Wasn’t Evel Evil?

It makes sense for Evel Kneivel to pray. After all, a man’s got to believe in something outside of himself when he’s turned himself into his own prey. I can’t say that I haven’t let out a few prayers in preparation for this interview with him.

Though I do at times get a little concerned that my obsession with Evel has turned him into a little bit of an idol for me.

I wouldn’t be the first. When Evel was baptized, it triggered hundreds of people to rush forward in hopes of their own holy shower. Though I’m not sure how many followed his vows to walk away form “the gold and the gambling and the booze and the women”; I’m not even sure if Evel followed that vow.

You have to wonder if what Evel was doing –repeatedly risking his life—could be considered a sin or not. If there is a God, does this God frown upon spectacle at the risk of one’s life?

The most peculiar thing about it is that they call him a born again Christian. We’ve seen Evel born again. We’ve seen Evel come back to life on so many occasions. We already discussed how half the bones and all the blood in Evel’s body aren’t even his… perhaps he ended up with enough body parts from other Christian’s in is body that that’s what made the switch?

When I was little I went to a large Baptist church. It wasn’t that much different from seeing Evel Knievel make a jump. The audience was just as captivated staring at a man making rather wild gestures that had something to do with life or death. I don’t go to church anymore, and I’m not quite sure what I believe, but perhaps that’s part of where my fascination with Evel comes from, some collection of neurons still want some human being to stand up and demonstrate an act of faith –religious or not- that reveals something significant about fate. 

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