I've been studying religion a bit lately. Mostly because the Vatican and the Catholic faith play a part in the book I recently finished and will continue to play a part as I write more books in the series, but also because I am fascinated by the beliefs of various cultures, my own included.
In addition to reading the Bible for the umpteenth time (and, yes, I DO own a Bible. It was a gift from my Aunt Mary many years ago, and I will treasure it for the rest of my life), I've taken to watching shows where varying theories about the writing and translating of the Bible are debated. From all of that, I had a question:
If the Bible is the word of God, why are there so many different versions of it?
If you think this is some sort of sick joke by the fat guy, open another browser tab, go to Amazon, and search for Bibles.
Go ahead. I'll wait for a minute...........
See what I mean? There's literally dozens of different versions of the Bible out there. And while they all tell the same basic story, if you break them down, you'll notice differences between all of them.
In other words, they don't tell the story the same way.
Worse still, some versions leave out events that other versions have kept in.
So, I'll ask again....
If the Bible is the word of God, why are there so many different versions of it?
The only answer that I can come up with, and I know some of you will disagree with it, is that the Bible ISN'T the word of God. Instead, it's the word of man trying to interpret what God intended for us to know.
For me, it's not really much of a stretch to believe that. The discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls showed us that there were passages in the earliest versions of the Bible that haven't been used in centuries. If that's the case, then why do we, as the faithful, hold tightly to the belief that the Bible is truly the word of God? How could an editor just cut out the sacred words of the creator?
The fact of the matter, to me, is that they couldn't, which only proves my point.
I mean, look at it like this: there wasn't a human being present at the creation. We know this. So, how do we have such a descriptive account of what happened? There's no film we can go back and look at for it. No newspaper accounts. No hieroglyphics on a pyramid. Nothing.
The creation is something believers take on faith. And, by the way, I'm not arguing with having faith. In and of itself, I believe faith to be a very good and very positive thing.
I take issue with those who would choose to beat me over the head with their Bible and tell me that it is the ultimate word, and if I don't believe wholeheartedly in it, I'm going directly to Hell.
Why am I such a killjoy when it comes to this most holy of texts? Because if you look at some of the history concerning it, Catholic officials made me that way.
How so?
Well, let's look at the very beginnings of the Catholic church. We know of the existence of verses that are believed to be the "banned" verses of the Bible, which would be verses that either were written at the same time and weren't utilized, or were purged from the text at the very creation of the church. Either way, one has to wonder why those verses weren't allowed to see the light of day while those that did made the cut. In my opinion, it's the first instance of the church editing the word to suit their own needs.
"Right", you're thinking. "The church just picks and chooses what it wants us to know."
Okay, here's something else.
The final book of the New Testament, in the oldest Codex version known, only had eight verses. If you look at it now, it has way more than that. How's that possible? To answer that, you have to first understand that Catholics were the first group to write their scripture into books, known as codexes, to read. For the longest time, that's how you knew the difference between Christian and Jewish texts: Christian texts were in a Codex, Jewish texts were on scrolls. Anyway, the Codex in question ends after the women go to the tomb of Christ and realize he's not there. It specifically ends after stating they returned to town and said nothing, for they were scared.
That's it. Nothing more.
So, how did more verses get written? According to religious scholars, at some point, someone who was doing a translation of the text apparently didn't like the ending, and wrote several more verses to "finish" the New Testament.
Hey, I can't make this stuff up. I've researched that Codex myself, and what I've reported seems kosher.
You want another example?
As we know, the earliest versions of the Bible were written in a combination of Hebrew and Aramaic, and were translated into Greek. The problem is that when translating from Hebrew and Aramaic to Greek, some words got altered in the translation. A prime example of that is the Virgin birth. In the original Aramaic, it merely states that Mary was of child bearing age. Somehow, that got translated to her being a Virgin, and therefore a Virgin birth. Controversial, I know, but knowing how often texts get messed up when translating, it's not hard to believe. When you take into account that a virgin birth feeds directly into the mythos that the Catholic church of the time wanted, there's no need to go back and make changes, and by this point in time, it's such an accepted part of the faith, it's considered heretical to even THINK about changing it. And, I don't think I would anyway. It's a much more interesting story the way it is.
