Kurt Warner - God's got his back

[Photo from The Scrooge Report]

The ego of christianist athletes is a mind-boggling thing to watch in action.

Kurt Warner, last of the Arizona Cardinals, a quarterback with god at his back, has retired from the NFL, praising his god for being so good to him. It was his god, you see, you provided the "opportunities" he's had passing the pigskin.

Warner has been consistent in his adulation of his football-loving deity. Upon the occasion of his NFL retirement, Warner hearkened back to the good old days of 1999 when his team then, the St. Louis Rams won the Super Bowl:

"As always, as it started in 1999 when I was up on the podium holding up a trophy, the first thing I want to do is give thanks to God.

"My Lord Jesus brought me here. I know he brought me here for a purpose. And it's been an amazing ride."


It sure has. God in heaven, not having much else to do ('cause he has a penchant for ignoring real global crises), made sure that Kurt had lots of "opportunities" on the gridiron to become a star for Jesus. Not only so, but God in heaven, also gave Kurt "opportunities" off the football field.

What are those opportunities? They involved such things as being "a featured speaker across the country for numerous churches, non-profit organizations, men's conferences, and corporate events."

Another is defined by the charity Warner and his wife set up in 2001 which "has been involved in numerous projects for causes such as children's hospitals, people with developmental disabilities and assisting single parents."


Now such a charity might be a good thing, unless, of course, it's merely an excuse to "evangelize," to try to convert people to fundy Christianity. And it appears that may be the case. The charity is named "First Things First Foundation, and "is dedicated to impacting lives by promoting Christian values, sharing experiences and providing opportunities 'to encourage everyone that all things are possible when people seek to put first things first.'"

If you're biblically literate, you may remember that the name has been taken from Matthew 6:33: "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you."


One must understand that fundamentalist christianists like Warner do everything for the purpose of converting others to their religious beliefs. That is their right. But it indicates their "caring" is suspect, for "caring" becomes something of a subterfuge - a means to convert people to the idea of "putting first things first" which involves accepting Jesus as one's personal savior and living according to the codes of fundy Christianity.

There's could be another "motive," also. The Warners of the world believe they'll get "brownie points" in heaven for bringing more souls to Jesus thereby saving them from eternal hellfire, the latter provided by the courtesy of their loving heavenly father.


To sum up: There is no evidence anywhere that any god or any person named Jesus had anything to do with Warner's football career or his "opportunities" on or off the football field.

Warner may believe this with all of his heart, but that doesn't make it so. There is no way to verify such a belief. Every athlete in the world who has found success in his/her chosen sport could claim his/her god provided the ability and the opportunity for his/her success.

Those with a big ego, who think they really deserve special attention from a deity, would most likely be the ones to make such a claim.

And even though we think a person who's good at throwing at football means nothing more than the person's good at throwing a football, which seems to be one of the least important things in life; and even though we fail to find any evidence that a god or someone named Jesus has anything to do with one's ability to throw a football; and even though we suspect Warner's charity work is built on a hidden agenda (to convert people to fundy Christianity), we certainly don't wish him ill in his "retirement."

At the same time, we will oppose his attempt to impose Christian values on the rest of us.

It has been my experience with christianists that "Christian values" is double-speak for a whole host of issues, such as installing christianist practices in public schools and in other public venues; being anti-choice regarding abortion; voting Republican; being against health care reform; opposing actions that would preserve the environment; supporting nation-building wars; etc.

Finally, upon Warner's retirement, we can hope we no longer have to listen to this pious egotist bloviate about how fearful he is that his teammates and their families are going to hell because they don't believe in Warner's Jesus!

That's a relief!

[Note: Much of this info came from an article at Christian Post here.]