Friday, August 14, 2015

Let your yay be yay and your nah be nah

RE Booing at sporting events

What a laugh . all this fuss about booing at sporting events . These last few weeks have seen the religious left ( eg Jane Caro on ABCTV ) pontificating about how one should behave in the auditorium .
"One mustn't boo" was the conclusion after many could not conclude their sessions with the Sanhedrin over what is sinful in the new age. Unfortunately the new age has been ignoring the question of sin long enough for it to come back and bite them big time

Fortunately for some of us,  sin is just normal and its best to limit your attention to your own , or you might just spend your whole life worrying about others instances .

Booing can be  quite OK - telling someone what you think about their behaviour is what good friends do. Honest face forward confrontation is not only not condemned in scripture - its advocated from the Creator in the garden and fig leaves upwards. Nah is a boo just as Yey is a hurray !
In a booing crowd,  you simply can't always tell whether a comment is racist or deeply hurtful to someone . Should we all stop booing so there is no confusion about whose sinning ? No - we would never enjoy the idea of game playing -most people are not hurt by words used in a game. Players shake hands at the end to assert that .  
We feel for Adam Goodes and anyone who "gets it all the time" because some of it is probably racist and deeply personal and  hurtful  . People hide behind words; so what can we do about it when we still believe in primacy of free speech . Same with people who feel ostracised because of their unusual choices,  looks or gifts - its hard .  Speak back , questioning and points of order are all good options to counter .  "Tough it out "is good advice for all of us when it happens to us. you are not the one!

The reality is its easy to go beyond just telling someone what you think of their behaviour ( to their face  - which is not a sin ) particularly when you are angy .
Anger is not a sin.  this is News to some in the new age which just shows how much splashing in  backwater some progressives get to  - " Be angry but don't sin " puts the two subjects in context .( Ephesians )
The sin is when words are cutting words and involve physical and verbal violence ( both considered as prosecutable and serious matters in our code.

So,  some booing is Ok and some is not . "No I disagree " they say in parliament each day ---nay . I even said "yay" in Parliament last week even though sign says "silence in the gallery" .  I said "yey" when Gavin Jennings said the churches  do a very job in welfare when another member asked "if they pay their  share of taxes" .

If we aren't allowed to play games or respond to what we see and hear ,we don't learn to test limits and grow up .
Maybe we can't all shake hands at the end of the game, ( great symbol)  but at least we can and mostly do go back to talking like grownups after the game.  see you there ---noise anger and all !