At the end of January and into the early part of February (1999), it was difficult to tell which end of the newspaper was which as the then England manager Glenn Hoddle and what he had apparently said to a Times newspaper reporter regarding re-incarnation dominated the headlines.
The changing situation, as reported by the different media, was one that had everyone talking, from disabled football fans to government ministers. A number of matters of interest emerged from this spate of discussion.
1. Journalists have the power to manufacture stories almost from nothing
Matt Dickinson is a journalist with the Times newspaper. He reported Hoddle as saying to him, 'You and I have been physically given two hands and two legs and a half-decent brain. Some people have not been born like that for a reason. The karma is working from another lifetime. It is not only people with disabilities. What you sow, you have to reap.' Interestingly, it emerges that back in May of last year Hoddle said something similar in an interview for Radio 5. '... I think we make mistakes when we are down here and our spirit has to come back and learn. That's why there is injustice in the world, why there's certain people born into the world with terrible physical problems and why there's a family who has got everything right, physically and mentally.' One Times journalist commented pejoratively on Radio 5's inability to spot a good story when they saw one but is it not rather the fact that able journalists and editors, backed by some of the world's richest men, now have the power to make a story run so that a man ends up losing his job while they reap the rewards of increased media interest.
2. People have little idea of what evangelical Christianity is all about
I first became aware of Glenn Hoddle when I saw a picture of him on the front of an Evangelical Alliance publication entitled The Evangelicals. The suggestion was clearly that Hoddle was one of us and so I obtained a biography from the library and read it. It was clear from the book that Hoddle did not have the first idea of what evangelical Christianity was about and nothing I have learned about him since has changed my mind on that. News of his adultery and divorce, his high regard for the spiritualist Eileen Drewery and his apparent failure to connect with a local church, all point in the same direction. Nevertheless. he is still described by many in the media as a 'devout Christian', 'committed Christian', 'born again' and an 'evangelical'. ITN were even able to produce footage of someone from Christians in Sport who spoke of Hoddle as a true believer. Some newspapers have produced experts who point out that re-incarnation is no part of orthodox Christian teaching. The very word Karma is Hindu, but there are obviously many people about who think of evangelicalism as no more than some vague spirituality that you are keen to share with others.
3. The Post-modern New Age is hardly here yet
Despite much talk of a new age and of a post-modern climate that is willing to accept any and every theological shade, when people are confronted with a truly horrific doctrine such as re-incarnation, their vaunted toleration goes right out of the window. Between irresistible jokes about a previous life as Vlad the Impaler, Sports Minister Tony Banks labelled the doctrine 'outrageous' and was greeted with a hearty 'Hear, hear' by his House of Commons colleagues. The Prime Minister was just one of many queuing up to lay into a belief dear to Hindus, Buddhists and many others but understandably quite unacceptable to modernists and disabled soccer fans as well as evangelical Christians. It is a reminder that popular opinion often lags well behind current intellectual trends.
4. People often have difficulty working through the logic of what they say they believe
One of the strangest aspects of the affair was Hoddle's attempt to extricate himself by saying that he was 'misconstrued'. He denied saying that disabled people were paying for their sins. The problem seems to have been that while taking on board the doctrine of re-incarnation at an intellectual level, he is as horrified as others at the implication that the disabled and handicapped are guilty of something sinful in a previous life. Even though he seems to have said that very thing, he appears unwilling, as yet, to live with the consequences of his view. The same faulty logic is seen in this statement by Harish Karanashankar Purohit of the Federation of Hindu Priests quoted in the Times, 'Mr Hoddle's beliefs are similar to the key concept of Hinduism. We share Mr Hoddle's beliefs but we are not allowed to be judgmental. We are expected to treat everyone as equals. What Mr Hoddle said was totally out of place. What right has he to be judgmental? I work with disabled people and if I had that view of those people then I would not be able to deliver the service that I do.'
We need to remember that man's logical powers are fallen as much as any other part. Like the late Francis Schaeffer we should do what we can to show people the ultimate logic of their sincerely held but wrong beliefs. We too must beware of holding a doctrine in our heads that we do not really believe in practice.
5. Evangelical Christians would be foolish to think they can rise to positions of power and promote the gospel from such a position
One sometimes fondly imagines that if a Christian should rise to some position of prominence in a particular field, then doors would open for the presentation of the gospel that as yet remain firmly closed. However, it is sobering to see what the reaction is when someone dares to suggest something that does not fit in with the prevailing humanistic view of life. 'Mad Hod', 'Hoddle off his noddle' screamed the tabloids. We would be rather naive to suppose that they would be any more receptive to our Bible-based beliefs: heaven and hell, justification by faith alone, propitiation, election, the Second Coming. Let's be warned.
This article appeared in Grace Magazine
