One of the less endearing aspects of some athletes, most prevalent in the U.S. is the ridiculous habit of thanking (a) god for their achievement. Notice that god is never blamed for a defeat, but victories are all down to him.
Apart from showing themselves up as somewhat lacking in the intelligence department,something not uncommon among athletes it must be said, it does seem a little tacky and trvilaising of their 'faith'. Would a god worthy of our praise really be that concerned about a trivial game? The winner of the Superbowl is the team with the most devout believers? It's all very silly and while the media for the most part turn a blind eye to it, in the same way as we pretend to ignore the loony on the bus, I would like to see the reaction were a US star to say "It's all thanks to Allah" after a game.
CNN.com had a piece on this a few months ago, asking When Did God Become A Sports Fan?
More recently, a High School (American) Footballer Ronnie Hastie was penalised for his religious gesture. He said he's pointed up as a gesture to God after every touchdown he's scored in every game and never had a problem before.
"It's usually one or two seconds long," he said. "It's something I've done as a tradition."I guess poor simple Ronnie IS a little confused. Perhaps if Ronnie had been paying attention in biology rather than being brainwashed by his family, he would have been able to work out that his 'abilities' are the result of natural selection, and that no, however special you think you are Ronnie, god has not actually singled you out for greatness on the football field at the expense of the others around you. Do people actually realise what they are saying, when they say things like "there, but for the grace of god go I"? - which could be restated as "there, by the grace of god go they". That would be one vindictive god!
Hastie said he asked the ref why he was penalized, and the ref responded that Hastie wasn't supposed to draw attention to himself.
"That wasn't the point (of the gesture), so I guess I was a little confused," Hastie said. "I do that to give glory to my heavenly father, Jesus. He gives me the strength. He's the one who gives me these abilities in the first place."
If you havent already seen this film then i would recommend Religulous. It is a documentry done by Bill Maher and rips it out of just about every religion.
ReplyDeleteThe god question is one that would be the biggest dream value bet in history on evolution! Most religious people seem to argue like it's a 50/50 question when the odds would realistically be about a trillion to 1 on some form of 'higher being' creating us. I wouldn't even take it at those odds!
ReplyDeleteAs a species we need to get over this religious thing. It worked well when we didn't know any better many moons ago but there really is no excuse apart from stubbornness and childhood doctrine why we shouldn't see evolution as correct when the facts are more than overwhelming. It's like arguing that Barcelona wouldn't beat 11 dustbins over 90 minutes!
Keeping it on topic, maybe that's why so many punters fail. They refuse to see the facts and prefer blind faith.
Give me the odds on evolution on Betfair anyday. I'll take them at any price!
A guy spends a couple of seconds acknowledging a supernatural entity in which he believes.
ReplyDeleteYou, not for the first time, go totally off-topic and spend far longer berating a supernatural entity that, according to you, doesn't even exist.
And he's the irrational one?
In a similar vein, it always amazes me how those of a religious persuasion react after a dreadful natural disaster, such as a tsunami or an earthquake. They actually praise their god for those that are saved, rather than question him(or it) over the thousands upon thousands that may have perished. Blind leading the blind?
ReplyDelete