September 6, 2003
A Day Off For Some Catholic Contemplation
I have a newfound admiration for athletes today, especially after my high school football team lost to our rivals last night. One of my close friends is a trainer for the team and I learned how upset the team was over the loss and it is a little heartbreaking.
My newfound respect is not based on their self-discipline, their ability to work and trust each other, or on their abillity to balance athletics and academics as successfully as many of the athletes at my high school do. I respect that, but my newfound respect is upon realizing the kind of risk they are taking by stepping on the field. Many of them truly love their sport and that they play the game knowing that they may lose the game and as a result that their confidence may be shaken takes more courage than I have. They risk so much rejection and they are probably stronger for it.
While I do not appreciate most sports beyond their calorie-burning potential, I struggle to condemn someone for investing themself so much in something they love that they cry after defeat.
I am far from saintly, though. I was at the football game last night (at least for the second half) and I was hardly the supportive fan. I clapped my hands and stood up with everyone else, but most of the time I let my mind wander and focused on the more torturous aspects of the game. I despise the uniforms that our marching band has to wear; I despise that the marching band had to parade through the halls at the end of the day playing their instruments. It seems like an attempt to gradually humiliate and deterioriate the dignity of our most creative.
It is just so shitty that people invest so much of their time and in some cases so much of themselves and in return they are ridiculed or put in positions that are extremely unfair to ask of them. From last night, our football players go to practice everyday but all they will hear about today is the passes missed and unsuccessful blocks, etc. And the criticism will not only come from the people around them but the goddamn paper. Our marching band practices everyday and too many people choose their half-time show as the point to go get something to drink or they sit impatiently waiting for the game to start again.
I guess it helps them to keep everything in perspective but I wish perspective did not have to always be such an excruciating experience. I hope that I am being overly sensitive on their behalf because high school is a poor enough experience without this perception of mine being accurate.
On the bright side I mostly gave myself the day off today. I worked in the morning and finished my Lit book, but after I made sure that my Euro homework could be pushed off for a day I did just that and started reading The New Anti-Catholicism like I have been dying to for a while now.
The book is fascinating and I desperately want to use the knowledge I have gained from it in a more public way. Mostly I want to write a column on it for my school newspaper but it could also be interesting to use relating to my experience here. In the book one person refers to anti-Catholicism as the thinking man's anti-semitism, then also refers to several incidents where groups committed atrocious acts in Catholic churches for the sake of their political causes.
In one incident it was an AIDS group appalled by the Catholic Church's reaction to the disease. They interrupted a holiday mass to throw condoms, throw eucharist on the ground (quick reminder, to Catholics the Eucharist is the body of Christ), stage "deaths" in the aisles, and hand out pamphlets that could be argued to be libel (argued is me being kind, more likely they were blatantly libel). Afterwards one supporter was proud that they had violated something sacred (and they called it sacred) for the cause.
In another incident a tabernacle, where the eucharist is stored, was turned over, condoms were tossed about, and mass was interrupted yet again.
I understand the need to communicate a political message but a person's religion is sacred, even if you do not agree with it. And when I say sacred, I mean that it should not be violated. It is something very private. The least these nuts could have done was stand outside after service was over, though I would still consider that to be quite horrendous.
Both of the incidents I described have happened in the past ten years and neither one received much National Press. Atrocity.
My reading was disrupted by my dad mowing the lawn, my ability to concentrate was non-existent. But I am very happy for this desperately needed day off.
Love,
Mandy