R.I.P. Bill Walsh

Just a quick post to mention Bill Walsh, formerly of the S.F. 49ers, passed away today at age 75. He died after a lengthy battle with Leukemia. I remember watching 49ers games with my Dad when we lived in Sacramento, including the 1984 and 1988 Super Bowls. I remember having such a good time watching these games (even though I was rooting for the Bengals in 1988, lol). Walsh was a brilliant coach and he will be sorely missed in the worlds of Football and Business.

Tammy Faye - May You Be At Peace

Tammy Faye (Bakker) Messner: 3/7/42 - 7/20/07

Despite the scandals, 80s jokes and of course, the makeup, Tammy Faye Messner was a person who genuinely loved The Lord and genuinely loved the human race. She put up a valiant fight against cancer for over a decade and never lost her faith or her spirit. If you watch this clip of Tammy Faye that aired on Larry King live 7/19/07, the night before she died, even then she was unshakable in her faith.

I admit, I pretty much thought she was a 80s pop-culture joke and just one of those "televangelists with big hair and too much makeup," but a film and a TV show made me rethink my opinion of her and who she was. One was "The Eyes of Tammy Faye (2000)", the other was Sundance Channel's series "One Punk Under God."

I'll let you explore those 2 shows yourself, but to sum them up, both movies showed Tammy Faye outside the syrupy PTL show from the '70s and '80s and explored her upbringing, her marriages and her connection with people of all kinds. "One Punk Under God" is especially moving because not only does it show how much of her love for people and God passed on to her son Jay, but also showed her remarkable courage and faith during her fight with cancer.

Hopefully the (surprisingly) positive and tasteful media coverage of her passing will let others want to see beyond the makeup and into the person.

May you be at peace and with The Lord.

How Long Until This Reaches America?

MSNBC.com Article: U.K. schoolgirl loses ‘virginity ring’ court battle

For as much as I know, it may already be instituted in some schools, but how long will it take for this sort of ban and situation to come to America?

More and more we are becoming like Europe and the U.K...banning certain clothing, jewelry, religious symbols...all because of a fear of either "offending" someone or because we don't want one group to be seen as "better" than another.

In this case, with the "virginity ring," I can see both sides of the issue. Since the ring isn't an officially recognized symbol of the Christian church, I guess the school has a right to ban it. But then again, I can understand the girl's feeling that her expression of faith is being suppressed.

Regardless of one's personal belief as to whether sex before marriage is right or wrong, at least in the United States, the ability to express that belief should be protected.

I just wonder how long it will be until a case like this comes along to again test the boundaries of "freedom of religion" vs. "freedom from religion," a case stemming from something as small and as personal as a ring.