Steelers face God in the NFL

[Philip Copeman]

So Kurt Warner, Arizona Cardinals Quarterback thanks God for winning the NFC Championship game. “If you ever want to do a story about who I am, then God has got to be at the center of it.” Someone forgot to tell him that his Center is the guy snapping him the ball. In making this claim, Warner in turns his back on a time honored tradition of football that any winning quarterback first thanks the Defense for giving him the ball and then then thanks his Offensive line for creating the canvas on which he can dance.
Well Kurt let it be noted that it was you that brought God into this dirty game of football. Personally I think you and the old man are going to get your arses kicked this weekend. Normally I would be a supporter of Arizona, not only because the State produces some of the greatest scientists in paleoanthropology, but simply because I would support any team playing against the Steelers. However with your new theological dynamic of using intelligent design to plan your offense, you make atheists like myself rise to the cause of proving yet again that God simply isn't interested in Football. I only feel sorry for those intelligent people of Arizona with atheist leanings, who are left with the dichotomy of seeing the Lords work undone in their own back yard.

This blog however is not about football it is about raising the voices of Atheist around the world that allow people like Kurt Warner to parade their ill conceived ideology at our expense. Bertrand Russell said “There would be more atheists if men did not protect their incomes”. It is a shame on us that on our watch we have allowed the forces of Abraham to reassert themselves on the world. Through our own indifference or fear of conflict we have soiled the traditions begun by Galileo, Hume, Darwin, Mill and Einstein.

I am not suggesting that we invade a foreign country or blow up a hotel, but I am suggesting that we fight rigorously against any incursions on the secular State. For too long now we have allowed the Abramists free reign to spread their word unfettered. Somehow we have seen fit to allow “freedom of thinking” and not rigorously put forward out case. While the Abramists offer eternal salvation, we offer obscure, stifled debate. “While Good men remain silent, evil thrives” The resulting perversion of truth is now apparent for all to see.

Steelers by 15.

[Philip Copeman]

Nick Tatalias wrote:
> Explain to me how your broadcast of Athiest rights is any different from Kurt's, is that your religious opinion that atheism is best. If Kurt believes that his life is formed around his community of faith and that this community and his prayers provides him with an ability to clear his mind, focus on the task at hand and play to his full God (?) given potential, then who are you to argue? Is he saying that God bets on Football, I doubt it, but he is saying that his faith has an impact and is formative in his world view and approach to work.
>
> Science describes systems by observations and tries to fit observed data to predictive tasks, its all in the curve. However trying to characterise several millions of years of history into polynomial equations (as in most statistical reductions) is absurd, even partial differential equations (because of the rate of change in states) struggle. So scientist charecterise short sections of the curve, but then predictions don't fit outside the range of analysis and to do this extrapolation is rediculous, which why it is so difficult given the vast numbers of independent variables in the Cosmos. To even predict the weather accurately, little alone the greater Cosmos or human paleantological interactions is near impossible, your deluding yourself?
>
> The population of Arizona, in my experience, is significantly influenced by the Roman Catholic Mexicans and Mexican Americans, so I doubt that your handfull of Paleoanthropologist represents Arizaon in many ways other than in your head. There is also a large Greek Orthodox community along with Monasteries that are attended regulalry by the people of Arizona. So if mr Warner chooses to reflect his experiences of his faith community to those of the greater Christian communiuty, who have a common basis of discusion then he should be allowed to do so. Argue of course, but don't then free speach is allowed and let your argument sway.
>
> Let's however be scientific in our analysis of the game, and try to reduce the game to a few independant variables., After all of this analysis we still can't model human behaviour and thats with 88 players and the many independant variables that effect each player in the game, and the effect on each coach and their strategy? Thats why they play the game.
>
> The Cardinals hammered the Eagles who had beaten the Giants (the No1 seed team in the NFC). The Eagles could stop the run. The Eagles are also a blitzing team that were good against the pass but they couldn't get pressure so Arizona went to the air. The receivers for the Cardinals are big fast guys who can get open deep and take a hammering accross the middle underneath, they also have a running back who is well rested and can pound as well as cut and he is up to 5 yards a run type gains. Where does Palumalu line up deep to give inside or deep over cover on the receivers or short to stop the run as the 8th man in teh box? How will the Steelers coaching staff work that puzzle?
>
> Pitsburg are a running team and I think that they can pound out a win but if they can't cover no 11 and stop mr Williams at the same time then it will be long day. The Steelers have two good backs they can use who can also break ity open if the linebackers from the Cards can't shut it down. However it comes down to defence if they can pressure Warner early and shut down WIlliams they have a shot
>
> If Pitsburg win its by 3
> If Cards win its by 15
>
> All these years you have been avoiding God - ever since you were washed out to see in a rip tide and you did a deal, or was it because you got Humphrey run over or worse - "the lady doth protest to much?" why don't you recognise the calling Philip?
>
> Nick

[Philip Copeman]

