December 07, 2007
It's What's His Name
CNN is broadcasting the program ‘CNN Heroes: An All Star Tribute’. The presentation honors 18 finalists of ordinary people who CNN deems as heroes. It seems to me that the promotional clips for the program are more about the performers and the star-studded presenters than it is about those being honored. In speaking of the honorees, one reporter said, “We may not know their names, but they are heroes.” She goes on to say, “This was the guy who jumped onto the New York subway… Remember the man who saved… I really like his story…” I think her accolades would have sounded a bit more genuine had she at least given us her hero’s name (Wesley Autry). Imagine how the Lord would be perceived if we said, ‘This was the guy who stopped the stoning of a woman caught in adultery… Remember the man who saved… I really like his story…’ What was his name anyway?
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Gail;
-----I can imagine a lot of reasons why these Hollywood types would want to have so much trouble with the names of those descent American heroes. Since this event had no touch upon, or even parallel to, politics, at least that half of the reasons can be tossed out. I think the rest of the reasons all draw from the common root of the participant/observer, expert/beneficiary, leader/follower syndrome that seems to come naturally to people. Although some stars are in it for merely the fame and money, I believe a majority of them feel that they are engaging in a serious, expressive dialogue with society, feeding into it something special they think only they have. So, as the mystique of the shamans and priests had to be preserved to maintain their bedazzlement over the smoky cavemen and the worshipping masses, so also must be maintained the elevation of these left-wing, left-coast gurus over us common schleppers. And since the effective vehicle of their message is the nuance of their social elevation, the nuance also must be protected. There is evidently a deep dread that the honest mention of a schlepper’s name in their circles might call to their level the humanity of the common mass. As unfortunate this selfishness with influence is among these people, it is worse to observe it in those given an even more important place of influence in the church. We do see it there, too, maybe more subtly, but definitely, it is there.
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