Nature of the Foul

After watching a few of the world cup matches I have to confess to feeling a little disappointed. Was I disappointed because Australia didn't make it to the quarter finals? Yes, but that was not the source of my biggest disappointment. A work colleague of my wife said that she was not a soccer fan, but that she had watched every Australian match in the World Cup. Sadly she now claims that she will never watch another soccer match ever again, such was her disappointment and fury.
Why was she so angry? Simply because of the unfairness evident in the game.
Refereeing decisions that were short sighted and sometimes blind, mixed with blatant cheating in the form of rugby tackles, hand balls, intentional take outs, and fake falls all added up to a viewing spectacle that was nothing short of disgraceful. Not to mention the bad publicity that surrounded the Australian team with regards to claims about their rough tactics and physical play, of which I saw absolutely no evidence in their actual playing. Despite this, it seemed as though Australia had been judged and executed without a trial, as referee after referee penalised them many times, with quite a few of them unjustified.

But should we be surprised?
Should we really be shocked at the underhanded tactics of some teams and individual players? I say no, it is exactly what we should expect. It is simply a case of people living according to their beliefs. In fact, they are one of the commonest set of beliefs in our day. You have probably heard them expressed in any number of pithy statements such as the following.

· Look after number one.
· A small indiscretion is acceptable if you don't get caught.
· Most rules were made to be broken. (under certain circumstances)
· Winning is everything.
· You have to do what other people are unwilling to do if you want to get ahead.
· Everybody does it so it is acceptable.
· Nobody is perfect anyway so you might as well accept it and adapt.
· Do it if it feels good to you.
· Personal autonomy is the most important thing.

I could go on with many more, but these few give an idea as to modern thinking in many peoples minds. It may sound a little pessimistic, and jaded, but the reality is that many people think maturing as a person means absorbing the phrase; "this is life, get used to it". We even say these things to our children as they are approaching adulthood because we want to prepare them for the harsh realities of life. But I wonder if we are doing them an injustice.

By accepting these philosophies and merely adjusting to them we are doing a disservice to our children and ourselves. Indirectly we are justifying and validating dishonesty and deception.
As my friend keeps reminding me, through a quote by Edmund Burke - "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for enough good people to do nothing. The only thing necessary for the triumph of good is for enough good people to do something extra."

I often hear people say something like "I just don't understand how a person can be like that". It is not pessimism to reply "Of course, what else did you expect". The fact is, that man as a creature is a damaged being. He is not as he should be, and every time we are surprised when he behaves accordingly, we are reinforcing the lie that man is basically and inherently good. Man was created good, but has become tainted and corrupted, and can only be redeemed by a transformation through the renewing of the mind. It is false to believe that it is only environment, lack of education, poverty or any other external factor that sends a man bad. The badness comes from within, so this is where we must tackle the problem. We can try to legislate and moderate and castigate, but until we meet the source of the problem within the heart and soul of the man, we will only be window dressing a persistent evil that refuses to diminish. And the only way to do that is to continue to refute lies with sound correction, so that people are convicted of the truth, enough to take appropriate action that will lead to a transformation in their lives. I know of no other way for this to occur except through acceptance and submission to God through Jesus Christ. Man can alter the physical, but only God can alter the spiritual.