You did correctly call the game - Steelers by 3. It was silly of me not to foresee that the old man would test me first before showing us, with 38 secinds left, yet again, that he simply doesn't care about Football. Nick, I am definitely going to put you on my list of the cleverest people I know. It is a great distress to me that I have not had the intellectual powers to engage you sufficeintly on matters of theology. Note that in none of my positions do I ever deny the right to free thought. The two important points here are

i) That free thought is fine, but when someone says something that is unfactual or arguably untrue, then (and I am mobilising atheists here) we should make the effort to correct them. I think that many Christians would feel embarrassed bringing God into Football.

ii) The secular state is a vital component for ensuring the freedom of i) above. The reason that there is an incursion of abramist religious doctrine onto the secular state is that atheists allow it. Whereas abrahamists (with the possible exception of Jews) demand of their represetnatives (Presidents, Judges etc) at minimum a ceremonial doffing of the hat to their religious demons, we make no insistence that what we require in a President is free thought. Our defacto policy of appeasment has lead to a decline in secularism. My action are not an attack on Christians at all, but rather a call on athiests to lift their game to the same level as the abrahamists or fact the consequences of the last 10 years.

[Philip Copeman]

NIck Tatalias wrote

Secularisism in decline, I think not. Perhaps you haven't been watching any movies lately: if it feels good do it, the sanctity of marraige is no more, violence, sex and bad scripts rule the world. Religious belief is given short shrift in the media. religious thought is given the equivalent status of idiocy and is called bigotry even when the position may be as rationally held as secularists.

You and I agree that religion and state should be separated, the downfall of Christianity was the compulsion of all Romans to become Christian after Constatine. Apart from the syncotsystic use of pagan religion in Christianity superstition and lack of thinking became a norm, the church became the Roman empire taking on its mantles of state, using violence and oppression to rule, just as the empire did.

I'm not that clever Philip, just in constant thought on the issue given the constant conflict I find I am in with the very secular world. I often use others thoughts and make them mine, its a trait of humans that we can learn from others through reading.

[Philip Copeman]

NIck Tatatias wrote:

I am amazed so often how many people equate the western world with Christianity. The west owes very little to its Judao Christian Heritage, it owes some thing to its Greek philosophers, but mostly it owes everything to its roots in Greek and Roman and European paganism, where sensuality rules over reason. Where the pursuit of hedonism is central to every tenant of society. Your intellectual pursuit of knowledge a very strong form of a hedonistic quest for sensuality. Sadly the quest is empty as you flit faster and faster between more and more things.

The problem with democracy Philip is that if the majority of people lay claim to a way of thinking, then they would vote that way. There is no accounting for the masses. However you have every right to try to convince anyone to vote for you, if you can't convince everyone to think your way sorry for you pay your money and take your chances. If Christians choose to vote for their guy and there are more of them that's the acceptance you have to have in a democratic system.

Lets us review the communist Russian empire of the 20th Century. Athiest to the core, but freedom to practice anything other than state enforced programmes sadly lacking. Is that the ideal you seek. Should we go back to communism, many are preaching that and calling it a bail out. Especially those in SA in the ANC who are pals of Jeremy Cronin, nationalisation in another name, Marx pointed it out in 1867.

Is it economic freedom to pursue your entrepreneurial quests without hindrance? Since the 18th century that has been available to you, even the creation of Fiat money and interest charging is available to you in a system that seeks fairness, how terrible that system must be?

Do you seek an anarchist state where freedom exists, but then which rules apply. Its hard to play soccer when people keep sticking a sword in your belly. The laws you are condemning "the abrahamists laws", like you shall not murder, steal etc are based in the 10 commandments which you condemn because its "abrahamist" you could go back to the pre Mosaic law, where might ruled "et tu Brutus"; or rule like "you killed my Donkey I'll kill your whole family because I'm powerful." Funny how society seemed much more manageable once simple laws were applied of equal recompense for a crime - radical I know, but perhaps you didn't notice how radical until you compare what went before.

Is there some merit perhaps in the laws of the abrahamists? If you see the abuses of the Roman church in the middle ages - this is because the church took on the vestiges of the Roman empire and forsook its heritage in Jesus Christ. Funny how with significant movements like the reformation and a return to a form of Christianity that the age of enlightenment returned? Oh thats right it was only dark in western Europe, the eastern Europeans were thriving, its the invasion of the Turks that drives the eastern Christians to Moscow and past Vienna that the light returns.

It is in time like now where the post modern world is giving up its heritage for paganism and sensuality that it starts to fall apart again. Is the draconian implementation of any form of thought an ideal, communism the ultimate atheism, power politics and power gain and intolerance of the Roman empire carried on until the 15th Century, modern Fundamentalist religious fervour, these are not the tools of freedom. So its not atheism or religion that is the cause, but draconian rule by idiots that is at fault.

Same side of a coin, not sure we are even in the same stadium for the same game.