I wanna be your Hero

So the Lance Armstrong myth was unravelled "like a cheap sweater" this week as news came out that 11 of his former teammates confessed to doping, implicating him beyond any reasonable doubt, and not just as a victim of a corrupt system, but as a mastermind who took the whole thing to a new level.(See articles on George Hindcapie and Levi Heipheimer)
I have to say I was a true believer. I have the t-shirt. Actually, it is a very cool Discovery Team yellow jersey (circa 2005).
Even in Africa people know what that is about and say "Armstrong" when I ride by.
I have the yellow LIvestrong bracelet and wore it until about a month ago when stories started leaking out in the cycllng press.  I had always defended Lance but had lurking doubts, esepecially about the stories you'd always hear about him being vindictive and mean to those who dared cross him or the preferred version of the truth. It was then that I read a story by his former personal assistant and mechanic who eventually began to see signs and was written off as he finally refused to go along with the lie.  Lance is calling him a "disgruntled former employee". (Why is that you never run into gruntled employees?"
I think I held out a glimmer of hope in the integrity of cycling until George Hindcapie caved because he is widely accepted and loved and I thought surely he would not lie.
When he confessed this week, my initial reaction was "Is there no one righteous, not even one?"
This leads me to the whole topic of hero worship.
I came to sports fandom in my 40s. I was never good at team sports, and lived out of the US for most of my child and teen years so was underexposed to sports rules and teams at that age when you gain your sports team loyalty.
I became a fan of cycling through the backdoor - e.g. by riding my bike more and more and then transfering my love for riding to those folks riding by so fast on my TV screen in amazing french paysages. And then to this man with an incredible story, overcoming cancer and then dominating through training, discipline, scientific techniques, and an incredible team.... who we know learn were all doping. TdF oficials are now saying they can not even re-attribute Lance's 7 Tour de France wins because practically everyone in that era who was in the top 10 has been caught or confessed to doping.
"Twenty of the 21 podium finishers in the Tour de France from 1999 through 2005 have been directly tied to likely doping through admissions, sanctions, public investigations or exceeding the UCI hematocrit threshold. Of the 45 podium finishes during the time period between 1996 and 2010, 36 were by r  riders similarly tainted by doping." —USADA Reasoned Decision Against Lance Armstrong
Mr. Smith has gone to Washington and it seems that not only is he NOT Jimmy Stewart, he is a bigtime "insider" handing out favors to the cronies in his district.
So why DO we have such a desire to make heros out of people? I think it grows out of the idealism of youth, and the desire for things to be RIGHT in the world. If things are not right, then at least there are people out there fighting for truth and righteousness and justice. The desire for a better world, for a RIGHT world is a good one. 
The problem is when heros and even good men fall. There but for the grace of God go I.
When this happens we have the choice of retaining our high ideals and carrying on to fight another day.
Or of giving up hope:

Life unwinds like a cheap sweater
But since I gave up hope, I feel a lot better
And the truth gets blurred like a wet letter,
but since I gave up hope, I feel a lot better
(Steve Taylor, Since i gave up hope)

Steve Taylor also has a song called simple "Hero" wherein he tells the tale of a boy who read comic books by flashlight in seek of heros, only to see them crashing down.

Hero
It's a nice-boy notion that the real world's gonna destroy
You know it's a Marvel comicbook Saturday matinee fairytale boy
Growing older you'll find that illusions are bought
And the idol you thought you'd be was just another zero
I wanna be a hero
Heroes died when the squealers bought 'em off
Died when the dealers got 'em off

Taylor goes on to ask "where's a boy to turn?"
and then recounts how he was led to the pages of another book, when the house fell asleep, and to a man, Jesus, who said "I wanna be your hero".
And He, my friends, is a hero worth following, who will not disappoint.  You can wear HIS jersey and know you will not be caught short one day.

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The Jesus Way

A lot of ink and unfortunately a decent amount of blood has been spilled these past two weeks in response to an unfortunate film posted on the internet about Mohammed and cartoons published subsequently in a French magazine.

There is a clash of worldviews  - Western and Muslim, and very little ground to maneuver as each hold views that are sacrosanct. I have lived the majority of my life between these two worlds and so can see how each side is getting their buttons pushed in a way that is non negotiable.  I live in a country where we got an embassy warning message against possible protests last week, and thankfully cooler minds prevailed and nothing happened.

In the Muslim belief system, form is important and honor must be defended if forms are denigrated or shamed. In a western view, forms are symbols and so dissing them is offensive, but does not necessarily touch the thing the symbol represents. For Christians, the Bible is the Word of God, but it is the contents, the WORDS that are important, not the actual book and pages and ink.

The West holds to the value of freedom of speech and people are willing to die to see that right defended. Some are wiling to push the boundaries of speech to make a point (cf. Publishing caricatures in a time when people are already dying).

On reflection, it seems to me that Jesus calls BOTH sides to a better way. Not an easy way, but better.

While it can be argued that the ideas behind the Bill of Rights and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights grow out of the Judeo Christian
Value placed on people created in the image of God, I do not see defense of Human Rights as being something Jesus fought for during his time on earth.

Instead he called us to a Kingdom he described in Matthew 5, one of reconciliation and ceding our rights, where not only outward form and rules matter - divorce and murder, but also how you think inwardly - lust and hatred.

In Matthew 5:10-12 Jesus says:
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,  for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.  "Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.  Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

According to Jesus, when someone says bad things about us or what we believe, we are not to count it as a shame or dishonor, even though that is how it feels. Instead, we are to count it as a privilege, an honor even!

As far as human rights go, Jesus seemed to be in favor of ceding them:

Matthew 5:38-41 NIV
"You have heard that it was said, 'Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.'  But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also.  And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well.  If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles."

In the face of an oppressive Roman regime, Jesus didn't argue against the practice of carrying the occupying soldier's gear for one mile. Instead he said to do it for two. Turn the other cheek.

Does this go for freedom of speech? Do we push it to the extreme or cede our rights if necessary out of respect for others?

Probably the hardest part of Jesus' teaching in the Sermon on the Mount is this:

Matthew 5:5 NIV Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.

Let's all try on a little meekness and maybe we can get through this thing called life.

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