The Br*ves just got a little creepier
I got no real beef with organized religion. Hell, I'm a beatitudes kind a guy. But I wonder a little bit about why some religious types are so drawn to sports--that is, both why they (at best) want to use sports figures and sports as material for religious activities, and at worst, try to infiltrate our secular kingdom of peace on earth to push their not-always-wholesome agendas.
Recent religion and baseball news caught my attention. David Wright, Fonzie, etc. probably don't follow the practices of the feces eating cult, or support the "Salvation Miracles Revival Crusade", although it is suspicious the Mets PR dept hasn't explained this a little better. Methinks maybe Mullet Man was in on the decision and maybe Jeff Jr.Duquette can't take the fall this time. Then I see that John Smoltz has lost interest in a trade or the Br*ves season and is instead using Turner field as a ministry. At the first ever in the major leagues "Faith Day" promotion, was seens as "a cool way to get the message across about Jesus Christ." Hey I know these are not banner-days for our Constitution, but how bout a little separation of Church and America's Pasttime?
What kind of God will sit still while rich athletes blasphemy him everyday by pointing up at him for something so insignificant as an RBI?--The kind that has yet to smite Trot Nixon I guess, who exploits the Red Sox victory to sell "Reverse the Curse" dvds. Now some folks in Boston might tell you different, but I hardly think one WS championship should be discussed in the same context as parting the Red Sea, or feeding a lot of folks with a couple of fish. Five world championships in a row, maybe. What is the possible message of this dvd? Get to know Jesus so you too can win the World Series? Should the incentives of the material world really be the basis for you to devote your life to Jebus? Wow. Craven would be the word.
Sports in this country ain't about loving your brother, sacrifice, or charity--they're about hating and never forgiving your enemies,blind greed, lacking all loyalty, getting drunk, objectifying women (you know Catholics, like Eve or Mary), exposing your kids to foul language and even worse behavior at the park, worshipping the false idol-millionares who abuse drugs and women while giving little if anything back to society, and frivilously spending money that could go to better causes on exorbitant tickets parking and junk food. Is there a less-Christian endeavor? Eating babies?
Lets turn our attention to John Smoltz, who "with the help of the Spirit and... the help of accountability partners" received Christ into his life and grew by his own accounts. (What the hell are accountability partners? Sounds like Jesus' bully-boys or something.)
This got my attention as I have always jokingly referred to John Smoltz as the "AntiChrist". As the longest standing member of the most evil and henious professional sports franchise in world history, I think the name is fair. He stands for all that is evil in the Mets universe. And he looks kind of creepy. So I admit this. I have even said some unChristian things about what I would do to him if I ever caught him on my lawn. So i wasn't surprised to hear he knows Jesus, just that he actually likes him.
Here at the "Goal.com," Smoltz suggests "having a big god," whatever that means, but more damningly in my eyes, refuses to take responsibility for the evil he has done (to Metsfans):
"Only God know he gave (sic) up the big ego-the big ego that can spell big trouble.
"When you have a big ego, especially in sports, you're going to have a tough time," Smoltz says. He suggests having a big God instead, specifically, following Jesus Christ.
"The things I do, it's not me!" Smoltz says.
John believes Jesus Christ is exactly who he says he is: the "Way, the Truth and the Life-THE one through whom we can have eternal life (see John 14:6). Smoltz studies the Bible to learn about Jesus-and about how to handle life.
Perhaps because their religious leaders are so prone to hypocrisy and double standards, Christian parents always seem to take things too far. This guy even lets his brainwashed kid (supposedly) write about an "encounter with Smoltz":
"John Smoltz is feared by opposing teams and loved by those who bear the tomahawk. He does many things on and off the field to make his fans cheer. However, his biggest cheerleader of all is Jesus. After personally looking into his eyes and seeing his soul, I can honestly say that without a doubt, he is a cheerleader for Christ also. He worships and lives for God along with the rest of God’s children, no matter if they bear the tomahawk or if they wear “Mets” in script across their chest. No, the playing field is even here. There is no competition. The truth is, his win - loss record here on earth may be 177 – 128 with 154 saves, but in his soul, in God’s eyes, he is undefeated."
Now lets skip over the awkward "Jesus as Cheerleader" imagery and "bear the tomahawk" idolatry for the moment to ask a bigger question --we all know God did some damage in the Old Testament in terms of slaughtering human beings, but I wonder how Jesus, Prince of Peace would take to the celebration of tragedy, bellicosity and racism that is the Atlanta Br*ves "tomahawk" chop and accompanying warpath song tradition? Not too kindly I think. Jesus might have been a hippy, but he was no hypocrite.
Only the poor are getting into heaven folks. I looked it up on Wikipedia! If that leaves out a lot of rich hypocritical ballplayers, well I guess that's more face time with the BIG GUY for me!
