Opinion Piece: The Redemption of Stephen Baldwin
April 26th 2010 02:36
Stephen Baldwin - photo sourced from google imags
Recently I was introduced to a website The Redemption of Stephen Baldwin comparing Hollywood actor Stephen Baldwin and his fall into bankruptcy, to the biblical story of Job. For those who don’t know, Job was the richest man in his village and to test his faith, God sent a few plagues against his house, resulting in the death of all his children, the loss of his fortune, health, home and position in the community. Despite this, Job’s faith was rock solid and unwavering. It was his unwavering faith that restored his people in God’s eyes, and ultimately his position in the community in the eyes of his villagers.
Recently Stephen Baldwin, star of over 60 movies and television shows, declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy, with debts in excess of 2.3 million dollars. While it would be easy to assume a couple of movie roles would go a long way towards paying off his debts, the website claiming religious intolerance as a reason he can’t get a job that Baldwin’s beliefs have “...caused him the loss of many jobs...”
While the website is not affiliated with Baldwin, it has written permission from Baldwin’s Minister to ask the general public for donations, or as it is described on the website “...If the people of God come together and each give a small “Token Gift” we can see a massive restoration of a Christian public figure..”
Using the analogy of the token gift, again reflecting back to biblical story of Job, it refers to mechanism of Jobs redemption who”...because of his faithfulness ... was instantly restored by All Who Knew Him".
I find it difficult believe any Hollywood actor would put their hand out for donations from the public in order to relieve themselves of the responsibility of their financial culpability, and the very suggestion that this is some sort of Divine test to restore Baldwin in the eyes of the world, while testing his faith is laughable. There are many worthy charities to support including: Greenpeace, Amnesty International, and Plan Australia. A movie star, given more opportunities than most will ever have, who blew a fortune, is not, to my mind, a worthy charitable cause.
Considering the world is slowly clawing its way back from the worst economic disaster in living memory, donating to a someone whose earning potential is unlimited really doesn’t seem to provide the most bang for your charity buck.
For the most part, I have a live and let live mentality to life. But I have to say this habit of late of blaming God for the misfortunes we bring down upon our head is getting slightly boring and old. If you prescribe to the belief of an all-knowing, all-powerful, father figure who controls the world on a whim, mostly based on tests and punishment, surely you’d have to admit he has bigger fish to fry at the moment then Stephen Baldwin’s finances.
In closing, I’ll give the last word to the website that inspired this particular post. Believing that God is using Baldwin as a tool to begin a new, worldwide movement of redemption, the site proclaims “...Be part of a historic movement of God that will literally rock the nation...”
Rocking the nation for a minimum donation of $4.21. Not bad at all. Before you ask, the donation amount is, according to the website, the closest fiscal amount they could get to the biblical story of Job’s redemption (Job 42:10-11).
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