Well Duh!
August 12th, 2009 § Leave a Comment
There’s a story making the rounds about a former Ohio police officer who suing his former employer. Seems like the officer claims he was harrassed and suffered a hostile working environment by his fellow employees making comments about his wife posing for Playboy magazine. The harrassment included things like fellow officers asking for autographs and copies of the magazine.
I made the mistake of googling her name without selecting the option to turn off images in the search and I can ashamedly say that she is indeed naked on the Internet. A link to a story (This one is safe for work, no naughty pictures.) can be found here. From the story:
“It just became unbearable for the officer. He was repeatedly asked for the issue of Playboy. Ever since his wife posed for Playboy, it’s just been an unbearable environment for him to be in,“ Sherrod said. Source: NBC4i.com
This just begs the question: What did they think was going to happen? Isn’t that the whole point of posing naked in a magazine is to draw attention to one’s naughty bits? If your wife posed in her birthday suit, wouldn’t you expect people, from complete strangers to your co-workers to have an unusual or even a lewd interest in her and her now public “private parts”? Why do you think they are called “private parts”?
This doesn’t excuse the lecherous behavior of his co-workers but there is an old principle that our actions have consequences. That’s the main reason we see certain principles taught in scripture like this one:
“…women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control” 1 Timothy 2:9 ESV
BTW, The Greek word translated here as “modesty” means just that “modest”. It’s pretty safe to say that the Apostle Paul used the word because he felt it was the opposite of naked as a jaybird.
I don’t mean to say all this to pile on this poor guy and his clothing impaired wife, it sounds like this whole thing is turning out not to be the good idea they thought it was at first. But see, that’s the problem with sin. Many times it seems like a good idea at first, only to turn out to be something less so, or even downright horrible later on. God doesn’t give us the prohibitions in the Bible because he’s a cosmic killjoy. He does so because he loves us and knows that some things just aren’t a good idea.
Shalom,
Scott D
Lets Call It What It Is
July 8th, 2009 § Leave a Comment
Those who follow football were shocked when former NFL quarterback Steve McNair was found shot to death along with a young woman. Police announced today that they believe that the death was a murder / suicide and believe that McNair was shot to death by the young woman. An NPR story with more details on this sordid mess can be found here.
This woman it turns out was not his wife. She had been telling her family that McNair was going to divorce his wife and marry her. The rumors of divorce appear to have been news to McNair’s wife however. McNair had apparently been having a relationship with this young woman for some time and he had even bought her an expensive Cadillac Escalade.
In their press conference today police believe that this young woman was distraught because of her financial difficulties and her belief that McNair was cheating on her with yet another woman. I find it ironic that this woman who was cuckolding McNair’s spouse would suspect that he would cheat on her. After all, hadn’t he been cheating on his wife, the mother of his children, with her?
This whole situation is a huge mess and a tragedy for McNair’s wife and children. The only reason I bring it up is because I wonder when we are going to call it for what it really is: adultery. It’s not an “affair”, it wasn’t a “fling” or an “indiscretion” it was in plain and simple terms, adultery.
McNair’s tragedy comes on the heels of two prominent politicians also being caught in adulterous affairs recently, South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford, and Nevada Senator John Ensign both admitted to committing adultery on their wives. I found Sanford’s adultery particularly appalling as it was revealed he was sending Bible verses in his love notes to his mistress and even had the gall to compare himself to the Biblical King David in the press conference where he admitted his adultery (sort of) while still professing his love for his mistress.
As the child of a NFL football player whose adulteries with football groupies destroyed my family, the McNair saga really struck home. Maybe it’s time we changed the language of this sin and call it what it really is. Something as grievous as this should be referred to by language that adequately expresses the gravity of this sin. Maybe the change will cause us to pause before we consider engaging in this sin. Rest assured that the biblical admonition “…be sure your sin will find you out.” (Numbers 32:23 ESV) is true.
Shalom,
Scott D
