Are You One Of Those Grievous Sinful Americans Who Watches Sinful Football On Thanksgiving Day?

 

Here we go, again, everybody's favorite self-appointed Prophet of Doom™ — God's Most Highly Favored Crackpot™ — has slouched back onto the scene for his sacred annual ritual: the Thanksgiving Buzzkill Sermon™.

Instead of, I don't know, noticing that we live in a country where we can literally eat turkey until we pass out while watching millionaires throw a ball around on television, Pastor Gloom'n'Doom has once again chosen to take a giant steaming dump all over the one day we're supposed to be grateful for.

And if any of you fake Christians dare watch football today — or (gasp!) actually go outside and play catch in your own backyard with neighbors like some kind of heathen — you better drop to your knees right now and beg Almighty God to forgive you for the mortal sin of… enjoying yourselves for five damn minutes.

Can you even imagine what the world would be like if Bwana Bob just shut his joy-sucking mouth for seventy-two blessed hours and stopped marinating in his own industrial-grade negativity? My God, it would be a foretaste of heaven itself. Angels would weep. Turkeys would volunteer.

Today is the national holiday in the USA called Thanksgiving. And despite certain claims, its specific origins are not pagan. But, of course, no Christian needs to celebrate national holidays like it if they do not wish to (cf. Romans 14). And the Bible does condemn gluttony.

Yet, whether on this day or others, the Bible teaches that people should give thanks:

4 Sing praise to the LORD, You saints of His, And give thanks at the remembrance of His holy name (Psalm 30:4).

The Bible is full of admonitions to give thanks to God. The New King James Version of the Bible has the word ‘thank’ 25 times, ‘thanks’ 75 times, ‘thankful’ 3 times, and ‘thanksgiving’ 32 times. It also has the word ‘praise’ 237 times and ‘praises’ 11 times.

One thing that I have noticed on the day called Thanksgiving by those in the USA, is when I have been at many other places than the home I lived in, American football has been playing on television.

For many, other than food and family, football is a major focus of the Thanksgiving holiday for many in the USA.

American tackle football is unsafe and clearly harms those who engage in it a lot. Therefore, American football is not something Christians should encourage.

Pastor Gloom'nDoom even drags out Dead Herb to support his claims

...the late Herbert W. Armstrong wrote:

Hostility toward the other is sin… 

 

Football (American football) is a violent body-contact sport. It is often played with an attitude of hostility and is dangerous and is fraught with physical injury. (Plain Truth, July-August 1984)
Wherever a game in sports involves ANTAGONISTS–in HOSTILE ATTITUDE to harm the other and/or to “GET” from the other–to get the best of the other–then a harmful, Satanic and evil attitude enters in, and the sport is EVIL, not good…football, 

 

(American football)…because football is such a violent body contact sport, it TOO OFTEN is played in an ATTITUDE OF HOSTILITY, and is too DANGEROUS and fraught with PHYSICAL INJURY . Therefore it must be BANNED so far as participation by God’s Church or people is concerned…This is sufficient to illustrate the application of the PRINCIPLE of God’s Law to sports. That participated in with an attitude of HOSTILITY toward the opponent is evil. That which HARMS mentally or physically an opponent is evil. 

 

Satan is the author of COMPETITION based on hostility, harm to the opponent, GETTING by taking FROM an opponent–to his harm or loss. God’s way is LOVE TOWARD neighbor equal to love of self. (Armstrong HW. Not all sports are banned. Pastor General’s Report, Volume 2, Issue 36, September 5, 1980)

Yet, Herbert would sit in front of his TV and watch football, "professional" wrestling, as well as basketball on Thanksgiving and Saturdays.

It really pops Bwana Bob's gizzard that some people, inlcuding COG ministers give thanks for football:

While I have even heard some people thank God for football, it is not a sport that I believe that the God of love would condone.

Then, the Great Bwana has to end his post with this crap:

To close, perhaps I should mention that we do not ‘add a day’ to God’s holy days if we somehow observe Thanksgiving or other national holidays. National observances are NOT holy days, nor does anyone have to keep them. Jesus, however, observed at least one (cf. (John 10:22-23), setting an example that we can if we so choose. But not through encouraging violence.

Is there ANYTHING in this entire world that the Great Bwana Bob is EVER happy about?