A lot of dust has been kicked up by the controversy over Miss California\’s crazy answer to a question about gay marriage posed to her in a beauty pageant. She stated that "no offense to anyone" but marriage should be between a man and a woman.
First off, she was right. Biblically speaking, gay marriage is a term that doesn\’t even make sense, as nowhere in the bible (that I\’ve seen) marriage is spoken of in any terms other than man and wife.
What really perplexes and ashames me though, is the Christian Church and the religious right being so quick to lift this girl up as a role model because of her answer.
Do we really want a girl who has posed in her underwear for anyone to see, to be a role model for our young Christian ladies? Do we want to represent the pursuit of "beauty" as having a perfect shape, and prowling a stage in a skimpy bikini?
I read that Liberty University offered Prejean a full ride scholarship to their college simply because of her stance on gay marriage. I hate to sound cynical, but if that is their idea of the type of person they\’d like to have representing their student body (while showing off her own), something is very wrong.
I feel sorry for Carrie, because she is now being attacked from every angle because she simply answered a question honestly. They are saying she has breast implants. How very mature. And now, some website has dug up pictures of her posing in her underwear, and posted them on a blog, surely for no other reason than to trash her for her answer.
But the photos they posted only further strengthen my conviction that, NO, this girl should never have been embraced as a role model.
The deeper story here is, are we that starved for a bold voice in the church, that we have to embrace a beauty queen (whose beauty is routinely rated based on things such as how good she looks in a skimpy bikini) as a spokesperson?
Are we that quiet about our beliefs that when someone whose occupation clearly misrepresents what our morals should be about speaks up, we exalt her?
And even worse is the fact that we\’ve declined in our morals so far that we are debating whether Christians should be "judging" Ms. Prejean for what she does, and debating whether or not being a "beauty queen" is consistent with Christian beliefs.
My take? Representing "beauty" as having anything to do with how good you look in a bikini or otherwise, is far out of line with a biblical view of beauty and womanhood, and we should not be embracing this girl as a role model. "No offense to anyone…"
-Matt
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The problem Xkaliber is not that she is attractive.
The problem is just because she said gay marriage is not cool….the Christian church is embracing her as a role model.
The bible speaks in many places of women practicing a special modesty…the apostle Paul in his letter to Timothy asks Timothy to instruct the women not to practice beauty by being adorned with braided hair and jewelry, but rather let their beauty be shown by their good works. He wasn’t making a rule against jewelry…he was saying women should have modesty, as they have a special role in the church.
If Paul saw Carrie Prejean, or any of his own disciples in the church, claiming Christ, and yet so blatantly showing off their body to be "rated" and "judged", and misrepresenting "beauty" as having to do with how they look in a dress or bikini…I think he would be appalled. I think he would be flabergasted! He would be speechless…at first.
I am trying to make the case that a Christian woman should be VERY leary of being a beauty queen, because of the contradictions it poses against scripture and a biblical view of womanhood and beauty. And I am trying to point out that Christians must be very desperate for a voice if they are willing to overlook Prejean’s faultiness as a role model.
I also think Christian women should be very much opposed to modeling underwear or swimsuits, especially in the racy fashion of the recent unearthed pictures on the blogs. Carrie Prejean has defended her photo shoots and her career by saying "I am a Christian, and I am a model."
But I believe based on the biblical view of beauty ("beauty is vain, but a godfearing woman is worthy of praise") and the calls for special modesty, beauty pageants and much of the modeling industry is quite incompatible with a Christian worldview. (Not all modeling, but a lot).
Yes Prejean has claimed to be evangelical. She has also become a spokesperson for a pro family group and been offered a full ride scholarship to Liberty University, a Christian school.
The reason I address this is because churches are making a big deal about her stance, and supporting her. I assert that based on the bible, churches should be questioning her occupation instead of touting her as a role model.
Well I think the reason the gay marriage questions was even asked was because the judge asking the question was Perez Hilton, a gay celebrity blogger.
Personally I think he asked the question just to help promote the gay marriage agenda. They say judges usually stay away from controversial issues like that. And boy, he was unhappy with her response. He was VERY unhappy. He gave her a zero for her answer. Which may’ve cost her the crown.
Perez Hilton also went on his video blog later that evening and called Carrie a "dumb b***ch"….was forced to apologize…then later retracted his apology and called her an even worse name. Very becoming of a beauty pageant judge.
That’s why I said I feel sorry for Ms. Prejean, even though I find her to be a faulty role model. After this incident, her own pageant (Ms. California) came out and claimed they paid for her breast implants. Which I think was ridiculous. It was okay for her to have breast implants (after all, they paid for them) until she made a moral statement they disagreed with? Now breast implants somehow disqualify her from having a serious opinion?
Again…the whole thing…I find her to be a faulty example to begin with….but the people who are crucifying her don’t profess to have a problem with beauty pageants or underwear modeling or anything like that…they only have a problem with HER doing these things, now that she has made a stance on an issue.
