Of Beauty Pageants and preachers of tolerance...

This evening, as I watched a video of the press conference held earlier today with Miss california Carrie Prejean and Donald Trump, I was treated to the wonderful taste of Arizona Brand Arnold Palmer Tea, which is a lovely blend of Lemonade and Iced Tea. A truly wonderful taste sensation that I suggest should be tried by one and all.
Product endorsement aside, I wanted to take a moment and comment on some recent events in the Miss U.S.A. Pageant. First off, let me state this: I don't watch pageants of any kind. I think they are boring. I know I have better things to do than sit around and watch people walk around the stage and answer irrellevant questions. For instance, I could be watching CSI. In the same respect, I don't really like Donald Trump. Something about his hair creeps me out. Yeah, he seems like a nice guy, but the hair... I just can't get past it... If he's on the t.v. I rarely remember what he said because I am so focused on his attrocious hair... So, the following article is not an endorsement of Miss U.S.A. or Donald Trump.
For those of you who have missed it, about 3 weeks ago Miss California, aka Carrie Prejean, was asked at the pageant about her beliefs on gay marriage. The question was posted by openly homosexual blogger Perez Hilton- not his real name, but a parody of Paris Hilton, like the homo version of her I guess. Before I get to Ms. Prejean's answer, I have to ask this question(and I hope it doesn't come across improper)- why in the world is there a super homo as a judge for a woman's beauty pageant? Last I checked, homosexual men do not find women attractive- thus being why they are homosexual- so it stands to reason that Perez hilton wouldn't find ANY of the women in the beauty pageant attractive. So how could he be a fair and balanced judge? What I mean is, you don't ask someone who hates to fly what airline they like the best. You don't ask someone who hates baseball to pick what team they think will win the world series. You don't ask a member of PETA what is better bar-b-qued, beef or chicken. (well, actually on that last one... it would be kind of funny!) So why ask some freak who only likes men to judge women?
Anyway, so the answer- she said in a very polite way that we live in America, people can choose what they believe, but she is opposed to it- that is how she was raised in her family and that is what she believes. She was not hateful in her remarks. She didn't say, for example, "I think they should all be shipped off to their own island" or "I hope God melts them all" or "may they all get an std" or anything like that- just a simple, I was raised to believe marriage is between one man and one woman and that's the way I believe it should be. Simple, sweet, to the point, and non-offensive. Or so you would think.
Little did she know the firestorm her answer would start. Nor did she know it would cost her the title. According to Judge hilton, he told ABC News, "She lost [the crown] because of that question. She was definitely the front-runner before that." Perez has also made many very derrogatory remarks about Ms. California- extremely offensive, and at one point violent, stating that had she won he would have walked onto the stage and ripped the crown off of her head. Since then, she has been barraged by the media, almost all negative, as they attempt to discredit her character- even going so far as to point out to the public that she had breast implants- as if we care. Perhaps they should also look deeper into her history and see if she ever had a hernia or acid reflux perhaps? I know I occasionally suffer from acid reflux after watching the news...
I suppose one could state that all of this was done in tolerance. Don't you just love that word? Tolerance. You see, we all are supposed to have tolerance for people like Perez Hilton. We are told over and over and over that we must accept people like him and their lifestyle choices in the name of tolerance. Don't judge, we hear. Even some preachers are getting in the act, watering down the Gospel so as to not "offend". Yet where, oh where is this tolerance for people who disagree? Ms. California was very polite in her answer, yet because she dared to question what the media deems as "normal" behaviour, all of a sudden tolerance is a word no longer in their vocabulary. You see the great irony of this movement is, there is only tolerance as long as you are on the same side of those who preach it. If you question it- well, that is words of treason, and grounds for execution. They shove their beliefs down our throat- and that's o.k. We politely disagree- call out the firing squad.
But there is another lesson to be learned from this sad disaster of a pageant. What, pray tell, is it? Simply this: that it is better to stand for what you believe in than to compromise. This situation is similar to another recent story out of California- the story of a very popular pastor who supported publicly proposition 8, the ban on homosexual marriage. Then this same preacher, just recently, has stated that he did not ever publicly endorse the gay marriage ban, and that he has personnally called and apologized to all of his "gay" friends for the misunderstanding. I guess Rick Warren forgot that pastors are supposed to be men of integrity, and that they, of all people, should be examples of standing up for our faith. But sadly, while he opted for the more politically correct answer to the question, a pageant model has opted to take his place in opposing sexual immorality. I wonder who is more blessed in the end? Ms. California had this to say: "The days since have taught me to stand up for what you believe in, regardless of the consequences, personnal attacks, or disagreements". She has also publicly stated that she felt that that moment at the pageant was a test from God, a test of her faith, that she felt she passed the test- and that she wouldn't change it for anything, even if it meant getting the Miss U.S.A. crown. She has repeatedly stated how blessed she feels for what this has done for her. I wonder how blessed Mr. Warren feels for the lack of a stand he has taken...
I have no clue if Ms. Prejean is a Christian as she claims- I also can't say the opposite for Mr. Warren. I don't know either one of them personnally, and I definately don't know their heart. But what I do know is this- that we, as Christians, should stand for what we believe in even when the Truth we have is not popular or trendy- even if it costs us an earthly crown. My friends and fellow readers, we are not called to win earthly crowns- they may be nice, but as Ms. California has so aptly demonstrated for us, there are things in life more valuable than a fancy title. Some of these are never compromising who you are, what you believe, and never being ashamed to speak the truth from your heart. To put in the words of Paul, "I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth" Romans 1:16. It is my prayer that we all will learn a lesson from this pageant- and never back down from what we believe.