Christian Celebrities and their Fraudulent Testimonies

Why do I have to keep hearing about Kathy Ireland? Why are these people celebrated for their supposed faith? The woman became famous in the 1980's for taking her clothes off. Tame by today's standards, this was a more innocent time and a publication like the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition was a big deal for teenage boys and young men – that was a lot of skin to lust over. It wouldn't even grab anyone's attention today but for years that magazine's annual release was a cultural moment and viewed as scandalous by anyone with a moral compass.

And Kathy Ireland was one of the icons of the era – appearing multiple times in the magazine. Okay, she's a Christian now, that's great. Where's the evidence? She built on her swimsuit fame and launched a company which she continues to promote alongside a feminist narrative. She's now worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

Has she repented? She was a stumbling block for young men like me. Why is she now rewarded and held up as some kind of icon – someone with a Christian testimony and wisdom to share?

No. Basically she's a reformed whore but she hasn't repented of it. In fact by the 1990's and early 2000's – in many ways thanks to the likes of the FOX channel and its sundry bathing-suit strutting Christian beauty queens, the Evangelical movement embraced this sort of thing and celebrates it – and even put a positive feminist spin on it.

What a disgrace. There's no repentance apart from acts of contrition. What should she do?

Well, look at this way. If I was a thief and made millions of dollars and then became a Christian, what would people say? Would they reward me for being rich?

What if I can't realistically restore the money? What should I do?

Keep it and keep enriching myself? No, I don't think that's what people would say. Or maybe they would. Conversion it would seem launders your ill-gotten gain.

But this discussion can't even happen when the Christian community simply celebrates people like this. The Christian Post obviously thinks she's wonderful and even lauds her wealth – and how that wealth was gained in terms of a business model is another topic. The Evangelical community may celebrate capitalism and millionaire business moguls – but the New Testament does not.

And now she's promoting a documentary on mental health and teens and because she's put her money behind it and the Christian community somehow looks up to her and her efforts – outlets like The Christian Post promote it. The documentary's web-page reveals a mixed and sub-Christian message of psychology, relying not on Scripture but on a bevy of psychologists. It is set alongside promotionals for quack headband mind-vibrators and snake-oil 'mood chews' – pills to help you deal with stress and sleep better. That's quite an interesting spin on 'Be anxious for nothing'.

Likewise I recently saw The Aquila Report putting out a piece celebrating the faith of Raquel Welch and what a wonderful Christian lady she was.

Maybe she converted later in life. Did she repudiate what she had done before? Did she reject being a sex symbol? What about Myra Breckenridge? What about her nude modeling? I heard one ridiculous commentary on the BBC talking about how her career was restricted and she was always forced into the sex-symbol skin-flaunting roles. Forced? No, producers may not have recognized her talent or given her serious roles but she didn't turn down those parts or photo shoots that required her to strip down and exhibit her body. She certainly liked the paychecks and the attention.

She too was a stumbling block for my generation. Again, did she reject all that? Or did she just lament the fact that she wasn't the type of actress that was going to win awards? Did she regret the life that produced her fortune? – only tens of millions compared to Kathy Ireland's hundreds of millions. It seems to me after just spending a few minutes online that she maintained her seductress look and persona up until just a few years ago and even kept up her 'look' as recently as 2017 when she appeared as a character in a failed sit-com. Did something happen after that or was this even after she supposedly became a Christian?

Did the church she attended just give her a 'pass' because she was Raquel Welch? How would they have responded if one of the member's daughters behaved in such fashion – even apart from the nude stuff?

I don't see the repentance. I don't see a price being paid for turning away from the former life. Instead these people celebrate it. It's like Kirk Cameron. He rode the wave of fame for a stupid and indecent sit-com in the 1980's that I wouldn't even want to show my kids. It was not celebrated by Christians at the time. But then twenty years later, he's an Evangelical and since the Evangelical community is desperate to get some celebrities in their column – all is forgiven and even celebrated. Fine, all is forgiven, but where's the repentance? Where's the humility? No, instead the money and celebrity grant a platform – a platform that Cameron or Ireland would not have in the Christian community if it were not for the sins of their past that brought them fame and fortune.

What gospel is this? Godliness is gain? It seems more akin to Faust than the apostle Paul.