A tip of the bike helmet to Lance Armstrong, who just won his 7th Tour de France and who, years ago, won his battle with cancer. We all know of his triumphs, but do we all know he did it all without relying on any gods? No prayers, no lucky charms, no divine intervention at all. Lance Armstrong believes in himself, not in the supernatural. He believes in training, focus, and determination. He believes in surgery, chemotherapy, and medicine. He does not believe in gods. He's not overt about his atheism, but it consistently shines through in what I've read about him.From his 2000 book It's Not About the Bike:
At the end of the day, if there was indeed some Body or presence standing there to judge me, I hoped I would be judged on whether I had lived a true life, not on whether I believed in a certain book, or whether I'd been baptized. If there was indeed a God at the end of my days, I hoped he didn't say, "But you were never a Christian, so you're going the other way from heaven." If so, I was going to reply, "You know what? You're right. Fine."
From TIME magazine, 2003:
Interviewer: "For a miracle man, you're not very religious."
Armstrong: "I don't have anything against organized religion per se. We all need something in our lives. I personally just have not accepted that belief. But I'm one of the few."
From a UK Times interview, 2004:
Armstrong is deeply suspicious of organised religion ... Armstrong believes it is possible to be a good person while not believing. "I think we all have obligations to be good, honest, hard-working, caring and compassionate," he says. "You have to try and it won't always be easy but you try your best. I do not believe that because you are not prepared to submit yourself to a god or a higher being, that when you get to the end of the road, you will be sent down. I'm not prepared to believe that."
From ET Newsmagazine, 2004:
"If there was a god, I'd still have both nuts."
It's refreshing to have an American sports hero (and role model) who doesn't "thank God" for his success or drop to his knees to "pray," on-camera or off. His bracelet is not the "WWJD" bracelet. He doesn't waste time with the supernatural. He knows his athletic prowess comes from within himself, and his cancer recovery comes from medical science.
Deservedly, this American Atheist Athlete is now planning to relax a bit and enjoy the rock and roll lifestyle with his foxy paramour, Sheryl Crow. Rock on, Lance!
29 comments:
very interesting....it IS quite a change from the "norm" of athletes. HE reminds me so much of my father, a great, athletic, kind man- that chooses not to worship. Im a very spiritual person in the sense, all religions have their rights and wrongs, but they were formulated by man, therefore, extremely fallable. Every person though, lives on in eternity.
heh... i always knew i liked lance.
cuz, like i always say, going to church makes you a christian like going to the garage makes you a car.
That is so disappointing. I really had a lot of respect for Lance. For someone who had fought so hard against cancer and seemingly has won the battle so inspiringly, it is amazing to me that he could be so clueless about spirituality. I guess his experience hasn't taught him everything.
Anonymous, would you be as disappointed if Lance Armstrong was a Mormon, a Jew, or a Scientologist?
What is it about Atheism that is disappointing to you? It is quite natural to acknowledge that excelling in a sport and recovering from a cancer can come from human effort. Do you think that a god guided Lance along the Tour de France and that a god cured his cancer? If so, what's the point of athletic training and medical science?
Jesus Christ, I had no idea Lance is an atheist!
yes, I'll add a Holy Shit to that!
Atheism, despite the insistence of ahteists, is not an intellectual stand. It is emotional. If anyone lived TRULY atheistic for even one day, they would die by the end of it, probably by their own hand.
You think it is self-empowerment, but it is insecurity that drives you, and Lance as well.
You don't have to believe in God. Here is truth: Jesus is knocking on the door of your heart, not to get IN, but to get OUT and live in the rest of your being. He is written into you.
I am not a pious holy roller. I am a hard-talking, hard-living sum bitch. Do you know the difference between something that is "true" and the "truth"? Things that are true have led to the greatest deceptions in history, far more than mere lies. TRUTH is the working definition of the Living God.
Lance should be glad that he will never be judged by being a "good guy" or a "bad guy". He has thus- far spent his life on his own alter to the complete deteriment of his children and his wife, a literal abandonment for the glory of Lance. Now he has formally done it, divorced them, and further gratifies the god of self with Ms. Crow. What did you so poetically call her? Only a fool would think that he is going to have any part of raising his children. He will not be judged for that. He will not be judged for every vile thought that the press doesn't know about or the berrating and shaming of "lesser" men that he has also made a career of. When He stands before God, and he will, there will be only one question asked of him. There is not a wrong answer, for heaven would be hellish for Lance. He wouldn't like it and it would be unpleasant for you as well it seems. Hell is not a pit of fire with somebody poking you with a pitchfork. It is simply complete and utter separation from God. You have never remotely experienced it before. You have no idea. You only think that human beings are the smartest thing going. Could you explain the internet to an ant? Neither could the awesome power and wisdom of the Lord be explained to you. Same thing.
