Sunday, February 7, 2010

Tigergate and the Nature of Man

I used to be a big listener to AM Talk Radio. But at some point I just got turned off and started listening to NPR. Both things have their good and bad. NPR has Click & Clack and the Prairie Home Companion, but it also has Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me and operas in languages I can't understand. Generally at night NPR doesn't have anything I care to listen to and so I'll generally switch back to AM Talk Radio. Generally at night on my commute home I listen to Herman Cain , a conservative Black man. One night he had a substitute. It was during the time when the Tigergate story was breaking and he had checked himself in to a sex addict clinic. I hate when AM Talk Radio picks up on stupid celebrity stuff. If I wanted to hear that crap I'd watch TMZ or listen to pop radio. ANYWAY. The gist of the conversation was that Tiger wasn't a sex addict, he was a man; Tiger was only doing what every married man wished he could do; and all men are basically ruled by the base, animalistic instinct to "nail" as many women as possible. This was followed by phone calls from men relating their sexual escapades (the majority of which I am sure were lies)"I slept with 50 women . I'm not addicted to sex." I was APPALLED.

I decline to buy into the whole "men are controlled by and must obey his penis" movement. I believe there is so much more to men than that. The onslaught of radical feminism has reduced men to being drive by their baser instincts and the objectification of women.

I am not an expert and I lack the expertise to determine whether Tiger is a sex addict. However, I do have the following observation, if Tiger wasn't a sex addict then why would he continue to engage in behavior that is so damaging to not only his marriage, but his career?

What shocked me most about the comment that Tiger was doing what "all married men wished they could do" is that it came from this talk host who I had heard on prior occasions profess that he is a Christian. How can a man who professes to be a follower of Christ hold to and confess beliefs that are contrary to the teachings of God? Has he not read the Bible where it says that a man who looketh on a woman with lust has already committed adultery in his heart? I would hate to think that the man I was married to was only faithful because we were married and not because of his love for and commitment to me.

I finally had to turn the radio off. I was so furious I was shaking. This view on mankind does not farewell for women. If men are ruled by sex then women are nothing more than objects.

While I understand the importance of sex within a marriage I decline to believe that it is what rules a man. I do not believe God gave to man a desire to be with more than one woman. It was Adam and Eve, not Evessss. I began to think about things that run contrary to this. Polygamy. Here was an instance in which God mandated that a man have more than one wife. You did not see men running to sign up for it. It was a calling and a difficult one even for the men to accept. I had a zone leader on my mission. I don't know what prompted the conversation, but he said something to the effect that he hoped that the Lord did not re-institute polygamy because he could not imagine loving more than one woman.


(these are Darrell's parents Mike and Beverly)

Shortly after this experience I was hanging out with Darrell, Darrell's dad, and a couple of our friends. Somehow the conversation turned to this topic (I didn't bring it up). I was so impressed by what Darrell's dad had to say. I thought it was such a great tribute to the kind of man he is and to his wife as well. He said he was at work and the men were talking about how Tiger was a lucky man and how they wished they could "run around". Darrell's dad made a comment along the lines of "I have only kissed one woman and that was the woman I married. I have only been with her and I have no desire to be with anyone but her." He was heckled. But I was so impressed.

I have to admit there have been times in my life where I have doubted the divinity in men. However, I am so glad to be surrounded by men who honor their manhood and don't buy into the lie that they are controlled by a baser instinct.

4 comments:

House of Joy said...

Great post Melissa.

I am grateful you have good people like Darell's famiy in your life.

I am grateful for your wonderful dad. We are blessed.

Love ya

Josie said...

It's nice to have men "that get it" speak out and remind us that they're not all bad :)

The Muries said...

Man there are so many people out there that justify EVERYTHING. I get so sick of hearing about how things like that are part of being male, this on one I could go off on forever. I agree with you 100% and am glad you have good men in your life out there.

Jeff said...

I can also say that I've only kissed one woman and been with one woman and I have no desire to be with any other woman.

The speaker was right, in a sense. The natural man does have a desire to spread his seed as far and wide as possible, much like an animal instinct. But, as a Christian he should have recognized that the natural man can be overcome. And when a man has his spirit command his flesh, he is ultimately more happy and more fulfilled.