Continuing the train of thought from my post above ...
recovering_fan wrote:Cyclo appears to be an atheist who dislikes the way ESPN has handled the whole Tebow craze. I don't imagine he likes having Christianity shoved down his throat any more than you or I like having sports shoved down our throats.
Recovering_fan has presented a comparison of two phenomena; to wit, having Christianity shoved down one's throat versus having sports shoved down one's throat. The implication seems to have been made that the two are synonymous in extent and effect and that therefore Cyclo is deserving of much understanding. So, let's examine the two phenomena, shall we?
First, having Christianity shoved down one's throat. (But before I continue, let me say to any members of a church of Christ, such as my own congregation, that when I use the word "Christianity," I'm speaking accomodatively. I'm not endorsing any sect or cult based upon unscriptural doctrines.) What is the worst that one may expect in this regard? Encountering a proselytizer (for example, Jehovah's Witnesses or Mormons knocking on your front door). Many proselytizers are polite people. Making an effort to convert others is a major part of their religion, as it is of mine. Some proselytizers are pushy or even rude. A few are even self-righteous. (Needless to say, as a Christian I don't condone pushiness, rudeness, or self-righteousness. If someone is not interested in spiritual concerns, I drop the subject.) This is what Cyclo objects, as if this were the most onerous burden in life that anyone could possibly experience.
Now let us look at the phenomenon of having
sports shoved down one's throat. How are young boys who have no interest in sports often treated? They frequently end up being bullied. Such nonathletic boys receive a message from others (in fact, the popular culture) that they are unmanly and deficient. Athletic participation and prowess are held up as
the standard of masculinity, even though the assumptions that are often made to justify this point of view are demonstrably false. The process of stigmatization often begins before the boy reaches his early teens. Sometimes this results in the internalization of self-hatred that can have a psychologically crippling effect later in life. And for what purpose?
Unless their school districts have better programs, nonathletic boys go through the hell of mandatory sports-based P.E., which does ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to encourage them to become physically active and attain a level of fitness beneficial to one's health. Historically there seems to have been more bullying in mandatory sports-based boys' P.E.
than in all the academic classes combined.
By the time they're in high school (unless there have been policies enacted to ensure that other students receive sufficient recognition for their own accomplishments), nonathletic boys receive the message that the most important students at their schools are the members of the football team. They will witness the fact that football players are not judged as individuals, but are automatically elevated to the top of the social hierarchy
as a group (regardless of whether or not they
as individuals respect others). They are often
forced to attend pep rallies, regardless of whether they're even interested in football or not. The main purpose of a high school seems to be to have a winning football team. If a local high-school football player has just recovered from a serious illness, the city's daily will have an article about it right in the middle of the front page (among news reports of "less" important items -- such as election results, crimes, terrorist threats, etc.). But if another student at the same high school receives a prestigious award for being able to do college-level work in physics, the only recognition he'll receive will be only two sentences without, of course, a picture of him. If
he had just recovered from a life-threatening illness, I guarantee you that there would be no article about
him in the local daily because, after all, he's just a nerd, a "pencil-necked geek." (And, please, I'm
not saying that football should be taken out of high schools. I'm not saying that at all. My current best friend, who is one of the deacons of my congregation, played football when he was in high school.)
Let me say that I'm not about to make a negative stereotype. I want to make that absolutely clear. I'm simply going to present a hypothetical. Suppose a young woman has been gang raped by several college football players or a young nonathletic man has been beaten so badly by a football player that at one point he's even expected to die. (The beating scenario actually happened. I'm referring to the Ryan Tucker case. The victim survived, but has suffered physical impairment that he will have to live with for the rest of his life.) Let me repeat,
I'm not making a negative stereotype. Of course, the majority of football players do not commit felonious crimes against others. But in this hypothetical look at the point of view of the victim. Does the rape victim stand much of a chance of getting any justice? Are you kidding? Of course, not! Very likely, she won't receive any sympathy at all. All the defense attorney will have to do is pack the jury with football fans. (Can you image Cyclo on a jury in a case of this sort? Actually, I don't like to think about it at all.) Regarding the beating case, did Ryan Tucker spend a single day in jail? NO! The judge let him off, despite the fact that the doctors treating the victim at one point had expected him to die. You could say that our hypothetical rape victim (Incidentally, there are such victims in real life) and our real-life beating victim had sports shoved down their throats in a rather
painful way. Do any such acts of gross injustice disturb Cyclo the self-professed "progressive"? I doubt it.
So, there you have it. Two phenomena: having Christianity shoved down one's throat versus having sports shoved down one's throat. Which is worse by far? I'll let you decide.