Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Heroes and Heroines, Drug Addicts and Strippers – Hmmm?

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Today’s Blog Post

Heroes and Heroines, Drug Addicts and Strippers – Hmmm?

My wife and I watched the Robert Munsch story with great interest. The man and his wife bared their souls to the world. Letting them see how much difficulty he has been and perhaps is in.

Robert Munsch is a drug addict. Cocaine to be exact – plus perhaps an Alcoholic mixed in with it all. He is also Bipolar.

Robert Munsch is also a story teller and much loved author of children’s books. In fact with the help of great people near him his books are number one best sellers.

But Robert Munsch in not what most parents would want their kids to be – or near. He is a social outcast in most people’s terms of reference. Because he has become great – he is expected to have always been great – perfect – righteous and wonderful… BECAUSE that is what we want him to be if we buy his books and make him famous in our own minds! That is just the way that it has to be… and we demand it as a public.

There needs to be some thought in all of this. Maybe the public is in worse shape than he is with its attitudes. Shame on us!

Rima Fakih is deep doodoo as well. For a little different reason she is in a very hot seat now.

You likely have not heard her name as something that is a household toss around. She is the latest Miss Universe winner. A beauty to say the least!

Rima is an Arab-American that is 24 years old that has definitely stepped outside any of the Arab comfort zones that I am aware of… and strutted her stuff across a stage to beat out many other contestants. Gutsy to say the least knowing that a huge majority of the Arab world are Islamic with strict rules about women and there covering.

It seems that Ms Fakih was involved “un-Miss Universe-like” activities a few years ago… where she entered a Stripper 101 contest…

Quote from the National Post…
“On Sunday night, Rima Fakih was crowned Miss USA, but by yesterday morning she was outed as the past winner of another kind of ... pageant. One involving a pole. A stripper pole. Back in 2007, the 24-year-old competed in a local radio show's "Stripper 101" contest and her win this past weekend has stirred up photos of her working the pole. Now, according to the website of the radio show in question, Mojo in the Morning, the show's producers "have been contacted by representatives of Miss Universe requesting more photographs and information regarding Fakih's involvement in the 'Stripper 101' contest. When asked if Fakih's status as Miss USA was in danger, pageant representatives would not answer."
End quote..

The public expects far more from their heroes and heroines than the truth. If they are great they are perfect. And when we know more about the fact that they are real people – we are crushed and then crush them for being too real.

Am I defending strippers and drug addicts(or alcoholics) – and their chosen life styles? Yep – probably… it sounds like it. Imagine a Minister that would do such and thing. Nope not likely.

I am bugged by the inconsistency of ordinary people that react the way that they do. I am really bugged that the Media is the source of most of the tearing down of personalities… revelations and investigations. And we believe it all. We know nothing about the people that work these media displays of tearing down. Some of them have a far greater ‘failure rate’ than the ones that they write about.

It is that way in church as well. That is where “the public” goes for its spiritual stuff. When its leaders fail, they will quickly condemn him or her.

“The place where there seems to be less “Amazing Grace” than anywhere else is the church” one person commented to me lately.

Yet I think that the Church is no different than anywhere else – they have simply caught the wave that the world rides on now. Perfection from leaders – anything less is not acceptable. We want a stellar performance and anything that suggests that something might be wrong or out of order – is something we will cast out.

Recently someone told me of a Minister’s confession that he laid out for everyone to know about. It seems that this particular Minister had a weakness, a temptation, a weird side to his life. It was something that he kept hidden from everyone. Are you ready for this…?

This Minister, a man, wore women’s clothing below his Ministerial Garb. You know, like women’s panties, bras, nylons etc. He loved to play out his womanhood under his man clothing – in front of people – when no one knew about it. I guess he was super charged when he was a woman inside.

“SICK! That is PLAIN SICK!” Pretty much the normal reaction from most of the congregation. “We expect more from our Pastor” jeered his ousters.

But what about standards and expectations that the public has of its leaders? Are they not able to expect more?

My answer is. “No more than they expect of themselves!”

It is good people that go to watch strippers and pole dancers… that make these girls what they are. It is fun until we catch someone in the act… on in a past act.

Locally, one man that I know well and that had struggled with his own nightmares in sexuality – confessed that he had been to a number of bars and the one strip club in our city. He was dumbfounded when he looked up and saw a number of church people(men) sitting there ogling the pretty young things twisting and turning around stripper poles. Some of those watching were church leaders (not ministers)…. good Christian People.

Yikes – there is a terrible revelation for the world to read!

The Public is no different than their heroes. They have just as many hang ups and twisted ways… broken lives.

I am proud of Robert Munsch for being honest. I am sorry for Rima and her fate that may be sealed by her opponents and objectors.

BTW – why do people watch Beauty Pageants anyway?

Lots of mull over… lots.

~ Murray Lincoln ~
http://www.murraylincoln.com/

Source:
http://www.nationalpost.com/news/canada/story.html?id=3039984
http://www.nationalpost.com/arts/story.html?id=3040056

2 comments:

David said...

Systems will always need strawman arguments for why they exist. Good vs. bad (morality) is usually the medium of exchange. When failure happens by an individual it is not the system that is at fault but the individual. Meanwhile the system produces what it produces.

The Pharisees created a system that went about crushing people. Men took the good news of the kingdom of god and reverted it back into something that is more like the system of the Pharisees and everyone that buys into that system either goes go about defiling themselves by breaking the rules or judging those who break the rules.

What no one wants to admit to is that the system itself is the problem. As you've said many times Murray you were a faithful servant of the system and have seen all kinds of ????? What isn't said is that the religion called Christianity has nothing to do with the gospel of the kingdom that Jesus brought to us.

Is that too strong a statement? For the system we serve, likely. For other systems that other people serve many would say amen.

Here's an example from a statement by some people that were marching to show their support of the system called the Catholic church. This is in the context of the church's looking the other way over sex abuse allegations of its priests.

"We want to show our solidarity to the pope and transmit the message
that single individuals make mistakes but institutions, faith and
religion cannot be questioned," Alemanno told Associated Press Television News. "We will
not allow this."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/eu_vatican_pope

Murray Lincoln said...

And I spent my whole career trying to get people to act like Christians... sheesh! No wonder I was frustrated so many times!