Enough With Biographies

In life we're all kings or pawns - "The Count of Monte Cristo"

It happened again today. Few people made some politically charged statements that might have set me off, but because I respect them a great deal, I said nothing. The following is more or less what I wanted to say. This post is not about religion.

A person's biography does not make them a great person. Just because a man used to change car tires does not mean that he is qualified to race Formula One cars. It's true that he has had experience with the mechanics of cars, at least the tires, and he may have been very good at changing tires, but that is not to say that he is able to keep the whole car under control and performing at its optimum for hundreds of miles through body crushingly tight turns at mind bending speeds.

I have known men who devoted their life to religion, given up years of life as young men, spent veritable fortunes for people of their age, and put personal interests aside to do what they thought was right. Then within a few years, sometimes a matter of months, they throw it all aside, abandon religion entirely and live the life they fought against so vigorously. They become different people; they forget the things they felt and the promises they made to themselves.

The catalysts for this kind of change in a man is the same they have always been from the beginning of human history. Fame, fortune, and power. How many lives are centered on the pursuit of one or more of these, and how many have been ruined by their acquisition.

Telling me how good a man was at changing tires 40 years ago tells me nothing about how well he can drive a race car today, and the best pawn might never be a good king.