I Don't Like Ben and I Don't Like Vegetable Soup, But That's OK!

You better sit down and get a drink. If it offends you in anyway that I'm an American citizen who has opinions and likes and dislikes, this isn't the blog for you. I recently made a comment that I was Anti-Ben. This spurred on an entire uproar on Facebook. I stated that I like the Steelers because they have Purdue colors, I just don't like Ben. I have to say that if people would get as fired up about Jesus as they do about their sports heroes or whether they were "Team Edward" or "Team Jacob" our world would be a better place. As it is, I, unwittingly, spurred a debate throwing people into an uproar without intending to.

What I know about sports compared to true sports fans could fit into a thimble. That said I am entitled to my opinion, much to the dismay of other people. I do not know Ben Roethlisberger personally. I also do not know Tiger Woods, Tom Brady, Sean Penn, Tom Cruise, and I think that kid Justin looks better with a haircut. Which is why I don't publicly bash them, even though I don't like them. I also don't like peas, vegetable soup, or the chicken soft taco from Taco Bell I had for dinner Sunday night.

I had no idea that Ben had been accused of rape. I don't like him because I don't like the look in his eye. I also think he should always wear a hat, he can pull off a hat very well. After reading the commentary that went on long after I had left the conversation. I was appalled to read that apparently because I am Anti-Ben I must be "uninformed" and "easily influenced." This, according to the person I considered a friend, I was giving a gentle ribbing to, is due to my upbringing and the fact that I live in a small town. This person by the way graduated with me from high school. (Hello pot, meet the kettle, you are both black!)

So in my quest to be better informed I googled Ben. Apparently he has been accused of rape and more than one time. I see a pattern here. How many football player are perfectly able to get through their careers without this happening to them? Ben is a quarterback with two Super Bowl rings. Ben had to miss four games at the beginning of the season because of a rape charge. I am a college educated woman and I live in a small town. (By choice) I am pretty sure that even an Ivy League graduate who lives in a large city can put two and two together on this one. I should mention that he has never been found guilty in a court of law and has always been able to settle outside of court for a settlement. He is special. Even without knowing all of that I didn't like the guy. Investigating him only made me dislike him more. Not because I find people guilty until proven innocent, but I have yet to read anything about the man that I found remotely appealing. P.S. If this shocks or dismays you in any way, I should also mention that I don't watch Oprah either.

Before you get yourself tied in a knot I made vegetable soup for dinner tonight. I figured I should give it another chance. I believe in second chances. As I tell my children, maybe you didn't like it before but you are older now, you may like it now. I have to say it's still not my favorite. I found I still don't like the way it looks, but if I read something or refuse to look in the bowl, I can eat it. Perhaps when I watch the Super Bowl this year, the only football game I will bring myself to watch on TV every year, (I enjoy the commercials in between also Glee comes back that night so Yay!) I'll just focus on the Purdue colors and not look at Ben.

It saddens me that someone who likes to think of themself as well informed and unbiased, was so quick to come to the rescue of a man he has never met yet quick to slander me. He has no idea how I spend my time, what degrees I hold, who raised me, or how I form my opinions. All things he likely doesn't know about Ben either. Ben has two Super Bowl rings but I have wedding rings and have been able to stay married to my high school sweetheart for over fifteen years.

I don't go on people's pages or my own and speak ill of anyone. It doesn't matter if they have upset me or not. I prefer to talk to them without an audience if something is bothering me. Never would I tell an entire facebook community that a friend was small minded because they didn't agree with what I believed to be true.

But this is my blog. Here is what I believe to be true. I believe that if people would show this much passion for Jesus our world would be a MUCH better place. If instead of jumping to conclusions people would ask what you are referring to, our world would be a MUCH better place. If everyone would pick sports teams based on the color of their uniforms, and not pick a player and put them on a pedestal that they may or may not belong on, our world would be a MUCH better place. If our house furniture had buttons to heat the seats like my car seats do, I would always be warm in the house at winter time.

But I digress. So the moral of this story I guess is this: Before slandering someone you consider a friend for being "ill-informed" perhaps you should be better informed about your friend. Also never get into a battle of wits with an unarmed man. As currently I'm reminded why I don't have many male friends and I married the pick of the litter.