Why Do So Many Athletes Thank God.....

[Flumpy]

.......when they win and yet don't hold him accountable when they lose.

As you know we don't 'do God' in the UK. I doubt there is a more secular country in the world and yet this ridiculous thanks is slowly creeping into the national team (From the black team members obvs). It is of course something that is almost taken for granted in the US.

It makes me want to scream at them 'Take the bloody credit for yourself. God didn't do 300 stomach crunches!!!'.

I particularly hate all the tweets I've seen over the past week from people who haven't been selected along the lines of 'God is good. He has a plan for me'. Yeah, and his plan was that you're a loser who isn't going to the Olympics. You should be furious with him!!! :x

[slowjo]

Re: Why Do So Many Athletes Thank God.....

Hear hear!

I have never heard a Canadian athlete say it in an interview although I am sure we have a few Christians on the team.

As an atheist I can not relate at all to their sentiments but beyond that how rational is it to think that a god gives a hoot about a LJ compeition? Or a 100m sprint? And even if IT does care why would it pick special YOU over all the other devout Christians in the race?

There was not a single interview with American sprinters etc. in which someone or all of the medallist said it was God's plan....so sick of it. :roll: :roll:

[TN1965]

Re: Why Do So Many Athletes Thank God.....

I once had the same question and asked my Christian friends.

When I said, "God wouldn't care who wins athletic competitions," they said that's not what most athletes mean. They are thanking God for having the natural talent they are born with, and for the opportunity to develop that talent, and for the opportunity to compete and exhibit their talent, and so forth.

If that's the case, I don't find it troubling. For the same reason, I don't find it troubling when musicians or actors/actresses thank God in receiving their Grammy or Oscar.

[JRM]

Re: Why Do So Many Athletes Thank God.....

But why thank God? Why not thank their parents, their grandparents, their neighbors, or even (God forbid) themselves?

[BisonHurdler]

Re: Why Do So Many Athletes Thank God.....

I understand what TN1965 is saying, but when athletes say things like "I just put the race in God's hands, and knew that if it was his will for me to win, I would find a way" I really do kind of worry.

Physicians often run into a similar phenomenon. When the surgeon successfully performs a difficult procedure and saves a patient's life, family members are quick to "praise God" (I've heard people praise God for guiding the surgeon's hands during a whipple, which is a rather lengthy surgical case . . . in this instance, isn't it a bit irresponsible for a supposed "God" to spend 5-6 hours scrubbed into surgery when his efforts are required all over the world during that time?). When a patient has a bad surgical outcome, it is the surgeon's fault, and the idea of a lawsuit is entertained.

[mump boy]

Re: Why Do So Many Athletes Thank God.....

ALL OF THIS X 10000000000000000000000000000000

[JRM]

Re: Why Do So Many Athletes Thank God.....

When a patient has a bad surgical outcome, it is the surgeon's fault, and the idea of a lawsuit is entertained.

Exactly. I'll bet God has some pretty deep pockets!...

[TN1965]

Re: Why Do So Many Athletes Thank God.....

But why thank God? Why not thank their parents, their grandparents, their neighbors, or even (God forbid) themselves?

I personally agree with this. But that's not how "religious" people think. For them having good parents, grandparents or neighbors is God's blessing. So if their parents helped them develop their talent, they thank God for giving them such caring parents.

[BisonHurdler]

Re: Why Do So Many Athletes Thank God.....

But why thank God? Why not thank their parents, their grandparents, their neighbors, or even (God forbid) themselves?

I personally agree with this. But that's not how "religious" people think. For them having good parents, grandparents or neighbors is God's blessing. So if their parents helped them develop their talent, they thank God for giving them such caring parents.

Should people with abusive parents similarly condemn and hate God for giving them such terrible parents?

[TN1965]

Re: Why Do So Many Athletes Thank God.....

Should people with abusive parents similarly condemn and hate God for giving them such terrible parents?

No. If you had abusive parents, that means God is trying to make you a stronger person by giving you an obstacle to overcome. And this is true about other adversities (including defeat in athletic competitions! :wink: )

[BisonHurdler]

Re: Why Do So Many Athletes Thank God.....

Should people with abusive parents similarly condemn and hate God for giving them such terrible parents?

No. If you had abusive parents, that means God is trying to make you a stronger person by giving you an obstacle to overcome. And this is true about other adversities (including defeat in athletic competitions! :wink: )

See, this is exactly the awful, rationalizing reasoning that truly does scare me. It is absurdly "convenient" that whenever a good thing happens, it is because God made it happen, while whenever a bad thing happens, it's just God's way of "testing" someone.

Try explaining to a child sexually abused by a parent that it's simply God's way of "testing" them. How perverse. It somehow spins the "God" thing to ensure that his image is always "positive."

At least the guys who wrote the Old Testament were sensible enough to write the "God" character as capable of being an asshole from time to time.

[kuha]

Re: Why Do So Many Athletes Thank God.....

That sort of thinking is the conceptual equivalent of "heads I win, tails you lose." In pretending to explain everything, it does nothing at all.

[TN1965]

Re: Why Do So Many Athletes Thank God.....

At least the guys who wrote the Old Testament were sensible enough to write the "God" character as capable of being an asshole from time to time.

The guys who wroe the Old Testament? You mean, the Bible was written by human? :wink:

[BisonHurdler]

Re: Why Do So Many Athletes Thank God.....

At least the guys who wrote the Old Testament were sensible enough to write the "God" character as capable of being an asshole from time to time.

The guys who wroe the Old Testament? You mean, the Bible was written by human? :wink:

Correct.

[Flumpy]

Re: Why Do So Many Athletes Thank God.....

Try explaining to a child sexually abused by a parent that it's simply God's way of "testing" them. How perverse. It somehow spins the "God" thing to ensure that his image is always "positive."

But then this is the same guy who got his own son murdered to make some nonsensical point.