Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Are They Undefeated?

After Sep 11, 2001, the cheerleaders at Lakeview Fort Oglethorpe High School in Georgia made paper banners displaying verses from the New Testament for the football players to crash through at the beginning of each game. This practice was recently halted by the school out of concern for potential litigation and the decision was upheld by the school board.

This appears to be extremely unpopular when measured by that all-to-important Twenty-First Century metric--comparing the number of Facebook friends supporting the cheerleaders (16,000+) to those supporting the ban (159). A blowout!

And there's no shortage of polarizing language.

"Because of the attention that this matter has received, I think that all of us understand what is at stake at this point in time," Jeremy Jones, a 1992 graduate of Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe High School and a Republican candidate for Congress, told board members. "And as members, as elected officials, as representatives of our community you are faced with a decision now, and your decision is simply are you going to side with the community and the community values and what we want you to represent, or are you going to side with what will ultimately be the ACLU?"


Yes, it's a binary choice. Just like duct tape, there is a light side and a dark side. But unlike duct tape, which holds the universe together, it is ripping the universe apart.

In a surprise to officials the "Warriors for Christ" now display a multitude of biblical verse signs in the stands during the games. Good for them for exercising their right to free speech. But I'm curious how they would receive a young person exercising that same right by holding a sign saying "There is no god." Hmm, can an atheist be a martyr?

But we're losing sight of something very important here. It is high school football and I think all of us understand what is at stake at this point in time. After all, we are very familiar with the life-long ramifications high school football has on each and every one of us. I finished high school 35 years ago and although I vaguely remember attending a game or two, I'm sure it had a pronounced affect on my life.

There is one thing missing from all the reportage that is really driving me nuts. Just how well is the team doing with all that divine support going for it?

No comments: