Neil Armstrong: A Great American, A Devout Christian

August 26, 2012 By 14 Comments

ASTRONAUT ARMSTRONG CONSIDERED FOLLOWNG JESUS GREATER THAN STEPPING ON THE MOON.

Neil Armstrong went to be with the Lord yesterday. He was a great American. He was a devoted Christ follower.

Of course, you wouldn’t know about Armstrong’s Christian faith from the obituaries published by such bastions of liberal journalism as the New York Times and Washington Post. They didn’t consider it worthy of comment.

Nor would you know that Armstrong loved the Lord from the perfunctory tribute offered by President Obama, who mentions Christianity only when it serves his political purposes (like defending his support for homosexual marriage).

But Armstrong’s life story cannot be told without mentioning his walk with Christ.

Indeed, perhaps the most under-reported story about Armstrong concerned his visit to Israel following his historic trip to the moon, where he made his one small step for (a) man, one giant leap for mankind.

The American astronaut was taken on a tour of the old city of Jerusalem by Israeli archeologist Meir Ben-Dov. When they got to the Hulda Gate, which is at the top of the stairs leading to the TempleMount, Armstrong asked Ben-Dov whether Jesus had stepped anywhere around there.

“These are the steps that lead to the temple,” Ben-Dov told him, “so He must have walked here many times.”

Armstrong then asked Ben-Dov if those were the original stairs and Ben-Dov confirmed that they were indeed.

“So Jesus stepped right here,” Armstrong asked. “That’s right,” answered Ben-Dov.

To which Armstrong, the devout Christian, replied, “I have to tell you, I am more excited stepping on these stones than when I was stepping on the moon.”

The secular world remembers Armstrong as, variously, an aerospace engineer, a university professor, a Navy fighter pilot and, of course, as the first man in history to peer back at Earth from the surface of the moon.

But those who were closest to the famous astronaut – his widow, Carol, his two sons, Eric and Mark (from a previous marriage), his brother and sister, and other survivors – remember Neil Armstrong as a man of faith.

Filed Under: Public Figures Tagged With: , , , ,

New Sex Scandal for Former IMF Chief

February 21, 2012 By Leave a Comment

WILL UNCONVICTED SEX OFFENDER DSK BEAT THE RAP AGAIN?

Dominique Strauss-Kahn’s once-secret sin has reared itself yet again.

The former International Monetary Fund chairman was questioned today by French law enforcement authorities over his involvement with an international prostitution ring, based in the northern French city of Lille, which hosted sex parties inParis, Brussels and Washington, D.C.

Strauss-Kahn is infamously known on this side of the Atlantic for beating the rap last year on an attempted rape charge by a hotel chambermaid inNew York City.

In a book authored by his biographer, and published this past December, the former IMF chief admitted to having sex with his accuser, Nafissatou Diallo, but maintains it was “consensual.”

The book claims that, as Diallo tidied up Strauss-Kahn’s hotel suite, he happened to emerge naked from the shower. The chambermaid supposedly shot him a “suggestive look,” which he construed as “an invitation.”

Meanwhile, back  in France, Strauss-Kahn admits to participating in what he describes as “libertine soirees,” but insists he has had nothing to with pimps and prostitutes.

The former IMF chief, who, until his scandalous arrest in New York last May was a leading contender for the French presidency, explained to his biographer that, “Usually, people at these soirees are not prostitutes. When someone introduces you to his girlfriend, you don’t ask him if she’s a prostitute.”

Strauss-Kahn’s lawyer, Henri Leclerk elaborated on French radio. “People are not always clothed at these parties,” he explained. “I challenge you to tell the difference between a nude prostitute and a classy lady in the nude.”

Well, Leclerk may have something there. There really is no difference between the nude women at Strauss-Kahn’s libertine soirees, except that some get paid and others do not. They’re all harlots in the eyes of the Lord.

That in no way forgives Strauss-Kahn his transgressions. He should pay for his sex crimes.

Filed Under: Crime, Public Figures Tagged With: , ,

The Death and Life of Whitney Houston

February 12, 2012 By Leave a Comment

TROUBLED SONGSTRESS DEAD AT 48

I’ve been thinking about Whitney Houston, whom I first met nearly 20 years ago. It saddened me to hear the news yesterday that the 48-year-old songstress died yesterday at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, on the eve of the Grammy Awards. 

I’m not especially curious to learn the exact cause of her premature death.

Perhaps she overdosed on Lorazepam, Valium, Xanax or some other prescription medication, as TMZ suggests on its web site. Maybe she fell back into smoking crack or abusing other illegal drugs.

It really doesn’t matter now. Whitney is no more. And the only question that concerns me, not as a one-time acquaintance, but as a Christian, is where she will spend eternity.

It may be a comfort to her friends, family and fans to believe that Whitney has gone to a better place. That she is now a featured singer in that great heavenly choir in the sky.  But I am not so sure.

Indeed, the one widely accepted doctrine of my Protestant faith that I have the most difficulty embracing is the notion of “once saved always saved.”

In other words, if at some point in a person’s life, she or he or gave her or his life to the Lord, there is nothing that person can do to lose her or his salvation.

Well, I’m pretty sure that, as a young girl, Whitney asked Jesus to be the Lord of her life. She was baptized. She sang in her church choir. She was a committed Christian.

But, as Whitney was blessed with fame and fortune, it seems obvious she stopped living for the Lord. She succumbed to the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh and the pride of life. She fell prey to the demons of substance abuse.

If, as many (if not most) of my Christian friends believe, Whitney’s commitment to Christ at a tender age forever secured her salvation, then her friends, family and fans have nothing to grieve about.

But I am not persuaded that the scripture guarantees that once saved, always saved. It seems to me that more is expected of those who truly are born again. They must not only give their lives to Christ. They must also abide in Christ.

What that means is,  just because a person commits her- or himself to Jesus as a teen-ager or young adult, she or he doesn’t get a free pass for the rest of her or his life.  They can’t unabashedly break God’s commandments and expect to spend eternity inParadise.

 They can’t be an unrepentant idolater or adulterer or murderer or even drug abuser and expect that a commitment they once made to Christ, but subsequently reneged upon, will ensure their salvation.

 I have absolutely no way of knowing if Whitney repented her sins against God; if, in the  final years, months, weeks or days of her life, she truly was abiding in Christ.

 If she was, she went to be with the Lord yesterday. If not, may God have mercy on her soul.

Filed Under: Popular Culture, Public Figures Tagged With: , ,

Erin Andrews a victim of Internet rape

September 14, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Rebecca Schaeffer, a 21-year-old actress, was shot and killed by an obsessed fan who showed up at her Los Angeles apartment uninvited. He obtained her home address through California Department of Motor Vehicles records.

In response to Schaeffer’s murder, California enacted a law preventing the state’s DMV from releasing private addresses.

Megan Kanka, a seven-year-old New Jersey girl, was kidnapped, raped and murdered by a 33-year-old neighbor who lured her to his house by promising to show her a puppy. The child killer turned out to be a repeat violent sex offender.

In the wake of little Megan’s murder, New Jersey passed “Megan’s Law,” which required local law enforcement authorities to inform parents when sexual predators move into their neighborhood.

Erin Andrews, a 31-year-old reporter for ESPN, was surreptitiously videotaped while she was naked in her hotel room. The illicit video was posted on the Internet and has been viewed by millions of online voyeurs since July.

Miss Andrews appeared on the Oprah Winfrey show this past Friday to talk about the ordeal from which she is still suffering. Teary eyed, the young woman recalled the first time she saw the video online. “I opened up the computer,” she said, “I could feel my heart pounding.”

All but one state – Iowa – has a statute on its books addressing unlawful videotaping, according to the National Center for Victims of Crime. The punishments vary from state to state, from nominal fines to several years behind bars.

The laws are well-intended but do not go nearly far enough to protect innocent targets like Miss Andrews. She was not only the unsuspecting prey of a Peeping Tom with a video camera, but also the victim of Internet rape.

