SHOULD RUSH LIMBAUGH HAVE RECEIVED THAT PRESIDENTIAL MEDAL?

"Evil men do not understand justice, But those who seek the Lord understand all."  (Proverbs 28:5 New King James Version)

Last Monday afternoon (February 3, 2020) I saw a post that a Facebook friend had shared;  it indicated that Rush Limbaugh announced he has Stage 4 lung cancer.  That news stunned and saddened me.  A couple of hours later I saw a post on Facebook from Franklin Graham saying he'd be praying for Rush and inviting people to post comments.  Thousands of comments had already been posted.  I posted one quick comment:  "Praying for Rush".

The news of Rush Limbaugh's cancer brought back a flood of memories.  Although his national radio program began in August of 1988 I believe it began to be broadcast in the Boston area somewhere around 1990 or 1991.  His radio program in those days (in my opinion) was much better than it is today.  It was different.  It was entertaining.  It was funny.  And it was addictive.  I'd never heard of a radio talk show that played music until I listened to Rush.  There were a bunch of "update theme songs".  There was the "Animal Rights Update - Born Free";  there was the "Condom Update - Up, Up, and Away";  there was the "Peace Update - Una Paloma Blanca";  and there was the "Homeless Update - Ain't Got No Home".  Ain't Got No Home was done by Clarence "Frogman" Henry.  My kids were little in those days, and they loved "Ain't Got No Home" and would happily sing along. They also got excited (as did I) when we heard the sound of The Pretenders' My City Was Gone which was the opening music of the show each day.  I know this will sound "off the wall" to a lot of you, but those days of the early 1990s were, to borrow a line from Charles Dickens, "The best of times and the worst of times."  I cherish those days when my kids were all well under age 12 - cute little kids who liked to have fun.  I also cringe when I think of how bad things were financially for us in those days.  In the pre-1994 years, we were a one car family.  Our family finances were, well, terrible!  I remember the constant financial struggles and a lot of fear and depression, honestly.  Yes, we were Christians.  Yes, we did pray.  Yes, we did read the Bible. And, yes, the Lord saw us through those days, but they were extremely difficult!  I am a huge radio listener, and I'll tell you frankly that Rush Limbaugh in the afternoon and Larry Glick late at night over the airwaves put smiles on my face and comfort in my heart on many days that I was sad and scared.

Last Monday night, WBZ's Dan Rea on his Nightside program said he was sad that so many folks had already posted very hateful and cruel things about Rush Limbaugh and his diagnosis on social media.  I hadn't seen any of it at that point, but I sure did see a lot of negative posts over the next few days.  One post included probably about fifteen audio and visual clips of Rush Limbaugh through the years saying some very controversial, and in some cases, very cruel and inappropriate things.  Honestly, some of 'em weren't really too bad, but some of 'em were!  And there were written quotes.  One written quote had him saying something to the effect that there is absolutely no evidence smoking causes lung cancer.  And, there was a lot of cruel hatred in the responses to that one.

Wow.

Now, here's how I see that stuff.  Rush has been doing the national show since 1988.  He is bombastic.  He can be controversial.  He likes to get things stirred up.  And in doing so, did he say some things he probably shouldn't have?  Yeah.  But here's where I relate.  During my years of pastoring I preached hundreds of sermons, almost all of which were taped.  (Most of them are on cassette tapes, but if you can get hold of a cassette player you can still listen.)  And, I wrote a number of  Letters to the Editor to a few newspapers and wrote a number of guest columns for the MetroWest Daily News.  And I've been writing this blog since 2006.  Have I ever said anything during a sermon which was inappropriate and could even be considered hateful, insensitive or improper?  Yes.  And what about similar things in my writing to the newspapers and on the blog?  Yes.  Frankly, would I want some enemies parading all that stuff around in an arrogant manner and claiming this is who and what Bob Baril is all about?  I absolutely would not want that, nor do I think it would be fair or reasonable.

It's easy to kick someone when they're down!  Many of you know I pastored a church which closed ten years ago, and that I nearly had a complete mental breakdown and was under a psychiatrist's care.  I had to take low paying jobs which a lot of people probably would have said were "beneath" me.  I remember one day around 2011 or 2012 that I was handing out leaflets near the entrance of a big box store in Framingham. (The flyers were for the store's Optical Dept.)  One well known very liberal female political activist in the community confronted me and verbally let me have it.  She told me I had lost that pastorate and my stature in the community and was reduced to handing out flyers in a big box store because it just proved what a bad and pathetic excuse for a human being I was.  Can you imagine how I felt after that?  Well, it stays with you and you don't ever want to kick someone when they're down.

There's so much more I could say about Rush.  When he was a very young man, he experienced a number of personal failures.  Yet, he became very famous and a millionaire several times over.  He became an inspiration to a number of marginalized people, including me.  And, he became an inspiration to a number of people in "blue states" who are often the only conservative on their job or in their family or in their social group.  He made those people feel like they weren't jerks, nor were they bad and pathetic excuses for human beings, but that they mattered and their opinions mattered.  My father-in-law and I are very different people and don't have much in common.  But we finally bonded many years ago over (you guessed it) Rush Limbaugh!  Just the fact that it brought me closer to my father-in-law "Don" meant a lot to him and to me.

Now, I know there have been some great humanitarians and real "heavy hitters" who have received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in the past.  Is Rush Limbaugh on their level?  I don't know.  But I do know President Trump thinks he is and wanted to honor Rush.  I know many people will not agree with me, but Trump's reasoning is good enough for me.

The New Testament teaches we are to love our enemies and pray for them.  Check it out.  It does.  Now, I suppose a lot of you will say, "Well, Rush didn't love his enemies and he didn't pray for his enemies so why should I do that for him?!"  The answer is that number one, you really don't know if Rush did or didn't love and pray for his enemies.  But, number two, even if he didn't, you're still to do it because Jesus said to do it!  And even if Rush didn't deserve that award and even if he's a so-in-so (I don't think he is, but even if I'm wrong) there's no doubt Rush was touched and moved by receiving that medal and touched and moved by the fact that he has cancer and may not make it.  I hope and pray he does live but he may not.  But I believe Rush will think about all this stuff, and will go on to be an even better person.

I didn't like losing my position, and being disgraced.  I hated passing out leaflets and being told what a failure and a nothing I was.  But all of that stuff (and I hate to admit this) made me a better person.

You disagree?  Well read that verse from Proverbs 28 that I quoted above- read it again - and think about it.  Amen.