Lance is an atheist? He has a god alright, and the alter is a mirror.
What of those of us who have battled cancer fiercely and lost? Where is the wonder of science for us? I only have a Comfort and Shelter in the Strong Tower of the Almighty.
I fought just as hard as Lance against cancer. Can I be your hero too? No? I guess I didn't win. I even mastered riding a bike at age 5. Would that help?
Oh, and the question...the one that the Creator of the unoverse will ask when you stand before Him...
"Did you believe in the One I sent?"
His name is Jesus. He is not a curse word. He is God's one and only Son. Even if you don't care for Him, scoff at Him, hate Him, here is TRUTH: He whispered your name as He hung on the cross. He did it for you.
Anonymous, I always wonder that it's so hard for people who have accepted Jesus, to accept that not everyone needs a personal savior to be a good, ethical, compassionate, empathetic human being, or to accomplish amazing things without praying for help help from a higher power. They don't go to war in the name of God, Allah or any other deity. The Atheists I have met are, on the whole, better people than the Southern Baptists I went to church with. In fact, many of the Atheists I've gotten to know recently live their lives a lot closer to the supposed Christian ideal (do unto others, etc.) than fundamentalists telling everyone that doens't follow their particular beliefs that they're all going to hell.
Atheists don't scoff at your beliefs - they're all for freedom of religion, all religion or lack thereof- and put up with a lot of abuse from self-righteous Christians who certainly don't behave as though they believe in Jesus - Jesus preached compassion and tolerance, right?
Spirituality doesn't always require religion.
Yer Daddy is being a little foolish and a little too upset that someone else might not be a believer. S/He should have the confidence to zip it and let those of us who are atheists burn in hell or be submitted to a cosmic silent treatment or whatever, as any mature just and loving God would want.
P.S. Human scientists do not claim to be all powerful (at least not the sane ones) so I am having some trouble following your "what about the people killed by cancer" argument. It seems a little backwards, but its probably my lack of faith that is confusing.
FT: Great story, thanks for bringing it to our attention!
I wonder why he wears a necklace with a charm that appears to be a combo of a Christian cross and the outline of the state of Texas.
Anonymous,
That "Lone Star Crucifix" that Lance sometimes wears is a symbolic link with a fellow cancer patient he bonded with during his cancer treatment. It no more makes him a Christian than wearing a yellow bracelet makes one an atheist.
Lance puts people before any gods. What comes first for you?
This good, moral, and ethical man left his wife and kids to ride his bike and date a rock star. Then again, I'm sure most athiest see nothing wrong with that, huh?
Anonymous,
You really have a chip on your shoulder!
Face it: relationships begin and end for a variety of reasons. Do you know all the intimate details about Lance's divorce? Your insinuation that atheists are somehow less upstanding is unfounded and insulting.
PS ~ Dust off your Bible and read John 8:7.
The cross he wears was from a friend of his who lost her struggle with cancer. It's a cross not a symbol of Texas... And who gives a rats ass anyway... Glad he retired. Now maybe we'll see some true bike races.
Faith in The One True God verses the lack of that faith, here on earth, is our freedom of choice,of course. However the truth is that one day, every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess, that Jesus Christ is Lord. He loves you, and knew you before He created the world. A heart of stone only hurts you. If my opinion angers you, ask yourself why. If you consider yourself open-minded, do the research, and dont discount it all.
FAITH--contemplate it...
good. i'm glad you believe lance, because it shows what a conformist you are. if science and logic is your answer to everything(which is fine by me - just don't be a hypocrite about it) then you can easily explain why lance is a fraud. do the math.
i like your excerpts and quotes as well. how must you have felt when he said his recovery was a miracle?
i love that there are so many post-cancer lance fans. it absolutely cracks me up. why doesn't anyone ever talk about what an arrogant jackass he was before he got sick? it's not that anything has ever changed, either. the only difference is that he can now afford to pay people who tell him what and what not to say.
and now we have someone who thinks he can somehow identify with lance because you somehow extracted from a few random, out-of-context comments that he's an atheist.
get a purpose, dude. you know nothing about lance.
Oh for Darwin's sake! People: grow the fuck up! This isn't about who's right or wrong (even though I believe wholeheartedly that I am right) it is about having a belief system and standing by it not pushing it upon other people. I am an Atheist by the way and your self-proclaimed Saviour was a Jew so there.
Just because Lance doesn't have faith in a god doesn't make him aithiest
This religious nut jobs posting here are as bad as the religious fighters over in Iraq.
Anonymous.. Yer Daddy... and the others.. what made you choose YOUR religion? Did you actually grow up without a religion then logically researched all religions and made a choice based on reasonable logic?
