Living in the World
Brian Wells and David Vitter

These two names are associated with two of the more interesting stories of the week in summer heat where our minds are creaking from the on-going arguments over the war in Iraq. Two separate lives, one a nondescript Pizza delivery man, the other a powerful U.S. Senator from Louisiana.

You remember Wells. He robbed a bank in Erie. He was caught and cuffed. He claimed he had a bomb strapped to him and police noticed a metal device around his neck during the arrest. The police backed off retreating behind squad cars with weapons drawn. The astounding thing was Well’s demeanor through this. He spoke in non-excited tones about the bomb that was going to go off. The bomb detonated and Wells died.

The case was inexplicable. Why would a bank robber kill himself? How did he get a bomb built and fastened to his neck? Things didn’t add up. The public got a glimpse that this was really a homicide when six months later the FBI released documents that were a series of instructions to disarm the bomb requiring a scavenger type hunt for clues! So, now foul play was clearly in view, but the case became even more bizarre.

This week Wells re-emerged in the news with the report that Marjorie Diehl-Armstrong would be arrested for the pizza man’s death. Ms. Diehl-Armstrong was already in prison for the homicide of James Roden. Three weeks after the Wells affair, her former fiancé, William Rothstein, called PA State Police and reported that Roden’s body was in his freezer. Ms. Diehl-Armstrong asked him to help her dispose of the body. It turns out that four men associated with Ms. Diehl-Armstrong have mysteriously died, including a friend of Wells who also worked at Mama Mia’s Pizza.

David Vitter shows up as one who was on the phone/client list of the DC Madam. A Roman Catholic who is a lector in his church, Vitter’s indiscretion(s) immediately hit the press. And, why not, he was an unspoken proponent of family values. While there are a myriad of definitions of “family values” it seems quite clear they do not include cavorting with prostitutes under any definition. The “H” word is prominent in the coverage of this matter. Hypocrite is a favorite definition applied to moral conservative Christians who fall into sin. This makes sense since a liberal Democrat whose “sexual mores” are matters of choice, not standards, cannot be a hypocrite. So, now Vitter is better known for being a “John” than a US Senator.

So, there you have it. Two men in the news, one a victim of a bombing through what appears to be a rarity, a female serial killer. It first appeared he blew himself up, which turned out not to be as it seems. Wells knew the explosion was coming; and everyone could see the bomb. The other has blown himself up by acting in a way not comporting to his outward appearance. When the senator did what he did in the company of the “call girl”, I am sure he did not see an explosion coming. But, both explosions were inevitable because of sin.

Muggeridge is credited with saying that the one Christian principle that can be empirically shown ever day is the total depravity of man. Here it is in spades. Brian Wells was nothing more than a human pawn in the mind of a depraved killer(s). David Vitter was a victim of his own sinful and depraved heart and desires. If Vitter is the Christian he claims, Paul outlines his plight well in Chapter 7 of Romans. Jesus Christ has broken the power of sin for His. But, any of us, Christian or not, is capable of death dealing sin at any time. Living in the world we are subject to Satan, sin and our flesh everyday. If you doubt this, watch the news tonight.