Proclaimer Blog
The idolatry of the games
OK, it was fun wasn't it? I loved it. Free to air sport. Drama. Tension. Enjoyment. A really good spirit every time I went near the park and for the closing ceremony (which Mr Mayor gave me a free ticket for!). I am a sport junkie and I have to admit that it fed by habit. Moreover, even Mrs R and the Misses Rs got into it. Big time. (Though our sports of choice were different). But there was something not quite right. I nailed it during the closing ceremony when the male voice choirs sang the anthem (for which we were asked to stand!):
Immortal spirit of antiquity,Father of the true, beautiful and good,Descend, appear, shed over us thy lightUpon this ground and under this skyWhich has first witnessed thy unperishable fame.Give life and animation to those noble games!Throw wreaths of fadeless flowers to the victorsIn the race and in strife!Create in our breasts, hearts of steel!Shine in a roseate hue and form a vast templeTo which all nations throng to adore thee,Oh immortal spirit of antiquity.
Hm. It's semi-religious. In fact, not just semi-religious, but full on. The irony is that the music was encouraging us to shake off the shackles of religion (Freedom, Imagine etc). You can be what you want to be. The music portrayed a religion of self free from any outside influences or constraints. But this was set in juxtaposition to the commitment and 'worship' that we are called to pay to the Olympic spirit.
Perhaps I'm reading too much into it all? But it's a kind of idolatry, is it not. Leastways, that's what the Bible calls it.