Doubtful. You are just another lost, emotionally and socially weak individual born into a religious family and just continue the tradition.
Religion is for the weak minded. Just go watch a video of these huge "religious" gatherings at some of the large scale churches. Look at the type of people who are there - Fat, unhealtly, uneducated, worthless, weak, ignorant...
Nobody knows what life is. If you want to believe there is a higher power, go for it. But upholding "religion", which was the science before there was "science", well, you're just an idiot.
This is pretty interesting. I find Lance to be a jerk but i believe of what he says about working hard and training will help you win the Tour instead of just praying to God. I am a Christian and don't mind being one, but working hard helps better than praying.
This is my personal opinion about religion: I think religion was made to help people believe that God will help them in a time of need, it gives them a sense of secureness . I would pray to God if it's my last resort, when i can't do anything to save myself and others.
One day there was this preacher and he was having his usual sermon when all of a sudden it started raining, really, really, hard!!!! After about 1 full hour of complete non-stop rain, they started making evacuations because the whole church was flooding, but the preacher just stood there in the ankle-deep water. A guy in a car came up to him and said. "Preacher, Preacher you better get in here before you drown!" But the preacher just replied "Don't worry God will save me." The man then said "Whatever!" and drove away. The water was now knee-deep and a guy in a raft came over to the Preacher and said "Preacher, Preacher you better get in here before you drown!" Despite the second warning the Preacher just stood there and replied "Don't worry God will save me." The man then said "Whatever!!" and rowed away in the orange raft.
The water was now waist-deep and a guy in a power boat came to the Preacher and said "Preacher, Preacher you better get in here before you drown!" Despite the third warning the Preacher just stood there and replied "Don't worry God will save me." With that the man said "Whatever!" and jetted away in the power boat. The water was now neck-deep and a guy in a helicopter came and said "Preacher, Preacher you better get your butt in here before you drown!" The man still just stood there and replied "Don't worry God will save me." And with that the man said "Whatever" and flew away. The water then got so deep that the Preacher was sucked under and died. When he opened his eyes he noticed that he was in heaven. He then saw God and asked "God! Why didn't you save me from that horrible flood?!?" God then replied, " I sent you a car, a raft, a power boat, and a helicopter!!! What else do you want from me?!"
Anonymous, thanks for all the comments. This post is still getting a lot of hits, after more than two years! Lance casts a long shadow.
Anonymous is a little bit of a saddo... thats all i have to say.
anonymous, i god controls everything (if there is a god haha)
then why dont u go and win tour de france.. 7times. also go get radiation poisoning so u have cancer etc.
then we will see if GOD can do jack shlt.
he never says hes an athiest, he doesnt believe in any one specific religion
OH, juck fesus already! Enough of this god horse bleep. Where was he when Pol Pot destroyed a civilization in Cambodia, or when Stalin wiped out 20,000,000? or Hitler? Or when a million Tutsis were being wiped out by their Hutu neighbors in Rwanda? Where is he in Darfur, where children are starving by the hundreds of thousands? Where is he in Tibet, as the Chinese brutalize Tibetans? Where was he when America had a slave trade? Puhleeze. Yeah, right...he's with Big Papi when he gets up to the plate? Give me a break. There's no there there. There's no god, never was, never will be.
Lance went to church in Plano at a methodist church on the east side. We went to school together and my Dad actually taught him in Sunday School a couple of years. Now that I'm older I realize that church was as Godless as they come, but for Lance to say he was made well by Medicine, and whatever else, He just will never know. I know I got saved around the time Lance was still doing triathalons at Lake Lavon. I interceded for Lance on more than one occasion when I found out he had cancer, as did my family.
just an FYI
Arrgh! I hate people like anonymous who think all the good things in the world happen because of God and then they totally ignore the bullshit that's going on in the world. I actually have more respect for Lance Armstrong.
I think about the barber who says God does not exist and the customer after a haircut went outside and came back in after seeing a long haired hippie dude and told the barber, barbers don't exist. The barber said what do you mean and the customer said I just saw a guy with a really long beard and hair and the barber said, so he hasn't come to me and the customer said exactely thats how God is people dont come to him or look for him and thats why there is so much pain and suffering in the world. Peace to everyone, but know that Jesus Christ is your savior. I will pray for Lance.
Lance Armstrong is wrong about this theme.He does not understand the message of Jesus, is not able to seeing that everything is not a chance.
Love is the most strong think and no only in life is "strong legs".
Lance cannot base everything on the power of the man and the science.Debit of being more humbly in this aspect.I believe, I hace HOPE and I give thanks to God for this wonderful life. The Bible is capable of explaining any thing ...the question is opening the heart.
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