Faith, politics, you name it–from An African-American Perspective
The cause of Amy Whinehouse’s death is extreme alcohol consumption. Although others speculated the British signing sensation may have passed due to unsupervised withdrawal from alcohol, the final autopsy reveals the cause of death.
This is disheartening and sad. Not because she was famous or a talented artist, but because she was a lost soul who battled with so much that her avoidance led her to a lifestyle that put her into an early grave.
MullOverThis
Pastor Zachery Tims is deceased and news reports have mentioned the presence of a white powder on his person, which is being tested. So, the implication is that drugs may have been involved. Additionally, news reports have succinctly described Tims as, “…pastor of New Destiny Christian Center in Apopka, Florida who divorced his wife over an affair with a hooker…”
I definitely have a firm resolve concerning Pastor Tims and the type of preacher he represents: the man who loves God and does all that he can for people to improve their lives. “The man” is where the murky area lies. Regardless of one’s religious convictions or beliefs, at some point, we have to decide what is good. I do not have the power to, or would even be willing to toss Tims or anyone like him to the dogs; some people do have a conscience but don’t realize how their decisions will affect them until it is too late. God’s grace is sufficent to cover any one of us, even at the last minute.
Mulloverthis:
Is it possible to be a “good man” when you are unfaithful and dishonor your wife even in public?
Is it possible to be a “good man” when your decisions make your children fatherless?
Is it possible to be a “good man” because you have done so many great things for every one but the ones whose lives rely upon your “goodness” the most?
Does a “good man” direct donation money to support a drug addiction?
Does a “good man” pay for hotels and flings to accompany him with church money?
Can a man be a “great man(d) of God” if he’s not even a “good man”?
Does the crackhead who steals from his family but helps an old lady across the street become a poor soul who is a good person?
Are we allowed to really draw the line between good people and not so good people anymore?
Do the concepts of CHARACTER, INTEGRITY, ETHICS, RESPONSIBILITY, RELIABILITY, THOUGHTFULNESS, AND CONSIDERATION for people other than oneself mean anything?
Nice people do not necessarily translate into good people.
Good people often have to do things that are not nice.
What a man does, speaks much louder to what is really in his heart, than mere words.
The sum total of one’s acts does not outweigh or define the essence of a man’s character.
Good will and good intentions can kill in the absence of good character.
God certainly uses people who have not always been good. But, I haven’t seen one instance where God used people who did not turn away from their non-goodness to become more like God. The admirable thing about Zachery is that even in all of his struggles, he had enough faith to try and help others. Ultimately, there is no point in representing a Christ who cannot give us the power to live a good life, especially when we plaster our faces on signs as leaders qualified to show you the way. ZTims is not isolated in this troubled preacher identity. We do not need ANOTHER man, who cannot live a good life, to feel more for people than to seek care for his own life. The Kingdom of God is not a crutch for preachers’ issues and does not belong to preachers. Preachers, SIT DOWN. TAKE A SEAT. You are not that important to the world. No, you are not. God can use anyone else to do what you do. Go somewhere and sit down until you can be restored. No one can blame “the church” for a man’s destructive choices. Ask every drug addict who now lives in victory. We are not going to gloss over mess and memorialize it as something good to make people feel good. We have too much in Christ to continue in sin, and think church leaders should live just like men who do not KNOW God.
If there need not be any moral distinction and culpability for the kinds of ills that one man’s life exudes to become a plague in other people’s lives, and lead without adherence to the standard of what is good and right, then we owe Bin Laden an apology.
Mulloverthis.
In a nutshell, MJ died and his exclusive on call live-in physician, Dr. Conrad Murray, aka shoot-him up drug dealer, was charged with involuntary manslaughter.
Bartenders who serve known alcoholics open their establishments up to liability for any consequent damage alcoholics may cause as a result of their impairment.
According to Winehouse’s mom, Janis, who saw her the day before Winehouse succumbed, she believed that death was inevitable. According to various news reports, Winehouse purchased heroine, cocaine, ketamine and the speculative killer, “a bad ecstasy pill” the night before her death, in the midst of a “weeks-long” drinking binge.
Should people who service known drug abusers be charged with criminal charges upon the untimely deaths-or timely considering their lifestyles-of known abusers when the cause of death is largely attributable to drug use? Does the fact that some abuse is solely from the use of illicit drugs merit a different rational for dealer culpability? Should medical doctors who service ill-advised affluent patients with prescription drugs without a proper medical screening (over the phone) be held liable for lethal drug combination deaths? Should drug dealers be liable for birth defects/abnormalities in newborn infants born to drug-addicted mothers?
Although many of these tragedies would not take place if dealers and low-grade legal physicians were not accessible and failed to supply the abusers, we ought to be careful about increasingly transferring guilt and corresponding liability to the middle people. Grown people who willfully begin a life of drug addiction, manipulate professionals to get their fix, or find themselves addicted to some substance that impairs their physiological abilities and live a life that affects themselves and may cause utter destruction to innocent bystanders, need to be held responsible for their own demise, and any additional damages. We may mourn and seek to blame others who had a part in the tragedy because the end of death is to difficult to bear in the face of the vulnerability through which we often “see” addicts. What we have to face it the hardest fact: people will find whatever they want to get whatever they want and their addictions may lead to DEATH. While the ultimate eradiction of drug addiction should include controlling the availability of good drugs and annihilation of illegal drugs, no one is responsible for anyone else’s life and decisions.
Mulloverthis.
*Mulloverthis notes that in a few circumstances, drug addiction may be “forced” upon addicts, and in these circumstances criminal charges are clearly merited.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/09/us/09jackson.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/24/amy-winehouse-dies-mom-janis_n_907997.html
Amy Whinehouse passed away today, July 23, 2011.
Although Whinehouse enjoyed record-breaking music success as the first British artist to win 5 Grammy Awards in 2008 while winning Best New Artist, Song of the Year and Album of the Year, and tied the record of the female with the most Grammy wins at one time, her artistic accomplishments could not overshadow her addiction and battles with alcoholism, heroin and also mental illness. Presumably, she died of a drug overdose, although official police reports have noted her cause of death as “unexplained”.
Amy Whinehouse joins the annuls of incredibly talented musicians, writers and performers who succumbed because of drug addiction. MJ’s passing and now Whinehouse compels us to remember that drugs do not respect fame, notoriety, wealth, or recognition. When prescription drugs or illicit drugs are abused, any human being is prone to suffering a tragic end, which like Whinehouse, may be the ultimate: death.
Don’t do drugs.
Mulloverthis.
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