Indeed, her predator first violated her by videotaping her naked in her hotel room as she combed her hair in the mirror and as she ironed a pair of trousers. Then he further violated her by posting the perverted video online. And he continues to violate her every time the video of the sports reporter is downloaded by an online voyeur.

Miss Andrews has suffered just as surely as a victim of a violent sexual crime. New laws should be passed – call them “Erin’s Law” – that punishes Internet rape just as severely as physical rape.

Filed Under: Crime, General, Popular Culture, Public Figures, Public Policy, Sports

Thank God for Tebow and Bradford

September 4, 2009 By 1 Comment

I had the misfortune of watching yesterday evening’s national telecast of the college football game in which the Boise State Broncos hosted the Oregon Ducks. The lowlight occurred after the final gun sounded and players were returning to their respective locker rooms.

That’s when Oregon running back LeGarrette Blount sucker punched Boise State linebacker Byron Hout. If such a vicious attack had occurred on the streets of downtown Boise rather than at Bronco Stadium, the Oregon player – who goes by the nickname “Blount Force Trauma” – would have been arrested for assault.

Gridiron “gangstas” like Blount take the joy out of following college football. They are a reminder that campus jocks are “disproportionately involved in assaults, rapes, robberies, and other crimes,” as documented by D. Stanely Eitzen in his authoritative book, “Fair and Foul: Beyond The Myths and Paradoxes of Sport.

That’s why I thank God for student-athletes like Tim Tebow, the 2007 Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback of the Florida Gators, and Sam Bradford, the 2008 Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback of the Oklahoma Sooners.

They are exceptional athletes on the field. And they are even more exceptional individuals off the field. That’s because both are committed Christians.

Indeed, when Tebow was awarded his Heisman, as the nation’s top collegiate football player, the then-sophomore began his acceptance speech by “thanking my Lord and savior Jesus Christ, who gave me the ability to play football, gave me a great family and support group and great coaches and everything around me.”

Tebow’s testimony was echoed by Bradford when he won his Heisman. “First I need to thank God,” the then-junior said. “He’s given me so many blessings. He’s blessed me with so many opportunities. He’s put so many wonderful people in my life. I give all the credit to Him because, without Him, I’d be nowhere. We’d all be nowhere without Him.”

College football needs more upstanding student-athletes Tim Tebow and Sam Bradford. And fewer thugs like LeGarrette Blount.

Filed Under: General, Popular Culture, Public Figures, Sports

Judging Kennedy

August 26, 2009 By Leave a Comment

As I listened to President Obama this morning eulogize Teddy Kennedy – “His extraordinary life on this Earth has come to an end. The extraordinary good that he did lives on.” – my thoughts turned to Patty Baldwin.

She’s the Florida woman who in 1991 accused Kennedy’s nephew, William Kennedy Smith, of raping her at the family’s Palm Beach compound while Uncle Teddy pranced around without his underpants.

I wonder how she feels today about the Massachusetts senator’s passing.

I also wonder how the family of Mary Jo Kopechne has taken the news that the Lion of the Senate has succumbed to a brain tumor.

Does it ease the lingering memories of the young woman’s drowning death in 1969 after Kennedy drove the car in which she was the sole passenger off a bridge in Chappaquiddick Island in the Bay State?

I understand that the late senator in 1991 apologized, sort of, for his failure to live a life of moral uprightness.

“Today more than ever,” he told an audience at Harvard University (from which he was expelled for cheating decades earlier), I believe that each of us as individuals must not only struggle to make a better world, but to make ourselves better too.”

The question is whether Sen. Kennedy made himself better during the last 18 years of his life.

He married in 1992 – to Vicki Reggie, a former intern in his Senate office – and thereafter appeared to have put his scandalous lifestyle behind him.

Maybe his transformation was genuine. Maybe it was a politically-motivated façade.

The final judgment on Teddy Kennedy’s life will be rendered neither by his hagiographers, like Mr. Obama, or his long-time critics, like your’s truly, but by God.

Filed Under: Public Figures
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