One more thing, while I'm setting up my own burn pile for Hell.....
The Catholic church once burned individuals as heretics for translating the Bible into English.
I'm serious.
Why would they do that?
Think about it.....After Greek, the texts were then translated into the Latin that so many Catholics have come to love and loathe. Latin was, for a very long time, the language of the educated, and in most cases that meant the clergy. So, if you have the religious texts in a language that only the clergy can read, there can be no questioning of what they're saying. Translate it into the language of the masses, however, and you now leave the church in a position to be questioned concerning its interpretation of the text.
Oh...and who can we thank for having the Bible translated into English?
Henry VIII. He did it when he broke away from the Catholic church to form the Church of England. We can also thank the Protestants, because they believed from the very beginning that the Bible MUST be made available to ALL, not just a select few.
So, what does that mean for you?
Honestly, if you're a true believer, it shouldn't mean a thing. At it's core, Christianity is the belief that God is the creator who created us in His image, and gave us his only Son to die for our sins. For me, it really translates into this:
Spend your time being the best possible person you can. Treat others the way you want to be treated, and don't worry about your shortcomings. Learn from them. Better yourself. Pay it forward.
To me, that's what it's all about. The rest are words. Good words, I'll grant you, but words none the less.
And faith, for me, is about what's in your heart, not what's on the written page. That's why I've made it a hobby study different religions and try to understand what others believe. And, you know what I've found? This might shock you.......
Pretty much every human being on the planet with faith believes in basically the same thing:
There is a creator who made us and guides our lives, albeit in a subtle way. We are tasked with being the best we can possibly be, and those who do so will have their lives enriched in wonderful ways, while those who do not will be unhappy and live unfulfilled lives.
Not a bad way to live your life, if you ask me.
The Fat Guy
Friday, November 15, 2013
Bullying and the Professional Athlete....
Okay, let me set this up by stating the obvious: I've never been a professional athlete. Hell, other than intramurals at CMSU, I haven't participated in any sort of organized sports since I was a Sophomore in high school....all those years ago.
That being said, I'm going to weigh in on the recent "hot topic" issue of bullying in professional sports that came to light because of the issues with Jonathan Martin and Ritchie Incognito of the Miami Dolphins. I intentionally waited to write something about it until now because I knew when this broke and still believe now that we do NOT know everything that happened in this situation, and I still think something's going to come to light that will shift the direction of the entire story.
For those who don't know, Jonathan Martin, a second year offensive lineman for the Dolphins, walked out of the team facility and left the team about a month ago after an incident in the lunch room. He later claimed that he'd been bullied relentlessly for a year and a half by the offensive linemen on the team, and provided texts and a voicemail from Ritchie Incognito that support his case. The evidence, by the way, reads as very racist, bullying language on the part of Incognito, and he's been punished by the team by being suspended indefinitely without pay.
The responses from the Dolphins have been as interesting as they are confusing, while the rest of organized sports have responded pretty much in the way I would have expected them to, which was to say that while hazing is in and of itself okay, they would have NEVER let it get to the level the Dolphins apparently did. The Dolphins players, on the other hand, seem to be supporting Incognito, and have made it known, albeit in a veiled way, that Martin will not be welcomed back to the team after this incident.
What the hell happened here? These are grown men who get paid lots of money to play a game. I'll grant you that it's a violent game with a short career expectancy, but it's still a game these dudes play for money. How did it get to this point?
Let me start with the beginning of the issue, then work my way out.
Hazing is a long practiced expectation of the professional locker room. Hell, if you've ever watched a season of the long-running program Inside Training Camp that follows an NFL team through it's preseason, you've seen rookies get taped to goal posts, taped up and thrown into ice baths, and expected to pay for and deliver food to the veterans. These incidents are presented in a very matter-of-fact way, and the rookies in question, for the most part, don't protest the treatment. They understand that there's a certain expectation made of rookies, and they understand that they're expected to take what comes, roll with it, and move on to being a valued member of the team.
Now, if you think it only happens in locker rooms, let me hip you to something: Hazing Happens Everywhere.
I'm serious.
You think I'm kidding? Think back to when you were the new guy on your job. Did you wind up getting the bulk of the "shit jobs"? Did your co-workers tell you it was because you were the "new guy", and they reminded you they'd had to do them when THEY were new?
