Old Firm New World

I don’t know if it’s an element of getting older or what but I find myself frustrated with people much more easily now than I did say 10 years ago. I know that I am largely to blame for that, I read the comments on news stories, I have ties to and a love for both the city and the county, and I love soccer.

Anyone from the St Louis area is familiar with the hatred and passion stirred by the city/county rivalry; a rivalry I personally don’t understand. But there is a stranger divisiveness that I find myself a part of. It is the beautiful game, soccer, a game that has literally helped to stop wars, more than once. And although at least one war was attributed to it, that has been a gross exaggeration.

As a fan of one half of the SPL’s Old Firm I’m no stranger to the conflicts present in soccer. The first SPL match I ever watched was an Old Firm match in which the stadium had to be emptied due to fans throwing things onto the field before they could finish the match. That kind of violence had quelled some until this past season when new threats and even attacks occurred. Recent sectarian violence in Northern Ireland doesn’t bode well for next season either.

But that is Scotland, they’ve dealt with sectarian issues for 500 years, and it’s not REALLY about the teams anyway, they’re just symbols of Protestantism and Catholicism. This isn’t an issue here right?  If anyone wasn’t sure it’s been put to the test this year. You see my brother and I are both Rangers fans, the only openly Gers fans in the St Louligans. Several were already Celtic fans and then when the St Louis Lions announced they would be partnered with Celtic (and there were even early rumors of the Lions becoming St Louis Celtic) most of the rest of the Louligans converted. So my brother and I were the lone Huns in “enemy territory”.

So what were we to do with our local club’s new affiliation? For my brother and I there was never any real question; we are St Louisans, that is where our loyalty lies, so we bought our season tickets and gladly cheer on OUR boys in green. While cheering for a team in the hoops has taken some adjustment we believe in loyalty to your local club.

We are still devoted Rangers fans which has lead to some good-natured teasing back and forth, but that doesn’t quell our support for our local Celtic affiliated club. Sure if Celtic ever came to the area to play a friendly we’d don our blue and cheer for the other side, but then happily switch to back to green for the next Lions home match.

For us the beauty of soccer is its ability to unite a diverse group who root for Rangers or Celtic, Man U, Chelsea, Arsenal, Tottenham, West Ham, Newcastle, Blackpool, Man City, or whoever in the love of the beautiful game. Yet sadly it also has a great power to divide. Just spend a few minutes on Bigsoccer.com or on the soccer forum on Stltoday and you’ll arguments and name calling on every issue remotely related to St Louis soccer.

But this is the culture our sensationalized society has created.  If we yell loudly enough people will have to pay attention to us, but if we’re screaming at no one people will know we’re crazy.  So we make enemies of those who should be our friends and we scream at each other without listening.


If there's is one thing soccer has taught it is hope. Whether it is a stoppage time goal by Landon Donavon or the US defeating England in 1950; so I hold out hope that if Rangers and Celtic fans can get together to support their home town than maybe we can all stop fighting with each other and move our debates beyond YSA.

God and Country (Part II)

“God is a Republican….Jesus is a Democrat and The Holy Spirit is an Independent. So vote however you want.” Perhaps one of the most true and helpful things I’ve ever heard from a pastor. (We’ll be hearing more from him later).

With the recent rise of individuals such as Glen Beck and Sarah Palin who cite the Bible and the constitution, often interchangeably and in the same sentence, we as Christians wonder where we should stand on the issue of Church and State.

  

In general we tend to be a bit miffed when Christmas is changed to “Holidays”, we want a Christmas tree and Easter egg hunts on the White House lawn. We want “In God We Trust” on our money and “Under God” in our pledge. Yet when I think of this I am reminded of what a former pastor of mine said. Rev Rudy Pulido served for over 25 years as the Pastor of Southwest Baptist Church in St Louis, MO. During that time he most certainly ruffled some feathers, but to me he was a source of great insight into how Christians should interact with a sinful world. When the issue of removing the phrase “under God” from the pledge of allegiance was being debated around the nation, Pastor Pulido offered a Biblical insight to the issue. He compared it to Jesus’lesson on paying taxes to the Romans. Jesus asked whose image was on the coin, of course it was Caesar’s, so he famously said “render unto Caesar that which is Caesar’s and unto God that which is God’s”. Pastor Pulido said that similarly the American flag is just that, American not Christian. It is a representation of the state, not God so ‘render unto Caesar.’

      

I often cringe when I hear a pastor begin to trail off into a political topic from the pulpit. As I mentioned in the previous post a former pastor of mine let his political views get in the way of God’s message. If you mix the Church and State or religion and politics and God always gets squeezed out. We long ago grew tired of the blurry if not non-existent line between priest and politician. Politicians befriending clergy to gain the votes of their parishioners and priests shilling for the politicians in return for political favors undermines the authority of both.

       

Recently the Southern Baptist Convention (the denomination to which my church belongs) approved a resolution regarding immigration. Ultimately the stance of the resolution is insignificant, what is important is why this issue was addressed at all. I see no inherently spiritual concerns here; sadly it appears to only be an attempt by the SBC to align itself more closely to one side of the political spectrum. It is a move that could certainly win some votes, but will most likely cost some souls.

God and Country (Part I)

“We shouldn’t have Democrat Christians and Republican Christian.” Politics from the pulpit, I was already nervous. But perhaps this was going to be a message of unity, that despite our political differences we as Christians should unite under a common banner of Christ and not let our partisan ideologies divide us. “I just don’t see how someone can be a liberal and call themselves a Christian.” I gritted my teeth and endured the rest of the service, for the last time. I never attended that church again.
The church that had renewed my faith just a few years ago now made me feel unwelcomed in its doors. If this had been the message on one of my earlier visits I wonder what turns my spiritual life may have taken instead.
I know many people just excused it saying “well he’s old”, “that’s just the way he is” etc… But after Rep. Todd Akin’s comment that “the heart of liberalism really is a hatred for God and a belief that government should replace God” I felt the need to address what I believe it means to be a Christian Liberal. And to be clear a Christian Liberal is different from a Liberal Christian; the latter refers to one’s theological views while the former refers to the political ideology held by someone who is a believer.
While even liberals would disagree on exactly what it means to be a liberal in America there are several things that are universally true. Liberals believe in equality and civil rights for all people and that the government exists to serve the people. Obviously there is nothing “un-Christian” about those views. In fact they seem pretty in line with Jesus who hung out with lepers, whores, and tax collectors and told us to care for the least of these.
But often when Christian Conservatives (again notice I did not say ‘conservative Christians’) say “liberal” they are only thinking of so-called moral issues such as gay rights and abortion. But even liberals may disagree on these issues just as not all conservatives will agree on capital punishment and gun rights. But for me being a liberal is more about ensuring that the least of these are cared for, that as Christians we should be more concerned with ministering to sinners than making their sins a crime.
I do have to confess that at times I have been guilty of looking down my nose at Christian conservatives for their faith not manifesting itself the way I would like, and for that I apologize.  So to my conservative brothers and sisters in Christ I am sorry and I pray that God will help me with my judgmental spirit. And I also pray that despite our political differences we as Christians should unite under a common banner of Christ and not let our partisan ideologies divide us. And that we’ll leave our politics outside the temple door.

New Beginnings (Again)

So I know it's been a while. My apologies for that. Soon I'll be trying to redo the site a bit and be posting on a more regular basis.

Thanks for your patience and see you all again very soon.