Abigail and Dolley readers I married a football fanatic; a dyed in the wool, NY Giants #19 jersey wearing, face painting, LT stat quoting, New Jersey boy. The first fall we were together, I was astounded at how much football a person could watch. Sunday mornings were about "Big Breakfast" and Sport's Center, rarely church. Then the Panther's came to town and it was about tailgating and games. In 1997, something happened.... my football fanatic got saved. For a while he went to games but stopped his covert topless bar forays. He kept watching but he started looking at coaching decisions, draft picks, and game plans in a more critical light.
In 2004, he led the decision to turn off our cable TV and with it any and all broadcast football. We have effectively lived for 11 years without it. I write this back story, to properly frame the rest of this blog. We are not football haters but the time we've spent removed from the game has given us a perspective that many do not have. It is along that vein that I write about this year's Super Bowl from a spiritual perspective.
The League:
If sports in America is a god, then NFL football is chief among them, the American Zeus. He commands sacrifice; time, money, and Sunday church. We give allegiance to the under gods of teams; we wear their colors, we praise them loudly in the stands, we sing songs of worship to them in the form of "fight songs". We adore the players, devote ourselves to study and commentary, and trust the appointed coaches to "Take us all the way". It is in this spirit, this environment, that we enter the final frenzy of the year; The Superbowl. Through discerning eyes this is a train wreck of American Society. Let's look at each aspect:
The Commercials:
Through the guise of humor and just darn good fun, we see commercials
mocking God and creation, poking fun at the
coming judgement, elevating false religions of
Scientology and
Humanism, glamorizing a
drug dealer, perpetuation of the
coming deception of Alien life forms and
super powered humans - throw in a bit of
female exploitation and
gender confusion and you've got quite a cocktail going!
Now, there were some great ones in the mix: the
Nissan commercial to Cat's in the Cradle, the Dove Real
Men Care Commercial, the touching domestic violence
pizza delivery call, the dark Nationwide commercial about
childhood accidents, the McDonald's
pay with love - those were all great. What I am trying to do is point out the ones that are not, the ones that will fly under the radar, the ones that you might not ever consciously process.
The Half Time Show:
My son was quite keen to watch the half time show. I was busy in the kitchen but said to him, "Watch for the Satanic signs and tell me what you see." He rolled his eyes at me, and started watching. "Hey, look Mom, she's wearing a dress like she's on fire and there is fire all around her. Oh, and now she's riding some kind of beast with glowing red eyes and she's roaring! Geez, Mom maybe you are right."
There is some good analysis by the
Vigilant Christian and
White Rabbit on the occult symbolism in this performance. The overt reference to the Revelation 17: 3 of the woman riding the Beast, dressed in the fires of hell (Isaiah 66:24) and the roaring lion (1 Peter 5:8) well, those are right out of Scripture. Later, they put dancing beach balls and surf boards all around her because "Hey, this is just good clean fun. Nothing to see here." As she sings about kissing girls, skin tight jeans, teenage dreams, and going all the way tonight... nope, nothing to see.
The Game:
I didn't watch it but I observed the hubby and son. They were bored in the first half, my son went off and read his book. The second half, something was wrong - it was wrong from the start. Hubby kept exclaiming, "What are you doing?" "I can't believe they are throwing the ball!" "What is going on here?" "You've got to be kidding me!
That is the worst play calling I have ever seen!" and finally, "WHAT?" He closed the laptop, "That was just awful. The NFL... it's just not a good product any more."
The Winner:
By all accounts, the winner of the game was not the better team. The Patriots did not win the game per se, the Sea Hawks seemed to have lost the game. There is about the winners an air of cheating, the aura that they are shady, and not all together honest.
In all, there is a microcosm of America today, where the best don't win, where the cheaters come out ahead to everyone's surprise. Where the evil behind the scenes invades your living room with smiling cartoon trees and catchy pop tunes but then you sprinkle in some of the good, some of what is left of us that is still worth celebrating.
It's sad to watch and for those of us who can see, it's hard to look at.
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