Guess what? You've been hazed.
Now, I'll grant you that typing reports for the senior members of your staff or being the designated errand runner isn't quite the same as having yourself taped to a goal post and having sports drink dumped over your body, but it has the same effect: you're put through the fire to test how you react, and those who can roll with it are the ones who eventually succeed and earn the respect of the veterans.
I've heard stories of members of our military who've hazed and been hazed, as well as those in the trades. Hell, I remember when I was a Boy Scout, we'd have the new kids go Snipe hunting on our first campout. The guys who'd try to call us out on it would be the ones who got the most abuse, while the ones who actually went looking for a Snipe would just get laughed at.
It's the same thing, gang. It's just a different environment.
And let me tell you something else: Hazing is okay.
It is, when it's doesn't go too far. Hazing, when it's done in fun, can be a team building exercise all its own. The strength of character and bonding that occurs from it happens faster than almost any other team building exercises I've ever studied or been involved in, and I've been through a lot of them.
So, where the hell did this one go wrong? And, more to the point, who's to blame?
While we don't know the whole story yet, the first question can be answered pretty simply:
Jonathan Martin, in his mind, believed someone was going too far for too long, and decided to blow the whistle on everything.
The second question, while easier to answer, is a bit more complicated.
Everybody's to blame on this one. Even Jonathan Martin.
"How can that be?", you ask. "He's the one who got abused. How can he be at fault?"
Simple. According to everything we know about the situation, he NEVER told any of the coaches or members of management about what was going on or about his feelings towards it. Nothing that has been revealed to this point indicates that he even tried to.
To me, that's what puts him at fault in this situation. I'm not saying he had to be a tattle-tale, running to the coaches for every perceived slight, but if he truly felt like he was being pushed to the breaking point, he owed it to himself and his teammates to go to SOMEONE on the team in a position of authority and report what the issue was.
Now, it may very well be that he didn't do it because he didn't believe he could trust any of them, and if that's the case, heads should be rolling throughout the organization. That's where I think the coaching staff and management of the Dolphins is to blame.
According to several published reports, the Dolphins coaching staff instructed Incognito to "toughen up" Martin. Okay, let's break that down a little bit, shall we? We're talking about a six-foot plus, three hundred pound plus, professional offensive lineman here. It's pretty obvious to me they didn't mean for Incognito to toughen him up physically, so it tells me they believed he was "soft" mentally.
Now, exactly what the hell does THAT mean? My guess is that they (the coaches) didn't believe he had enough of the "killer instinct" needed to, in their eyes, succeed in the NFL. That's about the only thing I believe Incognito would be capable of even attempting to help Martin with, since I'm surprised the guy's smart enough to tie his own shoes. (Incognito, not Martin. Martin's a pretty damned smart cookie.)
If that's the case, it speaks to the savage mentality still present in the professional game. It's been believed for a very long time that if you don't have the killer instinct, you're dead meat. Now, like I said, I never played in college or the pros, so I don't have a clue as to whether or not that's the case. What I DO know is that if you don't love your sport and place it above everything else in your life, there's no way in Hell you'll make it to that higher level. That, besides an obvious lack of any sort of athletic talent, is why I was a football manager my junior and senior years of high school instead of a player. While I LOVED the game, I didn't love it with the intensity needed to make it the primary focus of my life. And, honestly, I have no regrets about that. My knees and back are bad enough as it is. I can't imaging how jacked up they'd be if I'd kept playing any longer than I did.
On top of the "toughening up" order to Incognito, the fact that Martin didn't go to management with his concerns opens up another possibility: he didn't believe they would help him. That's another problem. If you've got players on your team who don't believe they can come to you with their problems, you're in danger of possibly losing your team. Think about it like this: who were the best bosses you've ever had? Weren't they the ones who cared about YOU, the individual, instead of YOU, the number? Of course they were. Same principle in the locker room. You have to believe that there's SOMEONE there you can trust. If you don't have that, the situation's screwed, and there's no coming back from it.
Like I said at the top: we're nowhere NEAR the end of this story yet. In my gut, I know something's coming that will finally, hopefully, shed a little more light on just what the hell went wrong.
Until then, I blame everybody, because everybody's to blame.
