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| Jack Whittaker, the man who won the huge Powerball jackpot back in December (2002) didn’t hesitate to spread his face from one side of the country to the other, telling us all about how great he is and how devoted to his family, work, and God that he is. My luck would be such that, I live less than thirty minutes from Mr. Whittaker and, as a result, have seen him on the local news (he presses his face against any camera he can find) and have heard a great deal of gossip about him since he won the lotto. Personally, I don’t give a hoot what the man does, especially in his private life. Still, for someone who spent so much time blathering about how he wants to remind everyone (by his actions, mind you) of the important things: devotion to family, God, and supporting your church. What’s interesting about Mr. Whittaker (but not surprising) is that he doesn’t seem to place much importance on those very things he touts as being central in his life—unless there is a camera around, that is. How has Mr. Whittaker held up with his family life? Well, I certainly don’t live with him and I wouldn’t know any of the details, but I do know that his wife recently caught him having sex with two women at the same time. She has filed for a divorce, from what I understand. What about his devotion to God? Well, Mr. Whittaker made a point that with our devotion to God, we need to get back to good religious morals—otherwise we’re disrespecting our Lord and Savior. I wouldn’t consider cheating on your wife with two other women at the same time to be something held on a moral plateau, at least, not by the Christian God. Also, Mr. Whittaker made the news again just the other day—this time not the kind that he wanted. It seems that Mr. Whittaker was at a local strip club and getting clobbered—not over the head with a bat, but at the bar with booze. That’s right, our millionaire example and reminder of what all Christians should attempt to be was at the bar getting drunk off his arse. Why did this make the news? Well, while Mr. Whittaker was inside enjoying his heavenly bounty, someone else was outside robbing his vehicle. For some reason, Mr. Whittaker had $500,000 in his vehicle (expecting an expensive lap-dance, perhaps?) that was taken. The robbery occurred sometime between 2:00 AM and 5:00 AM. Mr. Whittaker staggered out of the strip club and found that his vehicle had been broken into. Oddly enough, he wasn’t allowed to reenter the club to call the police. Once he was able to phone the authorities, he refused to admit that he sat at the bar and drank himself to oblivion (an event that was witnessed by pretty much everyone around him in the club) and insisted that he had been the victim of a drugging. The money was found in a case in some bushes near the club, indicating to the police that the thief was not a passerby, but most likely a club patron who was planning to grab the stash later and leave. I have a feeling the thief didn’t know he/she had half a million Big Ones in his/her hands. Then again, maybe the thief was well aware. Whatever the truth behind this millionaire calamity, the police find Whittaker’s story to be highly suspicious and unbelievable. The Sheriff (it feels so Mayberry-ish to say “the Sheriff”) said he knows that there is something fishy going on, and he promised to get to the bottom of it. If only the details, the things that seem so unbelievable about Whittaker’s story, were released to the public. I’m curious. That's just it, this how it seems with so many people out there claiming to be a "good" Christian person. It is my experience that being religious, especially being a Christian, doesn't make a person more inclined to be what most of us would consider "good". Sure, they have different reasoning behind what they do. "It is the Christian thing to do," isn't an uncommon thing to hear. As for myself and pretty much every atheist or non-religionist I've ever met, it seems that there is simply an inherent desire to do good to others. How much of that desire is by nature and how much is by nurture I don't know, I imagine both have a part. I think it is a rare thing to find someone who behaves the way he or she thinks his or her religion encourages even half of the time, let alone most of the time. I certainly have done no studies and I'd never assert that I've been around the world and have met every human being on the planet to be able to make a credible assessment, but the only religious people I've ever met in my life that keep to their religions seven days a week, twenty four hours a day are individuals who are mentally retarded. Living in the United States, it is quite obvious that I've met and been around a great deal of Christians in my life. Few of them would consider the whole bunch to be Christians. For example, the official position of the Vatican toward non-Catholics is that they are not Christians at all; they are well-meaning heretics. A Baptist, that is, a Baptist who adheres to the official position of the church, sees all other denominations in the same respect. This is something that is true with the majority of Christian sects. It seems that Christianity is really a plethora of several different religions under the same name, simply because they worship the same god and have something to do with Jesus. Some claim he was a god, some claim he was a prophet, still, others have gone back to the more ancient position that Jesus didn’t physically visit the planet. This latter type would definitely not be considered a Christian by most Christians in our country, yet they call themselves Christians. Within these many different types of Christians--whatever that may be--I've noticed different levels of pretending. The more conservative, the more pretending I see. Extremely conservative Christian sects seek to exert a great deal of control over their flock. The flock seems to shout in agreement and utter unwavering support. Yet, their actions do not reflect their words and support. This is no surprise, of course. I just think it would be nice if the majority that pretends to be something they are not in their heart would stop pretending. Go find a religion that allows you to be what you really are. Wanting a religion that allows us to be what we really are and does not conflict with personal desires that seem harmless to us, I think, catalyzed the popularity of this new movement in Christianity: liberalism within the churches and the creation of more liberal sects. Of course, changing the religion to fit your desires has its own issues, too. Is it still the same religion? I don't think so. I've just made a circle back to an earlier thought, that Christianity itself is not a religion; rather, it is a word describing a collection of religions that share a mythological heritage. I've gone from talking about Jack Whittaker to the meaning of Christianity. This is what's good about having a rant section on my site, I don't have to link each thought or paragraph in whatever it is that I write in any logical sequence. I'm weak to tangents, a rant section is something that I couldn't avoid. |