Bruce or Caitlyn?

I don't want to come across as a hypocrite on this one, so let me start by tossing a couple of things out there for your consumption. First, I'm not setting myself up as some standard of decency. Trust me, when they come to me, I'm sure I will toss out some pretty good Bruce Jenner jokes. Humor is my thing, and I certainly don't find this topic to be off limits. Next, I am not a religious person. I don't mean to preach at you here. However, I was raised by a preacher, so I know a thing or two about the Bible and I had an interesting thought on the subject, so I thought that I would share it.

For those of you who haven't been following along at home, the picture to the right is Bruce Jenner who now wishes to be known as Caitlyn Jenner. The discussion on this topic on social media has been very wide ranging, from support and respect to dissent and disrespect. From some of my religious friends, I have seen some posts about how God will judge him and how he is living in sin. Fair enough, but then I thought about this passage.

Proverbs 23:7
For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: 

I'm sure most of you who are religious are familiar with this passage, but it is kind of interesting in this context isn't it? If God sees us for who we really are, and we really are as we think in our heart, than what did God see when he looked at Bruce Jenner a month, a year, or a decade ago? You may have been surprised to see Bruce as Caitlyn on the cover of Vanity Fair, but God wasn't. He has been seeing Caitlyn since Bruce first contrived her in his mind.

Now, let's take that thought one step further, since it is rare that we can see such a visual image of one's "sin". If all of your secret sins were able to be visualized and put on a magazine cover, what would you look like? I know I wouldn't look as pretty as Bruce does there, and you probably wouldn't either. Fair to say?

At this point, those of you on the other side of the coin may think you have gotten off of the hook. You haven't. I'm going to put my Bible down now and put my thinking cap on. So, ESPN is going to honor Caitlyn Jenner with the Arthur Ashe Courage Award. Interesting. So, what are the criteria for choosing the recipient of said award?

"The Arthur Ashe Courage Award is awarded to athletes who exhibit strength in the face of adversity, courage in the face of peril and the willingness to stand up for their beliefs no matter what the cost.”

To be fair here, Bruce has stated that he has been struggling with this issue his whole life. So let's just say for the sake of debate that Bruce had decided to do this... oh, let's say in 1976 right after winning Olympic medal. How do you think this would have gone over at that time? If you answered "Probably not as well as it did today" you would be correct.

Now I'm not judging Jenner here, nor am I saying he should have done this at any time other than what he did. I'm simply questioning the award. If Bruce Jenner had climbed up to the gold medal platform wearing an evening gown in 1976 that would have taken courage. An Olympic gold medalist in a field that doesn't translated into a lucrative athletic career announcing to the world "Man, I feel like a woman" in 1976 America? That would be a willingness to stand up for your beliefs no matter what the cost. If you think that coming out as a transgender in today's political climate is tough, try coming out as a Republican... or a Christian. Hell, you don't even have to go that far. Try just telling a gay joke in a public place. That takes far more courage with all these uptight liberals running around looking to score points for being offended by something.

Let's try to cool the over-the-top rhetoric on this one. So Bruce Jenner thinks he's a woman. What do you care? Does it really change your life? ESPN thinks he deserves in ESPY in courage for it. Because he stands so much to lose now?  Please. If he thought a full frontal assault on traditional moral values was risky in America today, all he needed to do was go ask his stepdaughter Kim Kardashian how her sex tape and fake marriage to an NBA player has affected her career. The only thing clear following this spectacle from Bruce or Caitlyn, him or her, is that it is becoming harder than ever before to keep up with the Kardashians.