The Catholic Cricket

Saw this on Facebook:

I was happily surprised to see this. Yeah, it’s from 2008 and I just saw it. Shaddup, you.

Then I read the comments. Well, some of them.  It’s been 3 years, there are a lot of comments.  While most that I saw were good, there were a few that showed confusion surrounding God’s prohibition against false idols. He was not speaking of  these types of idols, where we look to people as role models or recognize and admire the talents or skills present in others. No, He was speaking of false gods, idols fashioned of human hands that were considered to somehow embody a higher power, that people would worship as a god.

The World English Dictionary’s 3rd definition of idol (scroll down, the first definition set isn’t quite accurate…”blind”?) is the usage in American Idol: a person who is revered, admired or highly loved. I very much doubt that anyone at Fox is propping these people up as deities to be worshiped.

Stop being stupid.

Now, that said, there is a real problem when people place greater importance on things than on God. Anything can become an idol in our lives. A quick list of common idols today includes money, self gratification, power, and “stuff” (by which I mean material possessions). Some people do anything to get more money, or seek pleasure through indiscriminate sex (mistaking sex for love, usually) or drinking/drugs, or try to gain power and influence, or think that having more material goods is all-important.

There’s nothing wrong with earning money, or having sex (inside marriage, of course), or drinking (so long as it is not in excess), or obtaining power, or getting stuff. No, the problem comes when any of those things become the most important thing in our lives. We make idols out of these things, and they can come to supersede God in our lives.

And, really, if you think about it, all of these things involve placing ourselves above God. They are all about “me”. I have more money. I am having sex. I am pleased by food or drink or drug. I have power. I have stuff.

It’s the deification of self, where I alone determine what is right and wrong, where I alone am to be pleased (if others are pleased by something, that’s fine but not the goal). By placing importance on money or power or pleasure, one is really placing all importance on self.

Having idols (i.e., heroes) to look up to, admire, and appreciate, is not idol worshiping in the Biblical sense, although it can become that. So have role models, heroes, “idols”. Just remember that they are as human as you, and not the second coming of Christ, and you should be fine.

Having watched most of the game and commercials on Sunday, I just thought I’d share my thoughts on some things. First of all, it was a great game, and I have no complaints about anything that happened.

I also enjoyed most of the commercials. Nothing stood out to me as being absolutely horrible. I didn’t see anything that was overly upsetting.

Maybe it’s because we didn’t watch Superbowls as a family, maybe it’s because I was never really interested in football as a child, but I don’t really think of the game as a Family Event. So I wasn’t really bothered by innuendo in the ads. Maybe it’s a sad statement about where our society is, but I’ve come to expect far worse than what I saw.

The two worst ads as far as I was concerned, out of the ads I saw, were for Sketchers and the Mini. I don’t need hyper-sexualized shoes or a game show called “Shove it in the Boot”. But a lot of people I respect were unhappy with the Pepsi Max ad, with the couple at dinner where we get to hear their thoughts. I thought it was funny, and based on his laughter, so did my pastor (who was at the party with us). It didn’t have scantily clad women, or simulated sex acts, or toilet humor. The lead up to the punch line was probably accurate, as far as a lot of dating goes. The woman is thinking all sorts of different things, while the guy is thinking “I want to sleep with her.” The ad didn’t try to make these thoughts acceptable, but I think it fair to say that they’re fairly normal. And, again, as I don’t really think of the game as family fare, and I wasn’t watching it with my children, it didn’t set off any alarm bells in my head. So while I understand why some people are upset about the ad, I’m not.

GoDaddy, of course, pushed the innuendo, but I went and watched the rest of the ad online anyway. Not appropriate for children, but not as bad as the whole “beaver” thing.

On to the scheduled entertainment. Christina Aguilera flubbed a line in the National Anthem. Not a big deal, she’s human and makes mistakes. Yes, she’s a professional, and should be expected to perform well. But, as I recall it, the football players are also professionals, and false starts and interceptions and other mistakes were made. Nobody is lambasting the players for mistakes they made on the field. We all make mistakes. Why should we hold singers/entertainers to a higher standard, expecting/demanding perfection from imperfect people?

The same goes for the half-time show. The Black Eyed Peas did a decent job. No, it wasn’t perfect, but again we can’t really expect perfection. There were technical glitches…a mic that wasn’t turned up correctly, a section of the stage that wasn’t lit. So what? The performance itself was okay. Not great, but not awful either. I was entertained, and that was the purpose, even if I didn’t “get” the block head things. And, for those who were watching with their kids, it was family-friendly. No wardrobe malfunctions. No horribly suggestive moves or painted-on clothing. The only thing I commented on were the lyrics to Usher’s song…did somebody actually get paid to write them?

Overall I enjoyed the evening. I was with a great group of guys, the food was good, and the game was exciting.

It seems to me that a lot of people were looking to be offended, or were waiting for things they could complain about. Instead of enjoying the evening, some were poised to pounce on any little thing that wasn’t perfect, or could be taken as extremely offensive. By doing so, they took what should have been an enjoyable evening of entertainment and sucked all of the fun out of it.

For themselves.

I had a great time.