Is Football a Sin? (Author says "yes" because Christians shouldn't try to triumph over others)

press release ^ | unkn | Pangaeus press

[amused]

The root problem is theological. How unfair that you go to heaven, while some other guy goes to hell? They're mad at God because He rewards virtue, and punishes evil -- they'd rather have a world, and a universe, free from responsibility. They're also mad at God for differentially distributing innate talents, as it hurts their pride when someone else is better than themselves. Since ALL human competitions reward either virtue, or talent, or both, these people can't stand competition. It implicitly reminds them of Someone they'd rather forget.

Agreed, I didn't want to make this a theological argument as I am not suited to do so. But I appreciate the chime in.

[VRWCmember]

And thou shall pull the pin on thy Holy Hand Grenade and count to three.

Bless this, thy Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch

First, shalt thou pull the holy pin.

[GSWarrior]

More from the "Anything That Does Not Specifically Exalt God Is Sinful" crowd.

[mountaineer]

SECOND BROTHER: Thou shalt not play football! And the Lord did grin, and the people did feast upon the lambs and sloths and carp and anchovies and orangutans and breakfast cereals and fruit bats and large chu--

MAYNARD: Skip a bit, Brother.

[VRWCmember]

(Click on the picture)

[ColdSteelTalon]

I know I was just making a point that you should be in Church rather than watching football on Sunday.

[sonserae]

This article is the answer to every Christian woman's dream.

[Chesterbelloc]

[Chancellor Palpatine]

Sounds pretty faggy to me.

[Chancellor Palpatine]

Confirming once again that ascetiscism is not a natural state, and that by removing themselves from the world means that ascetics shouldn't opine on the state of things in the world.

[JudyB1938]

I believe people who preach things contrary to scripture are not Christians in the first place. Instead, they are following the dictates of their father, the devil, to tell 99 truths in order to tell one lie.

It is dumb junk like this that can turn a person away from Christ. Except for blasphemy against the Holy Ghost, to be responsible for a soul's going to hell is the biggest sin there is.

If sports were forbidden, Jesus sure wouldn't have told us to finish the race. (Thanks for providing that scripture. It shoots down the whole article!)

[eastsider]

Generally speaking, I see nothing contrary to human nature in tempering the appetites and passions with reason, so I wouldn't characterize self-discipline per se as unnatural. My point about Tertullian is that his obsession with self-discipline was warped, even by early Christian standards.

[babylonian]

I don't know about football, but baseball is in the Bible. Jesus met a woman at the well, and she had a pitcher with her. And the Bible starts out by telling us about the big inning.

Football's probably OK, too.

[ewing]

lol! Definitely dorky..

[JudyB1938]

ROFLMAO

That's funny!

I've never seen those before. Gonna send it to my friends in email. (I only have Christian friends who have a SENSE OF HUMOR!)

[Michael2001]

As a proud Baptist I say: Go Skins!

[HeGivesUPeace]

Thank you for sharing an interesting article. Although I do not completely see the logic or spirit of it, I do wholeheartedly agree that American football is sinful (doing something that is against God). I do not need to argue my point, because I will let the facts speak for themselves.

Here are some quotes from God's "playbook":

1 Timothy 2:24-25 "And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all, apt to teach, patient, in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves..."

James 3:17-18 "But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, easy to be intreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. And the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace of them that make peace."

Galations 5:22-23 "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance: against such there is no law."

Here are some quotes about American football:

[1] "The attitude that our program must be and will be tougher than anyone we face is now a trademark of our team. In the mind of a football player, one of the most rewarding moments in a game is when you hit a player so hard that he can barely get up for the next play. It is this exact emotion that our seniors have held in front of our noses and that we have strived for and will continue to pursue."

[2] "As he nears the blocker, the defensive lineman drives the heels of his hands forward and up, punching them into the armpits of the blocker. ... Keeping his back straight and the top of his helmet under the chin of the blocker, the defensive lineman drives the blocker straight into the quarterback. ... Instead of punching out with his hands, he now grabs the front of the blocker's jersey, and, using the blocker's own momentum, jerks him either to his right or left. ... Instead of slipping with the inside hand and arm, the pass rusher drives his inside forearm and hand into the rib cage of the blocker."

[3] "15 high school football players died during regular season and playoff games in 1999, according to the National Federation of State High School Associations. Another 11 athletes have died in high school games and practices since late August of this year -- and that number is expected to rise during playoffs. In addition, another 29 players this year have suffered 'catastrophic injuries' on the field, leaving them paralyzed or seriously disabled."

Sources:

[1] http://www.yaleherald.com/archive/xxx/2000.12.01/sports/p28.html
Jason Lange, JE '03, a defensive tackle on the Yale football team

[2] http://www.nflhs.com/TipsDrills/features/features_03022000a_db.asp
Tips and Drills for high school football

[3] http://www.lp.org/press/archive.php?function=view&record=162
Football kills as many students as school shootings (Oct 2000)

[Shanda]

I was going to post that too but figured someone had beaten me to it, so I checked.

Sure enough someone did. That verse makes it pretty clear that striving to win an atheletic event is in no way unchristian.

[NeoCaveman]

pinging sinners. REPENT!

hell no.

[xsmommy]

OMG the thread is two years old! and STILL no repentance? ; )