Wednesday, January 26, 2005

Me "Basil." She "Jane."

There's not a lot I can add to what everyone has said this week about Ted Turner. But there is a little. I used to enjoy watching and listening to him. Years ago, that is. I remember when he bought the Atlanta Braves. I was working at the radio station in my hometown, many times broadcasting Braves baseball. In fact, the very first day I worked at my first job, Sunday, July 20, 1975, was working a Braves game. They lost to the Expos, 6-5 in 11 innings. The Braves lost a lot back then. The lost 94 games that year, coming in 5th in the NL West.

Anyway, during the years I worked at the radio station, I worked a lot of Braves games. And their new owner, Ted Turner, would show up in the announcers' booth on occasion and help with play-by-play. He was funny. He'd act the fool on the field, too. I remember when he sent the manager on "assignment" and he took over as manager for a game, until the commissioner said he couldn't. Ted Turner was funny.

He's not funny anymore. He's pathetic.

It was big news when he married Jane Fonda. I had already changed my opinion of Turner by that time, so it didn't really surprise me when he did that. Two crazies probably deserved each other, was my thought.

During this recent presidential election, a young fellow at work was talking and make a comment -- I don't remember exactly what it was -- that set me off. It concerned John Kerry. I'm old enough to remember this John Kerry fellow back during his Vietnam War protest days. I saw him on TV and read about him in the paper, and came to the conclusion that I didn't like the fellow. Still don't.

Another Vietnam War protester I didn't care for was Jane Fonda. I'm old enough to remember her going to Hanoi and having her picture taken posing like she was manning an anti-aircraft gun. Those were U.S. aircraft she was pretending she was shooting. And the statements she made about the war really got under my skin. I was too young to go to Vietnam. It ended up around the time I turned 18. They stopped the draft a year before I was eligible. For those that care, I did enlist in the Army years later. But, about Jane Fonda, I thought she was a traitor. So, when she married that crazy (not the good crazy but the bad crazy) Ted Turner, I thought they deserved each other.

Now, what I'm about to say next might surprise you. I no longer have those ill feelings about Jane Fonda. I'm not defending anything she did. However, I became aware that she is now a Christian. She accepted Christ a few years back. And it appears to be genuine. In fact, from what I have read, that was the reason for the divorce of Ted Turner and Jane Fonda. He couldn't stand being married to a Christian.

Now, is the slate clean concerning all Jane Fonda did back then? Nope. But that's because I'm human. In God's eyes, all is forgiven. And because of that, I must temper my ill will with that knowledge. So, I still don't like what she did, but I think I've been able to separate the Jane Fonda of then from the Jane Fonda of today, the one that's a born-again Christian. She has acknowledged that she was wrong and has made apologies for her actions. No, she hasn't looked up each person and made individual apologies. But the media doesn't make much of her Christianity, so you may not have heard of her conversion. Everything I have seen indicates it's real. So, if it is real, what should I do? I mean, if the public people that upset you were to suddenly change, how would you deal with it?

I'm not Jane Fonda's biggest fan, but I'm no longer her enemy. She and I are brother and sister in Christ.

4 comments:

  1. i'm thankful that jane has turned her life around, especially in the extraterrestial world of hollywood! i did notice, however, that she was dancing with gloria steinham and the 'voting vaginas' during the kerry campaign. so i wondered what was up with that. maybe it was just friends doing friend stuff, but it sent an interesting message. maybe she'll bring some of the gloria and her vv's around to the Truth, eh?

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  2. We don't all baptize each other the same. We even have different versions of the Bible. Some of us think the wine is physically transformed into the literal blood of Christ; others drink Welch's grape juice. Some of us believe the world is 6,000 years old; others think it's 5,000,000,000 years old.

    With all these -- and more -- different beliefs regarding our common religion, it's no wonder that not all Christians vote the same.

    She has quite involved, quietly, with helping the needy in Georgia. With her influence in Hollywood, perhaps she feels led to continue her friendships and activities with that crowd. I don't know. I just hope and pray that her Path continues, and that she brings others on the Journey.

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  3. I don't have any problem with any of this, but I might suggest something further. Why does she have to be reconciled to Christ for us to forgive her? Even if you think of her as an enemy, aren't we told to love our enemy? Something does happen as she is united with Christ, with whom we are united. We are both one with Christ and therefore we are one in the one body. But even if she is outside Christ (and she was once), and even if we see her as our enemy (which we're not told to do even with those who persecute us), we are commanded to love her. So as hard as it is to do what you're trying to do, I suggest that what's required of us is even harder.

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