Raymond Arthur Waugh, Sr. A Journey in Writing
Return to START PAGE for a full listing . . .

Tom Landry
Hollywood Henderson's Role Model
Letters to the Editor
Raymond A. Waugh, Sr.
[Midland Reporter Telegram, Midland, Texas]

It seems that Christianity is getting a bad rap in a lot of our news today. Nevertheless, without a change of heart on the part of many, our situation in America, and in our World may become even worse before it gets any better.

Just this morning, 9/11/94, I heard Hollywood Henderson -- X-Cowboy of considerable fame -- from Austin on the Fox Network. He said that in the days when he was playing for the Cowboys and "at the same time doing drugs," and "ruining his life," he "resented Tom Landry." He resented Tom Landry’s Christianity, and the fact that he had a happy family life.

Now, in 1994, after spending some time in prison, and after 11 years of being free of his drug addiction, Hollywood Henderson says that he has a little different slant on life. He said that he once was hopeless, but is now hopeful. He says that today, Tom Landry is "his role model"!

What we wise and sophisticated Americans may have forgotten is that there was once a day when we had prayer in our schools, when the Ten Commandments could be on our school walls, when our teachers could carry their Bibles to school, and when "planned parenthood" was taken care of by families and the churches -- not by "safe-sex" and "condoms"! In those days, we did not need to have drug-free zones around our schools; we did not need to have metal detectors in our school halls; we did not have to worry about 30% teenage pregnancy or a 50% increase in the juvenile crime.

This moral condition may be the fulfillment of the Apostle Paul’s, "Evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse; deceiving and being deceived." Thankfully, however, though Hollywood Henderson was once deceived, he today is a new person. So, even where there seems to be hopelessness, through the Good News of Jesus Christ there can be hope for all of us; victory over drugs, over immorality, and over crime! There can be hope in America and hope in our world.

Raymond A. Waugh, Sr.
Last update 17 October 2008