." And Jesus said, "Neither do I condemn you; go,

But few people read the rest of verse 11: “and from now on sin no more”

So clearly what we have here are two people speaking about a completely different being. “Your” god is one of your imagination, with a man centered gospel. “It's about trusting in God's spirit and love and positive energy.”, whatever that means. A god that loves every person equally, without a care in the world about whether or not they flaunt their sin, because your god doesn’t believe in sin (except of course the sin of believing in the Bible and taking belief in God too seriously, which seems worthy of condemnation to hell in your eyes as evidenced by your comment: >>Though, quite frankly, I believe you and your parishoners of ignorant Christianity are truly doomed to the heated underworld. To a place where the sun never shines.<< Very nice!). Yours is a god that “worked hard” to create the world. Yours is a god who left behind a book full of absolute truths but never expected people to take it the least bit seriously.

My God is the God of the Bible, the God who revealed Himself in His inerrant Word. My God didn’t have to “work hard” to create a fragile world that man can destroy. My God, the God revealed in the Bible, declared in Genesis 1:3 "Let there be light," and there was light. Merely by His will and for His pleasure He created all that exists, and God and only God holds it in place. My God is a holy God, one who hates sin (Psalm 11:5). My God is one who revealed His Holy Law to mankind and yet in His grace and mercy provided a way, one way and only one way, to redeem people in their sins to Himself, the atonement on the cross. My God has declared that those who repent of their sins and turn to the Lord will be saved, and those who do not will be condemned to hell. Just calling yourself a Christian isn’t enough. Matthew 7, verses 21 to 23: 21 "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?' 23 And then will I declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.' You worship the creation. I worship the Creator.

You don’t have to believe in the Bible, but you certainly should at least be intellectually honest enough to not call yourself a Christian. The god you describe has nothing in common other name with the God that Christians have worshipped for two thousand years.

By the way, care to provide the Scripture references that you say endorses slavery? In their full context? Or don’t you have any, are you just parroting back something you heard someone else claim? If you don’t have a Bible, I can point to some websites that have the full text or I would be happy to buy you one and send it to you.

Anonymous said...

Gosh, your brand of worship reeks of arrogance; of a know-it-all self-righteousness that Jesus Christ never possessed and certainly never would have approved of.

As for "homosexuality is a moral issue, environment is a political one," well, once again, you are applying your own moral code (not a Biblical one) to something you clearly know little about.

Finally, would you like ME to send YOU a Bible?
Ephesians 6:5: "Slaves, obey your earthly masters with deep respect and fear. Serve them sincerely as you would serve Christ"

Different translations use the word "servant" or "bondservant," but enough of the newer translations use "slave" to where there's little doubt about whom the apostle Paul was speaking--the slaves in the Roman Empire.

If you're gonna talk, know whereof you speak ...

Arthur Sido said...

Wow that is quite a leap, but about what I figured you would come up with (or copy and paste from someone else). What does this passage in Ephesians SAY? That we should enslave one another? No, it addresses lots of different people as you would have seen if you read it in context.

Eph 6:1 Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.
Eph 6:2 "Honor your father and mother" (this is the first commandment with a promise),
Eph 6:3 "that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land."
Eph 6:4 Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.
Eph 6:5 Slaves, obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, with a sincere heart, as you would Christ,
Eph 6:6 not by the way of eye-service, as people-pleasers, but as servants of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart,
Eph 6:7 rendering service with a good will as to the Lord and not to man,
Eph 6:8 knowing that whatever good anyone does, this he will receive back from the Lord, whether he is a slave or free.
Eph 6:9 Masters, do the same to them, and stop your threatening, knowing that he who is both their Master and yours is in heaven, and that there is no partiality with him.
Eph 6:10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.

The reality is that people were slaves in those days, and some of those slaves were Christians. That does NOT indicate an advocacy of slavery. Paul is addressing his letter to children, to fathers, to slave, to masters. Paul is addressing the same thing he addresses in Galatians:

Gal 3:26 For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus.
Gal 3:27 For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
Gal 3:28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.

