Good morning,
I've read or skimmed every post in this thread. I think there's a lot of honesty and I appreciate about 95% of what has been said. If one doesn't really care to know "why abstinence" and if that is one's attitude from the outset, you'll likely never be satisfied with any reason you read or hear for it.
I hesitate to get into this conversation because I'm certainly no angel. But, the reality is (and in all seriousness) that none of us are. If that is our view of ourselves, we are our own God - meaning, we measure up to our own standard. Another reason I hesitate to get into this is that it's a conversation about morality... NOT religion. Many simply lump morality in with religion because they think morality IS religion. I am a professing Christian and I will say that Christians are not (or should not) be mere moralists. Christianity is not focused on oneself, it's focused on the life of Christ. It's about HIS morality, not our own (a "foreign righteousness", not "self righteousness".) Now, to discuss any further, I agree would be more appropriate in the other forum out of respect for the rules of the board.
Having said all this... if anyone is interested in "why abstinence", you might find answers (whether you like or agree with them or not) here:
http://www.acgreen.com/
A.C. Green gets put on a pedestal. He's no angel either. But, there's aspects of his life that warrant the admiration he earned. I think there's too much emphasis personal morality (vs. trusting in the only morality of one certain other - which is the basis for Christianity's "saving" faith.) Still, there's good stuff here and worthy of our attention. Morality should be championed from the perspective that it doesn't depend on measuring up to perfection. Too, just because we're not perfect in no way suggests we're all at liberty to just lead immoral lives with the lazy excuse that "we're not perfect." Longer conversation.
On his teammates trying to break his resolve…
Initially his teammates in the NBA didn’t believe that he was waiting till marriage. Of this, A.C. says
“But as time went on, when the guys saw some consistency to the way I was handling my life, they gradually came to accept it, to the point where some asked me to talk to sons and daughters”.
Miami Heat teammate Anthony Mason on A.C. Green…
“You would think of [A.C.] as a goody-two-shoes from the outside looking in. It was something to make fun of when you weren’t there, but to see it up close, to see how his life has benefited, you realize that’s the way you’re supposed to live.”
Edit: I forgot to add that I don't agree RW is sharing very personal info here. He's stating a position, not details. His life is in the limelight and under the microscope. We admire these athletes way too much and there are those who stalk these athletes in every city looking to have sex. Lookup what A.C. Greens' Lakers teammates did - they had a bet that Green would fail within 2 months and they had a pool of money he could have if he didn't. So, in a way... making a public statement as a public figure is a way to say, "I'm off limits." Certainly some may still try.
Many will have their opinions of his life (including his divorce) and will judge. We ALL "judge"/assess each other (like it or not.) There's a difference between judging/discernment vs. being judgmental. I wish more about RW's divorce could be known (even though I agree there's a personal side of it to respect) so that perhaps his actions might be better understood by the public since he is a public figure (like it or not.) Some just want to smear him.
We're left to judge the man (again, we all do) on his character with that as an apparent blemish. (We don't see his former wife in the public eye, so I don't mean to communicate a lack of care about her.) There's a lot about RW's life that is worthy of the proper type of admiration. Divorce is aweful - it rips lives apart. No one gets married with a planned divorce in the future. Personally, I'm amazed at the resolve of RW.
Go Hawks
