Why Lance Armstrong Cheated

First of all, full disclosure is required. I am an avid bike rider and cancer survivor.

The recent news story of interest has been the confession of Lance Armstrong to Oprah Winfrey that he used performance enhancing drugs (PEDs) during his seven Tour de France victories from 1999 to 2005. Erythropoietin (EPO), testosterone, blood doping, and human growth hormone (hGH) were routinely used by Lance and his teams, as they prepared for and dominated European professional cycle races over much of the last decade. As I listened to the post-confession commentaries on radio and television, analysts were unanimous in their description and characterization of Mr. Armstrong as a liar, cheater, bully, and more. In his article, It’s all about the Lies, Rick Reilly stated, “I've been fooled (for 14 years) and I have been fooled before…I guess I should forgive him… But I'm not quite ready… Give me 14 years, maybe.” The scathing condemnation is appropriate for a man who broke the rules and over many years denied his involvement in cheating and drug use, while attempting to destroy the character, reputations, and financial livelihood of anyone who attempted to reveal the truth about his activities by lawsuits and verbal intimidation. In Lance’s attempt at contrition, “I deserve it and I cannot blame people who cannot forgive me for my actions. I alone am responsible.”


Cycling is a popular European sport. But in America the media cared little about it unless an American was winning races, as was Lance. Before him, there was a blip of publicity when Greg LeMond, the American from California, won three titles in 1986, 1989, and 1990 and the first American and non-European to win. Those of us who follow cycling (at least, European professional cycling) have believed for many years – that Lance Armstrong and his teammates were doping. In fact, most of the podium winners of the Grand Tours over the last 20 years or so have almost all tested positive and been suspended or admitted to drug use. His admission is simply confirmation of what many of us suspected or was whispered for many years. Only the naïve would believe otherwise. If there ever was a place where “everybody does it” appears to be a reasonable application, it was in cycling. So, the seeming surprise about the revelations of cheating appears to be either due to ignorance or naiveté by the news media about this sport noted for its corruption.

But there is another point to this post! The surprise is also noteworthy because I know why he doped. Here’s why! We are embedded in a culture of lying and cheating to get ahead. This is by no means an excuse for Lance’s behavior. (Don’t forget his bullying and Mafia-Don-like attack on his detractors.) The political season just ended revealed candidates – Presidential, Senatorial, and others, who blatantly lied day after day in speeches, ads, through their surrogates, and in character assassinations that would make the most audacious one blush. Anyone remembers the campaign manager who refused to allow “fact checkers” to control his candidate’s message? Anyone remembers the etch-a-sketch quote? Any one aware of the insider trading scandals and profiteering at all cost mentality that has brought our economy to its knees in recent years? Is anyone aware of the inundation of success-by-any-means-possible and academic dishonesty that pervade our nation’s colleges and universities? Is anyone following the apparent increase in the manipulation of scientific research simply to obtain more grant money and pad the resume? Is anyone following the shortcut and/or falsifying of biomedical research by multi-billion dollar biomedical corporations to produce drugs for profit while leaving the health and welfare of the infirmed at risk? Now, there have always been cheaters, and always will be. However, we live in an age where the goal to reach the top is regarded as the ultimate goal regardless of the many trampled at the bottom. American sports have been inundated with drug cheats – baseball, football, track and field. But when our so-called moral leaders – pastors, politicians and congressional hopefuls show little penchant for honesty, why do we expect any different from Lance?

So, why the apparent sudden surprise and vitriol about Lance? Am I making an excuse for Lance Armstrong’s behavior? No I am not! Not even his demonnstrably heroic efforts on behalf of cancer victims and establishing Livestrong get him off the hook. Let’s bring to light all the cheaters and liars. Let’s clean up our sports. Let’s not stand aside and accept politicians who play fast and loose with the truth in order to win a seat or manipulate public opinion whether they are on your side of the politcal spectrum or not. There is a difference between differences of opinion and bald face lying. And like Lance, there are a lot of confessions needed. But no sin is unforgivable and I am drawing attention to the axiom, “He that is without sin, cast the first stone…but go and sin no more.”

