Blogs and Stories
Stephen Baldwin Tried to Convert Me—Twice
)
Could a guy who once starred in Half Baked actually help me get into heaven? God knows he thinks so.
Stephen Baldwin is hugging me. Yes, that Stephen Baldwin. And I feel a tad uncomfortable. I should add that I had only met him about an hour ago, here in the green room of a local FOX affiliate. And, yet, here we are—hugging.
Allow me to explain.
Baldwin is the self-proclaimed Jesus Freak of Hollywood. Keep in mind we’re talking about a guy who has starred in movies with less-than-holy names like The Sex Monster and Threesome. But the New York native ditched his ungodly ways and became a born-again Christian about a month after 9/11. Apparently, a terrorist attack on his hometown screamed Armageddon. The Rapture. Resident Evil.
I’ve been an observant Jew for more than three decades and he was trying to undo it all in under an hour. Now that’s chutzpah.
But you’ve got to give this guy some credit. Becoming a born-again has completely changed Baldwin’s life. He started his own skate punk ministry (although I’m not really sure what that means), became a cultural advisor to President Bush (um, ditto), and wrote a 2006 memoir about his spiritual sojourn, The Unusual Suspect, a play on the name of the one movie he’s actually famous for. This is a guy who, while appearing on The Celebrity Apprentice, told Donald Trump to take his Sodom and Gomorrah business acumen and shove it. But his book actually made it onto bestseller lists. That’s a testament if I’ve ever heard one.
Call him the PT Barnum of evangelical Christianity. As Esquire’s Sean Gibson once described, “Baldwin's nurtured a unique kind of religious conviction, one that's equal parts scripture and Mountain Dew Code Red.” His hard-core fundamentalism—peppered with hyperbolic overuse of the term “dude”—really boils down to this: Accept Jesus or you won’t get into heaven.
As for me, I’m Jewish, from a family of rabbis no less. You can see where Baldwin and I might disagree. And yet here we are, two men of faith, hugging it out in a FOX green room. Rupert Murdoch would be so proud.
Stephen Baldwin’s predilection for all things Christ was actually not news to me. I spent a year immersed in Christian pop culture and let’s just say his name came up a time or two. But I never imagined I would actually meet him. I guess it’s divine intervention that we are both here promoting books we wrote—mine, a memoir of my year living like a Christian and his a Moral Majority message masked in detective fiction.
As we were chatting about faith, the fact came up that I had visited 52 different Bible Belt churches and not once had someone tried to convert me. Stephen’s pupils went from their default half-mast glazed-over look to the wide-eyed look of a Baldwin on the prowl. Apparently, I had woken the beast.
“How much time do I have before my segment?” he asked his publicist.
“About an hour,” she called back from across the room.
“An hour,” Baldwin said, “should be enough time to convert you, Ben.”
John Talks Joe
Lloyd Grove is editor at large for The Daily Beast. He is also a frequent contributor to New York magazine and was a contributing editor for Condé Nast Portfolio. He wrote a gossip column for the New York Daily News from 2003 to 2006. Prior to that, he wrote the Reliable Source column for the Washington Post, where he spent 23 years covering politics, the media, and other subjects.
Jesus Made Me a Better Jew
Benyamin Cohen is the author of My Jesus Year: A Rabbi’s Son Wanders the Bible Belt in Search of His Own Faith (HarperOne). He can be found at www.myjesusyear.com.
Piers Morgan went through all of this with Baldwin on the Celebrity Apprentice, given that both are Catholic (as am I) - the question is why does one need to be "born again?" Once a Catholic, always a Catholic. Not to mention a guilt complex to rival any Jewish person's.
I just 'defriended' a relative on Facebook who was raised in an evangelical home and was using the word 'gay' as a slur in her posts.
God hates gayness you see, so it's ok to use it as an adjective for stupidity. Her posts were showing up on my page in view of co-workers and gay friends.
Believing you are on the side of Right and everyone unlike yourself is on the side of Wrong and must be conquered, changed (converted) is about the oldest human story there is, and the basis of so many atrocities large and small.
It's an impulse has a long, long history of disaster. Even when the self-fashioned conquerors are charming (a hallmark of manipulation).
The question begs: Why the need to convert anyone? People like Baldwin immediately imply that there's something wrong with another person's choice of faith by attempting to try and convert them. Baldwin is inspired by a better life and a higher power, amen to that, but this arrogant almost ignorant need to convert others just tells that he's not as clear or committed as he could be...demonstrate and live your faith, Stephen, don't try and shove it down people's throats.
Baldwin also said he was leaving the country if Obama got elected. Why is he still here?
I'm Catholic and boy do I hate Christians. Tell Baldwin what Jesus said about rich men getting into heaven.
@deanpaul1: That's easy. People like Mr. Baldwin are insecure. Most religious people are which is why they are continually searching for someone, anyone to make big decisions for them. It is very comforting for insecure people to be in big groups of people that think exactly like them. It's of course natural that they start to question their own beliefs when confronted by persons with different beliefs.
They are left with three choices:1.) re-examine their own beliefs 2.) convert the infidel and 3.) kill the infidel.
Choice #1 is far too hard so it's usually choices 2 and 3. Just ask Osama Bin Laden.
wow ... this is all so funny ... sadly in the end ... the joke will be on you Ben ... hmmmmm ?
I like that Cohen writes that Baldwin's personal testimony was surprisingly humbling. A decision to walk in faith doesn't make a nerb suave and cool, a redneck an intellectual, or an intellectual an idiot. It just means that that person is now dedicated to becoming what his/her faith calls of the best of him/her.
So Baldwin is still Baldwin, only he is trying really, really hard to be a better Baldwin.
If we were all trying equally hard to be better people, according to the tenents of our own beliefs, this would be a better place to live.
Nice article. I don't blame some of the comments above being critical. Many christians have let me down by being self-righteous, acting as though they are superior, and making homosexuality some type of super-sin.
Christians owe an appology for how they treat a lot of people. Baldwin, while eccentric, at least represents practicing what he preaches.
Baldwin is about as smart as the average religious person, I find nothing surprising in his superstitous beliefs.
Baldwin did not star in "Half Baked," he did, however, co-star in "Bio Dome" with Pauley Shore.
This comment has been removed by The Daily Beast's editors.
If Mr. Baldwin wants Ben to know Christ, why not? It's up to Ben to to say yes or no. No harm there. As for you xbainx, I too am Catholic which makes me Christian and I'm very proud of it. Since when is it okay to hate Christians? Is that your version of Catholicism?
awww, come on, mr priest.... its painless, unless you melt with water....and then how could you keep kosher?
suggestions include to make it catholicism, since the baptism can be done so easily, none of this 'dunking' sort of thing, we also can accomodate your guilt with a few modifications (catholic guilt is explosive and disappears after confession, jewish guilt lingers for a year till atonement)
This comment has been removed by The Daily Beast's editors.
Thank you.
As a first time user, your comment has been submitted for review. It can take anywhere from a few hours to a day or two for your comment to be reviewed, depending on the time of week and the volume of comments we receive.
Please log in to leave comments.