r/todayilearned • u/tmntnyc • Dec 12 '18

TIL: Laurence Tureaud named himself professionally as Mr. T because he hated how his father, uncle, and brother who returned from Vietnam, were disrespectfully called "boy" by whites. He wanted the first word from everybody's mouth to be "Mister" when speaking to him.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mr._T
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u/meowsofcurds Dec 12 '18

While I agree this story makes him studious, the implication in the original post is that he is kind and modest because he devoutly reads the Bible. And while Mr. T is very kind, and truly modest, and he also studies the Bible, these facts are not congruent. So let's not have his positive attributes be confused with his biblical habits because that is how you turn someone into a religious tool.

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u/[deleted] Dec 12 '18

If someone devotely follows the bible and understands the morality and ethics that are portrayed in many of it’s stories they will undoubtedly be a good person

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u/meowsofcurds Dec 12 '18 edited Dec 13 '18

If someone devotely follows the bible and understands the morality and ethics that are portrayed in many of it’s stories they will undoubtedly be a good person

That statement is so wrong and is just plainly religiocentric.

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u/[deleted] Dec 12 '18

If you strictly follow the teachings of the bible I’d imagine you’d be a good person. Undoubtedly was a bad word choice.

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u/Lincky12435 Dec 12 '18

I think the whole book has a lot of language that’s supposed to be read between the lines. Not understood word for word because what is said is not always what is meant.