If I Ever Lose My Faith In You

Get up right now. Well, not right this second. Finish reading this paragraph first. But when you're done, go to the nearest mirror. Look in it and ask yourself to remember deep down the most horrible thing you've done. I find that most of my most horrible things involve hurting other people. But there are others too. Maybe your worst things are lies. Judgment. Maybe you're a bully, or manipulative or maybe your selfish actions drive people away from you. Think deep down about the very worst thing about you, the thing you have a hard time telling anyone or admitting to yourself. Say it out loud. Say, "One time I......" Say "I am......" Come on, say it, admit it.

Did you do it? Did you admit that you are capable of bad, wrong, hurtful things? Ok. Now let's make a connection....If you are capable of these types of things, do you believe that anyone is? I know your tendency might be to think the best of people, I used to have that too. My parents even had sweet words about my belief that people are basically good printed in my high school yearbook beside my picture my Senior year because it was so defining of who I was then. And still, today, I want to believe the best in people. But I know what I'm capable of. And if I am capable of what I'm capable of...having no traumatic history, being surrounded by great, loving, and supportive parents, a fabulous network of friends, and the values and virtues of faith instilled in me from early on...then I believe we are probably all capable of less than good things. We do bad, dishonorable, hurtful, things on purpose sometimes, and then sometimes we just make mistakes.

So the question is...WHY ARE WE EVER SURPRISED when someone else does it? Two things have popped up in the news this week that have made me ask this question.

The first is about Billy Graham's alleged endorsement of Mitt Romney. I use the term "alleged endorsement" because it seems practically impossible to find what actually went down during said endorsement. BUT...before his meeting with Romney, Graham defined Mormonism as a cult; however, somewhere in the last few weeks that opinion has changed and his website no longer has this definition listed. Now, I personally don't want my religion and state to interact at all, so this is not a statement on that. It's a statement about a Christian leader who has been held up as the pillar of the faith, put on a pedestal for many years, changing his opinion, loosening up his stand, or just abandoning his convictions in his old age, and in turn, causing the Christian community to begin to either question what they once held true, or be questioned about said beliefs. Somewhere along the way, Graham became the walking representative of Evangelical Christians, and so goes Graham, so goes Evangelical Christians. Which is great...until it's not.

The second instance is that of Lance Armstrong and his drug induced wins. The iconic "LiveStrong" paraphenelia is now being dismissed as "LieStrong." And all the cancer survivors and athletes and dreamers who thought he was borderline superhuman are now let down. He's a professional athlete! What do we know about professional athletes? That the majority of them that seem superhuman end up revealing drug usage. And yet people are waiting in the wings to rip up his success, giving up on their own dreams because what was once thought possible is now just a shade of the real story.

We have these cultural icons that we rely on for different things, and when they fall, often whatever hope, whatever faith we have put into them, whatever groups of people allow themselves to be represented, fall with them. Let's explore some others just for fun. Mind you, I am in no way trying to pick on these people. I am only attempting to show a pattern that exists in our pop-culture.

Rock Hudson-Back in his day, Hudson was the walking fantasy of most women. Until they found out he was gay. They had to come to terms that a man who had been the dream of every woman, didn't even really like women. Minds and hearts blown.

Marilyn Monroe, Elvis, and any other Celebrity Suicide-You have to ask yourself if fame drives people to suicide or if people who are more apt to be famous have a predisposition to depression. Whatever the answer is, for anyone who has ever had a favorite celebrity kill themselves/overdose, it's devastating every time. Because you see those people as strong, as iconic and having it all together, or at least having the resources to have it all together! If they, with all their money, all their dreams having come true, if they can't make it, who can? Only the good die young seems to be more of a promise than a suggestion.

Teenage Idols-The second Miley Cyrus posed practically nude, it's like every parent in America went crazy. Hannah Montana should be fully clothed spouting off silly jokes in a borderline disrespectful tone to her father, not wearing sheets that barely cover up her bathing suit parts for Annie Leibovitz! Miley followed in the footsteps of Britney and LiLo saying, "I never asked to be a role model." And it's true...they didn't But parents invested thousands of dollars into concert tickets, t-shirts, cd's and more to attach their child with a girl maturing in a celebrity world, and then when she actually did as celebrities do, they were surprised. How about this...moms, you be your daughter's hero, or encourage her to be her own!

Oprah-Oprah has let people down in lots of ways. She's been too white for the black community, too black for the white community. Too rich for the poor community. Too new age for the religious community, too religious for the new age community. Too cold hearted, too sentimental. Too fat for the thin community, and then too thin for the fat community, and then all sizes lost hope when she gained the weight back again. The lesbian community was disappointed to find that she and Gayle are just friends, and the marriage advocates were frustrated by her lack of official commitment to Stedman. Even those people who got free cars had to pay taxes on the cars which pissed them off. This woman can't win, and yet, she totally does. I guess there's something to be said for just being yourself no matter what that means.

When I started this blog and asked you to remind yourself of the worst things you've done...I wasn't trying to shame you into some level of admittance or guilt wallowing, I was trying to remind you that you're human, and so are the people that carry the burdens of our expectations. Which, is why we probably shouldn't put them on people....even famous ones.

Unless that person is Tina Fey. I mean, what could she possibly do wrong? ;)

Which political figures, cultural icons, and celebrities 

have shocked or let you down?