Did God Really Do That To Me?

I recently saw a video posted on Facebook entitled “The Night You Were Chosen". Beside the fact that it may have been a morning, midday or afternoon, the video raised a lot of questions that Christians struggle with and that I have considered for a while. First, I hope that you look at the video (linked above) before forming any conclusions either about the message of the video or the opinions I present for your consideration.

The video posits that God not only knew when you were conceived but played a critical role in the miracle of the single unique sperm which fertilized the single unique egg that became you. It accurately suggests that 500 million (yes, half a billion) sperm were deposited in your mother’s reproductive system and only one beat the treacherous odds of competition, a hostile environment and directional targeting to find the egg and donate it’s DNA to form the unique You. Dare I say that every live normal birth is the culmination of a miraculous sequence of events – fertilization, gestation and parturition that produces You. As the video states, “God chose you the night you were conceived…and promises to journey with us all the days we live…”

As a Christian this is quite a remarkable promise and is an awe-inspiring thought to understand that there is a powerful God who has chosen to walk with us. It is a statement filled with hope for those of us (and I suspect all of us) who struggle with the difficulties we encounter on this journey of life. But here I pause to reconsider the foundation of the conception argument. Beside the slightly misleading suggestion that all sperm compete equally (a significant number of sperm are non-functional or deficient), there are legitimate questions that arise from this theory of God’s role in human reproduction.

Did God choose us the night we were conceived?
Did He select and direct that 1 in 500 million sperm that united with the preselected egg?
Does God know the genetic content of every egg and sperm?
So, does God knowingly select genetically defective sperm or egg which will then form a malformed or defective You?
Is the process of fertilization a strictly random process?

As an example, two parents who are both heterozygous for the genetic disease cystic fibrosis (that is, each parent possesses a matching pair of chromosomes, one chromosome of which carries a gene for the disease and the corresponding chromosome is normal) have a 25% chance of producing a child with cystic fibrosis at every conception. This result is clearly observed in the numbers of people that express the disease. Medical science has discovered numerous diseases that are the direct result of the fusion of sperm and eggs that contain chromosomes with genetic defects and result in babies born with numerous neurological, physiological, or functional disabilities. Many of the products of genetic diseases may spontaneously abort during gestation, die shortly after birth, or may live for a few years enduring intense pain and suffering. It is a disconcerting conclusion to attribute these dysfunctions to a God who knowingly selects these sperm and eggs, directs them to unite, and mandates them to create individuals who would experience immense suffering for the rest of their lives. This theory seems incompatible with a God of love. It belies the idea of a God of love to suggest that He willingly fosters such debilitating pain and suffering on the objects of His love.

Psalm 22:9,10, Psalm 139:13 and other biblical passages illustrate the ancients understanding of God’s role in gestation and parturition. The Bible however, does not seem to suggest that God plays an active role in fertilization.

So, did God really select you before you were conceived or is the fertilization process a random event which God allows? Can we accept that the process of fertilization is just an event in reproduction that sometimes results in unfortunate circumstances? Are we comfortable with attributing such painful circumstances to a sinful, evil environment? Can we be at peace with a God who does not manipulate every event of life but intervenes in our darkest moments to guide us, sustain us, and nurture us through difficult times? I believe that God, in spite of the results of conception, chooses to intervene in the events of our lives as he walks with the broken, the hurting, and the diseased, throughout the difficulties that life brings. God is a defender of the fatherless, the widows, the sick and diseased, but he does not create them. He cares for, and can use anyone, and seeks to save everyone. Even in cases where births are predicted, for example Isaac, Samson, Samuel, or Jesus, it appears that He may be projecting His omniscience – the all-knowing characteristic of God - rather than manipulating the circumstances.

But the notion that God intervened in my conception is fraught with difficulty and a crunch to the hearts of the genetically disabled who would have a valid question, “God, why did you do this to me?”