Do you even read what I wrote before launching into a tirade? You said the following:

>>Oh, and one thing: Are you pro slavery? Because the Bible clearly endorses the practice ...<<

You claimed that the Bible endorses slavery, in fact that it "clearly" endorses slavery. I asked you the following question:

>>By the way, care to provide the Scripture references that you say endorses slavery? In their full context?<<

You replied with exactly what I was afraid you would, a verse plucked out of context and without even the barest attention to what the verse says.

>>Ephesians 6:5: "Slaves, obey your earthly masters with deep respect and fear. Serve them sincerely as you would serve Christ"

Different translations use the word "servant" or "bondservant," but enough of the newer translations use "slave" to where there's little doubt about whom the apostle Paul was speaking--the slaves in the Roman Empire.<<

How in the world do you make the leap that a letter addressed to slaves, as you say, in the Roman Empire = the Bible endorsing slavery?

Let me stop here and ask a fundamental question: you say you are a Christian. What does that mean to you? Who do you say He is? In what do you base your faith in and knowledge of Christ?

Anonymous said...

You are so wrong, it's maddening. You are a person who reads the Bible and picks and chooses what he desires to hear. Have you ever thought that the acknowledgment of slavery is, in fact, an endorsement of said practice? Of course it is. And why? Because, factually, the Bible was written by men of the time period; men who INTERPRETED God's words. And that, my moderately unintelligent friend, is why the damning of homosexuality is not legitimate. Because one must ask him/herself: Is it the word of God, or the word of those who interpret God's words.

Here is the truth, and my final thought on your uncurious blog: Thanks to prejudiced, uncurious, close-minded Christians like yourself, a group of people face the misery of prejudice and bigotry on a daily basis. I know ... I know--to you, gays are sinners, and therefore not prone to bigotry. But you are wrong 1,000,000,000 times. You and yours use the Bible as an excuse to hate. It is disgusting and pathetic, but easy. Yes, easy. Because in my opinion, the greatest gift God has given me is the ability to use my brain to think and love and evolve. I rely on judgment and goodness; my opinions change with exposure and education. God has given me this. He has given it to you, too, only you choose to ignore it.

So, please, continue to read your Bible and take each and every word as literally as possible. And one day, when Caitlin or Hunter or Madison or Noah or Reagan or Laura or Caleb (Dear Lord, why is it that the most wicked among us produce the greatest number of offspring?) come to you and say they are gay, you send them to homo-deprograming school, or damn them to hell, or do whatever it is you do.

But I assure you, with 100% certainty, that the path you are on is a wicked one.

For I am Faaola, the son of the sanctimonious ...

Anonymous said...

It's me, Arthur Sido. I've changed my mind and I agree with you 100%.

Anonymous said...

Another inexplicable one. Please use all your skills to explain how these words are from God.

"If a man is caught in the act of raping a young woman who is not engaged, he must pay fifty pieces of silver to her father. Then he must marry the young woman because he violated her, and he will never be allowed to divorce her." Deuteronomy 22:28-29

Arthur Sido said...

>>And one day, when Caitlin or Hunter or Madison or Noah or Reagan or Laura or Caleb (Dear Lord, why is it that the most wicked among us produce the greatest number of offspring?)<<

Sorry to inform you that my wife and I just found out today we are expecting number 8, yet another child we will raise up to believe the Word of God as literal and authoritative. Here is another quote from that Bible you hate so much.

Psa 127:3 Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb a reward.
Psa 127:4 Like arrows in the hand of a warrior are the children of one's youth.
Psa 127:5 Blessed is the man who fills his quiver with them! He shall not be put to shame when he speaks with his enemies in the gate.

It is odd how you label those who follow God as wicked and yet embrace homosexuality, either literally or figuratively, as a wonderous virtue.

