An Honest Defense of Carrie Prejean

A friend dared me to title this post “But I DON’T WANNA Bigger Tiara when I get to heaven!”  I was very tempted but … it wasn’t really an accurate description of what follows.

Let’s talk about Carrie Prejean.

She’s charismatic. She knows what she believes and says so.  She was put on the spot and while she fumbled a bit, she said it like she sees it.  She isn’t intimidated by the Media Hit machine. She is gorgeous and intelligent …  I like her.

What I don’t understand are Christians equating what she did as some sort of “stand for God.”  If I hear that she is a “modern day Esther” one more time I might resort to drumming my fingers on my desk so as not to say something stupid.  I also have read quite a few comments about how because the “reward” she lost (the Miss USA crown) as a result of sticking to her guns on marriage will lead to a “larger reward” in heaven.

Really?  God is going to give her a larger reward because she stood up to Perez Hilton (video)?  With all due respect to Carrie, she is being persecuted because of her stand on marriage … not for preaching Christ crucified.

It’s not the same thing.

When I think of Christians getting a “larger reward” in Heaven, I think of the martyr Stephen, the martyred apostles, disciples and saints through the years. I think of the murdered Christians of Darfur, the Indian Christians being killed right now, the Chinese Christians being run underground and imprisoned.  I think of Mother Theresa and other amazing Christian leaders throughout history that helped millions, helped abolish slavery, helped the underground railroad or to help German Jews in WWII … among a MYRIAD of phenomenal testimonies.  Again, not a criticism of Carrie but the truth is she is selling a book, doing national speaking gigs and gaining fame and notoriety … not taking a vow of poverty or smuggling Bibles into Iran.

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