My goodness…what a controversial subject? There are clear overtones here. I would like the opportunity to place an opinion as I feel VERY strongly with the stance Matt is taking here. Firstly…by use of scripture since this is the basis of your argument…does not your same bible state,"Judge not, lest you be judged."? Does it not also state…"by their fruit, you shall know them?" , and by far one of my personal favorites for those like you who take such a hard line….."Work out your salvation with fear and trembling"? The point…."let he who is without sin, cast the first stone" It would appear you are showing the same bias as this judge.
Secondly, while I myself, do not feel the actions taken with regard to her as a "spokes person" are concerned….is that not a symptom of the changes in norm we are seeing these days? I don’t believe it is for any one person to dictate, for lack of a better word, the morality or reasons of another. It shames both actually.
With regard to Ms Jady…..truly, don’t you think we as parents are the responsible party when determining what influences and characteristics we want our children to have? Do we not raise them in a manner to reflect our own belief system? We should not be so surprised when they step out of the box and question. After all, we have encouraged it.
I’m not attempting to ruffle feathers here, but posing a perspective some may have not considered….After all Jesus himself stated ….."….and the greatest of these is love",….. speaking of the character trait most desired of any of his followers. J
"Absolute certainty is a privilage of uneducated minds and fanatics."
C.J. Keyser 1862-1947
Very well stated Jady. I must not have articulated that point as I intended. Thank you for picking up where I left off. Its actually quite amusing…I was once a person who delt with only black and white. It was actually my 16 year old daughter who made me begin to question my position. Ironic…. yes? J
Loki…are you certain of the quote you posted?
The point is, truth is not relative. There is absolute truth. If you claim no one can be absolutely certain, you kill yourself with your own statement, as you have no way of knowing whether your own statement is true.
This is another thing about the world today…having a strong conviction seems to be wrong?
Jpowell…the bible doesn’t say we shouldn’t judge. It does, but it is not speaking in terms of assessing what is right or wrong.
The bible is there so we can use it to judge what is good, Christian conduct. If we were truly instructed not to judge, we wouldn’t be given commands in the bible on how to conduct ourselves. Churches, if they couldn’t judge rightly, could never enforce discipline in their congregations (which I admit is a lost art) as the bible instructs.
I believe "judge not lest ye be judged" is referring to the judgment of the Bema seat of Christ. It is where Christians’ rewards (or loss thereof) for their works will be assessed in Heaven. This is not the same as the judging of an unbeliever’s soul, in which they are judged according to their sins (since they have not accepted Christ) and punished accordingly, with eternal punishment. Christians at the Bema seat will still receive unconditional eternal life based on Christ’s blood shed for them, but they will also receive rewards for the good works they themselves did while walking with Christ in the earth.
In the case of the Bema (reward) judgment, the "judge not" is referring to judging another Christian on something you yourself are doing.
Whatever it may be, it is CERTAINLY not telling us we shouldn’t make assessments (based on scripture) of what Christians should be doing and how we should conduct ourselves.
I think you might want to utilize your concordance sir. In the original Greek, that is not what is stated…further more, you are contridicting your own beliefs. I once held to a very stringent black/white position as well. The truth is…if you are not willing to percieve another perspective…in love…you are no different that the pharacies. They too preached a belief, in truth, was not practiced.J
I don’t know about the concordance, but my stated belief about Jesus comments on judging isn’t important to the argument I was making. The point is, true believers are not going to be judged in the sense that they will be punished eternally, because their names are written in the book of life. Their salvation is secure.
The point I was making, is it isn’t logical to assume Jesus meant that we are not to judge whether behavior is consistent with biblical truths or not. Jesus tells his disciples they will sit on 12 thrones, judging the tribes of Israel. Paul instructed the Corinthians to handle a legal dispute (among saints) outside of the court of law. He said even the least of the brothers there could judge the dispute. He also implied we will one day be judging angels in God’s Kingdom.
It is perfectly consistent with Christianity to make a judgment about morality when we have scripture that supports it, and not Pharisaical at all. Ever since I was a Christian, people having been using the P-word to denegrate anyone who makes a moral statement about conduct. And people are so afraid of being a "Pharisee" they are scared to death to draw the line in a world that very much needs moral lines to be drawn. Afterall, morality has become so fuzzy in our world, nobody knows what’s right or wrong any more. That should not be.
I was not consigning Miss Prejean to hell for her occupation. I was trying to point out that
a) Christianity is so desperate for loud spokespeople in the culture that we are willing to just accept and exalt any old person who steps up.
b) Morals have become so hazy in the world, that people don’t know any more whether a disciple of Christ getting up on stage and being rated for how she looks in a skimpy swimsuit, and being judged for her physical beauty, and prior modeling in lingerie for anyone to behold, is wrong.
I wanted to appeal to the Christians of old, especially to such a loving and concerned father in the faith as Apostle Paul, to show that these people would’ve been very perturbed by this type of behavior. And Paul’s letter to Timothy where he speaks of women dressing in modest apparel, and measuring their beauty by their good works rather than their hair or jewelry and such….I think proves the point I was trying to make.