Arthur Sido said...

>>Let me stop here and ask a fundamental question: you say you are a Christian. What does that mean to you? Who do you say He is? In what do you base your faith in and knowledge of Christ?<<

You didn't answer my question...it was intended as a serious inquiry.

Anonymous said...

I just stumbled across the Blog today. I'm a believer, and I respect Arthut Sido's beliefs. However, I find his biblical interpretations generally out of context. I studied for six years at the Oxford King James School of Biblical Interpretation. I also was ordained in 1987, and have been offering the Good Word since that time (I lead a small congregation near Milwaukee) and such narrow reactions to the Bible are not what they were intended to be. In fact, it was in Oenephius III, Page 348 where God laid down a very clear—and visible—command, which was (and this is not a direct quote--it's from memory), "Though thou taketh my words in the most clear of ethemis (This is a word that, in modern terms, translates to 'literally'), it is the enactment of my gift of thought that shall guide thou.'

Arthur, it appears the man you've been exchanging with is crazy. In fact, I question whether he is even Christian. However, our God is not arrogant, and I believe your holier-than-thou approach reeks of un-Christian principles. Jusr because you know the Word by heart does not mean you are living 100% up to code; therefore, to condemn others who don't live up to code (Homosexuals, pro-abortionists, etc) is wrong. One sin is no greater than another.

If you would like to talk about this, feel free to contact me.

In Christ's name,

Pastor David Leonhardt
Beautiful Savior Lutheran Church
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
(414) 871-6744

PS: Furthermore, your take on the environment is jarring for its lack of wisdom. What is happening now is not what God wanted when he gave Earth to Man. I promise you that.

Arthur Sido said...

Interesting. If you will excuse my apparent lack of wisdom, can you demonstrate where I have been "un-Biblical" or have taken God's Word out of context? Your post is long on invective but short on Scripture. It seems odd that you would accuse me of on the one hand being un-Biblical and on the other hand complain about being too strict with the Word.

Anonymous said...

Arthur:

I am not trying to engage in an on-line argument. What I am saying is that even those of us who are educated in multi-religious philosophies must remember that we are sinners, just like all others. Calling people out for lacking your religious conviction is, in my opinion, as sinful as lust, greed or any other sin. Only you can determine this fully, but through your writing, your sin may well be religious arroagnce and a lack of acceptance of other ideas.

Again, feel free to call me ans we can discuss further.

Arthur Sido said...

Again, unless we turn to the Word of God, we are just exchanging personal opinions. I have been accused of all manner of un-Biblical, un-Christlike behavior by people who are either unwilling or unable to turn to the only authoritative source for Christianity, the Bible. You are welcome to reject the Bible but if you do so, you must abandon the label of Christian. Is a rejection of pluralism a sin, that sin being “…a lack of acceptance of other ideas”? So be it. Jesus is “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). We are told that Christianity, the Gospel of Christ is a narrow way, an exclusive way: "13 Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. 14 For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.” (Matthew 7:13-14)

My whole point here is entirely missed. Issues of the environment are entirely separate from issues of Christian faith. That is not intended to diminish or dismiss environmental concerns, although I find most of them alarmist and emotional as opposed to rational. What I am saying is that homosexuality is a deviant behavior, a disordered behavior, a sinful behavior that is specifically and vehemently rejected and condemned in the Bible. Now is a homosexual a greater sin than I am? Certainly not. The difference is one of repentance. I repent of my sins, I hate my sins. I don’t embrace my sins and proclaim them good in God’s eyes when He has spoke definitively on the subject and said the stand in opposition to His Holy law. Too many people use the, “well I am sinner to so I have no basis to call a sin what it is, a sin” We are not given the option of ignoring or accepting sin. Read the writings of Paul, read the writings of Peter, read the writings of Christ. They are never accepting of those who teach a false Gospel, those who misrepresent the Gospel.