Come, Let us Rationalize Together

At some Christian school in America, the football coach has started a game by counseling his players to be peaceful, patient, and gentle.  However, it is far more common for a coach to try to instill a “warrior” mentality, to encourage his players to be aggressive, and to promote greater and harder violence.  These spiritual—or, if you will, psychological—characteristics are useful on the football field because they are positively correlated with the number of points your team scores, and negatively correlated with the number of points the other team scores. 

Within the context of a football game, aggression, warlike behavior, and violence promote victory.  However, within the larger and more important context of life, they are ignoble.  To practice these behaviors in a football game is to get caught up in the pursuit of the smaller victory, and to lose sight of the greater victory.

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“But”, you might protest, “isn’t there a time for everything?  Isn’t there a time for war and warlike behavior?  Isn’t there a time for aggression and violence?”

Certainly.

Christian doctrine—and the doctrine of most major religions—has always recognized the possibility of something like a “just war”.  Under certain circumstances, when conflict is unavoidable or greater harm would be done by pacifistic non-resistance, it is better to actively resist.  In the face of great evil, those on the side of the good ought always to be ready, willing, and able to defend the right.

It is absolutely, breathtakingly stupid to use this idea to justify participation in football. 

What great evil is Central High fighting against when it lines up against Western High?  Western High wants to hold the same inflated bladder on a different colorful patch of grass.  That’s it. 

If you think that’s justification for aggression, you’re rationalizing.