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| Steve Gleason |
Who is Steve Gleason? He's a former professional football player who played eight seasons in the National Football League for the New Orleans Saints.
Gleason was known as an overachiever who, despite not being drafted after he graduated from Washington State, parlayed his heart, desire and ability to earn a roster spot as a safety with the Saints in 2000. And that was no small achievement.
He retired in 2008 and he led a normal life away from football until he was diagnosed in 2011 with the terrible disease known as ALS. ALS is short for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, and it's a debilitating affliction that's almost always fatal. ALS attacks the body's central nervous system by destroying motor neurons that allow the brain to send and receive signals from muscles.
The disease is also known as "Lou Gehrig's Disease." Gehrig was a baseball superstar for the New York Yankees in the 1920s and 30s until he was stricken with ALS. Gehrig died of the disease in 1941 at the young age of 38.
Gleason is 36. Some people, such as scientist Stephen Hawking, have actually managed to survive with the disease. But those few who do survive live as virtual prisoners trapped inside bodies that are barely able to function.
There's still no cure for ALS. We don't know how much longer Gleason has to live, but it's evident that he's entered into the advanced stages of ALS.
Why am I writing about Gleason? Because he was recently smeared on an Atlanta, Ga. radio station (790 The Zone) by hosts Steak Shapiro, Nick Cellini and Chris DiMino. Shapiro, Cellini and DiMino hosted a show called "Mayhem in the AM" until they were suspended and subsequently fired by station management on Monday (June 17) after they mocked Gleason and his medical condition.
I won't repeat what they said about Gleason because it was disgusting. Many who listened to the show were shocked by their comments and they called and emailed the station to express their outrage. When station management listened to the tape of the program, they had no choice but to fire Shapiro, Cellini and DiMino.
Shapiro, Cellini and DiMino have since apologized to Gleason for their stupid comments and Gleason has graciously accepted their apologies. Only Shapiro, Cellini and DiMino truly know whether their apologies are sincere or not.
But they never should have insulted a seriously ill man simply because they wanted to generate attention and ratings for their show. And because they did that, they got what they deserved.
And sadly, we live in a prophetic time where people are "without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God..."(2 Timothy 3:3-4)
And it's only going to get worse. When a man who's suffering from a horrible disease that's robbing him of his life is so maliciously demeaned by three radio clowns, then we are truly living in what biblical prophecy describes as the terrible last days.
There's still no cure for ALS. We don't know how much longer Gleason has to live, but it's evident that he's entered into the advanced stages of ALS.
Why am I writing about Gleason? Because he was recently smeared on an Atlanta, Ga. radio station (790 The Zone) by hosts Steak Shapiro, Nick Cellini and Chris DiMino. Shapiro, Cellini and DiMino hosted a show called "Mayhem in the AM" until they were suspended and subsequently fired by station management on Monday (June 17) after they mocked Gleason and his medical condition.
I won't repeat what they said about Gleason because it was disgusting. Many who listened to the show were shocked by their comments and they called and emailed the station to express their outrage. When station management listened to the tape of the program, they had no choice but to fire Shapiro, Cellini and DiMino.
Shapiro, Cellini and DiMino have since apologized to Gleason for their stupid comments and Gleason has graciously accepted their apologies. Only Shapiro, Cellini and DiMino truly know whether their apologies are sincere or not.
But they never should have insulted a seriously ill man simply because they wanted to generate attention and ratings for their show. And because they did that, they got what they deserved.
And sadly, we live in a prophetic time where people are "without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God..."(2 Timothy 3:3-4)
And it's only going to get worse. When a man who's suffering from a horrible disease that's robbing him of his life is so maliciously demeaned by three radio clowns, then we are truly living in what biblical prophecy describes as the terrible last days.
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