Posted on 09/18/2015 6:56:48 PM PDT by SoFloFreeper
....Arian Foster, 28, has spent his entire public football career -- in college at Tennessee, in the NFL with the Texans -- in the Bible Belt. Playing in the sport that most closely aligns itself with religion, in which God and country are both industry and packaging, in which the pregame flyover blends with the postgame prayer, Foster does not believe in God....
....He openly discusses religion in the locker room, and opposing players often introduce themselves by saying, "I hear you're different." And yet he's spent six years in the NFL shielding his nonbelief from the public out of fear of being misinterpreted or -- even worse -- mislabeled. "This is unprecedented," says Todd Stiefel, chair of Openly Secular. "He is the first active professional athlete, let alone star, to ever stand up in support of gaining respect for secular Americans."
The language of the unburdening, of the coming-out, is telling. The politicization of religion, and the religionization of politics, has created a feeling of marginalization among those who don't believe. Religion has become so entwined with the culture of sports that it has become its own language. Open Christianity is a subtext that draws players toward one another, even if they've never met, as if a single shared belief grants membership to the club.
Foster, who has run for more than 6,000 yards and been named to the Pro Bowl four times, understands the sensitivity of the topic and how telling his story might be perceived negatively....
Foster....was raised Muslim in Albuquerque, New Mexico. "Prayed five times a day, facing east," Foster says. His father, Carl -- "a free thinker, very intelligent, knows the Bible front and back," Arian says -- pushed him to ask questions and challenge convention.
(Excerpt) Read more at espn.go.com ...
I hope some of you will join me in praying for Mr. Foster--that his eyes be opened to the truth he is suppressing in his heart.
It does.
The way ESPN has turned these last few years, this is right down their alley.
2 Thessalonians 2:3-12 and Revelation 22:11.
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=2+Thessalonians+2%3A3-12&version=KJV
https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=revelation+22%3A11&version=KJV
Anyone named Arian it would seem has a Fascist parent
Not Aryan, but Arian, which is even worse.
Nomen est omen. "Arian" means a follower of the heretic Arius, who denied the deity of Christ.
[knows the Bible front and back,” Arian says]
Somehow I doubt that very much. It’s one thing to just spew knowledge. Faith is a very different matter.
Let’s see if he can trade those football accomplishments for his soul. Well, he can’t.
Better wake up, Arian. Hope you’re reading this somehow.
poor kid. what a dad he must have. definitely praying for him.
FATHER GOD,
JESUS said,“I also tell you this: If two of you agree here on earth concerning anything you ask, my Father in heaven will do it for you.”
We lift Arian Foster up to You in agreement and ask that the veil that keeps him from knowing JESUS as his LORD and SAVIOR be lifted.
May HOLY SPIRIT draw close to him and reveal truth to him in his deepest sleep. Continue to bring Godly men into his life. May Truth become real to him.
We also pray for the salvation of Arian Foster’s entire family
We thank you for Your only Son, JESUS CHRIST, Who gives the victory. In His precious name we pray. Amen.
Sad article. I’ve always like Arian Foster on the field; now I feel nothing but compassion for him. Raised Muslim; Muslim dad; Catholic-turned-Muslim-turned agnostic mom...how confusing to a kid growing up.
God clearly put Justin Forsett in Foster’s life for a purpose. Prayers for both of them.
Amen. Thank you for that.
ESPN sucks.
And that seems to be what God is doing in drawing the line in the sand.
Forcing people to take sides.
Most of the people I work with are atheists. They’re just not as open about it as Arian Foster.
Terrible. Just terrible.
If I'm not mistaken the modern day subscribers of Arius would be the Jehovah's Witnesses.
Mormons, too.
So could a JW be described as a Mormon with a beer?
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