Gods and Goals!!!

From what I’ve heard and seen, South Africa is an amazing place. It gave us Miriam Mekeba, Dave Matthews, and J.R.R. Tolkien, author of Lord of the Rings. Myyyy precious…

And of course, there is the incomparable Nelson Mandela. If you’re not up on your Mandela, please Google him or something. He was and is so much more than the white-haired man we see gingerly walking and waving or the rugby enthusiast that Morgan Freeman played incredibly well in Invictus. Nelson Mandela was the real deal.

South Africa has risen from the ashes of apartheid, to be considered a slightly- progressive nation. So much so, that it is the host of the 2010 World Cup.
If you’re like me and not a huge soccer fan…excuse me, football fan, then you probably could not care less about this quadrennial competition to find the world’s best team in the world’s most popular sport. However, people from the Caribbean to South America and all parts of Europe; people around the world love their soccer. The amount of passion and zeal they have for their teams is nearly unparalleled. Well, there is one parallel that I can draw; RELIGION.

For many, soccer IS their religion. The stadiums are their churches, synagogues, or temples. The players are deities or prophets of good fortune. A team has a bunch of pretty good players who could be considered the disciples and there is usually one very good player whose feet the fate of the entire soccer world rests on. Coincidentally, he usually goes by one name, like many of Religion’s Head Honchos. Pele, Maradona, Kaka, Ronaldinho. And a score by one’s team, accompanied with the melodic GOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLL!!!, sends more hands waving, feet dancing, and voices yelling than a Pentecostal revival.

PASSION!

So, when I heard the story of a 61-year-old South African, David Makoeya, being beaten to death by his WIFE AND KIDS for changing the television from a religious program to a World Cup soccer match, I was slightly perplexed, faintly amused, but not completely surprised.

Yeah, you read that right. His wife, 68, son and daughter, 36 and 23, respectively, beat his ass to death for changing the television.

What was the day’s sermon? “Love thy neighbor and spread the goodness of God, unless he tries to change this station, then you can bash his head into the wall in the name of the Lord”.

My mother is known to get her T.D. Jakes or Joel Osteen in, but I doubt that she’d “alleged” O.J. Simpson on me if I tried to change the channel.

PASSION!

I get it. People have passions. I’m passionate about my family, my career, and my God-mother’s pineapple upside down cake. And I guess if someone was to jeopardize any of those three, I might resort to violence.

Passion can be a wonderful thing. Many of the world’s greatest wonders are birthed from an unyielding passion: music, art, social change. And many of the world’s greatest disasters are products of passion, too.

So, can there be too much passion?

At any soccer match, it isn’t uncommon for a melee to break out in the stands between opposing fans. Many fans have been killed in victory celebrations after soccer matches.

PASSION!

The majority of the world’s wars have been tied to “passionate” religious arguments. Want a sure-fire way to start a fight and lose friends? Bring up religion. I steer clear of religion as a conversation topic with most of family members. My aunties love me until the religious discussion begins, then it becomes hard for me to get a second plate of macaroni and cheese at family functions.
It’s funny, I’ve always been taught that sports and a belief in a high power beget a certain set of core values.

Sports: Competition, Teamwork, Respect, Sportsmanship
Religion: Love, Compassion, Forgiveness, Tolerance

But I guess in the world of Goals and Gods, passion trumps principles. Just ask David Makoeya.