The Fat Guy
That being said, I'm going to weigh in on the recent "hot topic" issue of bullying in professional sports that came to light because of the issues with Jonathan Martin and Ritchie Incognito of the Miami Dolphins. I intentionally waited to write something about it until now because I knew when this broke and still believe now that we do NOT know everything that happened in this situation, and I still think something's going to come to light that will shift the direction of the entire story.
For those who don't know, Jonathan Martin, a second year offensive lineman for the Dolphins, walked out of the team facility and left the team about a month ago after an incident in the lunch room. He later claimed that he'd been bullied relentlessly for a year and a half by the offensive linemen on the team, and provided texts and a voicemail from Ritchie Incognito that support his case. The evidence, by the way, reads as very racist, bullying language on the part of Incognito, and he's been punished by the team by being suspended indefinitely without pay.
The responses from the Dolphins have been as interesting as they are confusing, while the rest of organized sports have responded pretty much in the way I would have expected them to, which was to say that while hazing is in and of itself okay, they would have NEVER let it get to the level the Dolphins apparently did. The Dolphins players, on the other hand, seem to be supporting Incognito, and have made it known, albeit in a veiled way, that Martin will not be welcomed back to the team after this incident.
What the hell happened here? These are grown men who get paid lots of money to play a game. I'll grant you that it's a violent game with a short career expectancy, but it's still a game these dudes play for money. How did it get to this point?
Let me start with the beginning of the issue, then work my way out.
Hazing is a long practiced expectation of the professional locker room. Hell, if you've ever watched a season of the long-running program Inside Training Camp that follows an NFL team through it's preseason, you've seen rookies get taped to goal posts, taped up and thrown into ice baths, and expected to pay for and deliver food to the veterans. These incidents are presented in a very matter-of-fact way, and the rookies in question, for the most part, don't protest the treatment. They understand that there's a certain expectation made of rookies, and they understand that they're expected to take what comes, roll with it, and move on to being a valued member of the team.
Now, if you think it only happens in locker rooms, let me hip you to something: Hazing Happens Everywhere.
I'm serious.
You think I'm kidding? Think back to when you were the new guy on your job. Did you wind up getting the bulk of the "shit jobs"? Did your co-workers tell you it was because you were the "new guy", and they reminded you they'd had to do them when THEY were new?
Guess what? You've been hazed.
Now, I'll grant you that typing reports for the senior members of your staff or being the designated errand runner isn't quite the same as having yourself taped to a goal post and having sports drink dumped over your body, but it has the same effect: you're put through the fire to test how you react, and those who can roll with it are the ones who eventually succeed and earn the respect of the veterans.
I've heard stories of members of our military who've hazed and been hazed, as well as those in the trades. Hell, I remember when I was a Boy Scout, we'd have the new kids go Snipe hunting on our first campout. The guys who'd try to call us out on it would be the ones who got the most abuse, while the ones who actually went looking for a Snipe would just get laughed at.
It's the same thing, gang. It's just a different environment.
And let me tell you something else: Hazing is okay.
It is, when it's doesn't go too far. Hazing, when it's done in fun, can be a team building exercise all its own. The strength of character and bonding that occurs from it happens faster than almost any other team building exercises I've ever studied or been involved in, and I've been through a lot of them.
So, where the hell did this one go wrong? And, more to the point, who's to blame?
While we don't know the whole story yet, the first question can be answered pretty simply:
Jonathan Martin, in his mind, believed someone was going too far for too long, and decided to blow the whistle on everything.
The second question, while easier to answer, is a bit more complicated.
Everybody's to blame on this one. Even Jonathan Martin.
"How can that be?", you ask. "He's the one who got abused. How can he be at fault?"
Simple. According to everything we know about the situation, he NEVER told any of the coaches or members of management about what was going on or about his feelings towards it. Nothing that has been revealed to this point indicates that he even tried to.
To me, that's what puts him at fault in this situation. I'm not saying he had to be a tattle-tale, running to the coaches for every perceived slight, but if he truly felt like he was being pushed to the breaking point, he owed it to himself and his teammates to go to SOMEONE on the team in a position of authority and report what the issue was.
Now, it may very well be that he didn't do it because he didn't believe he could trust any of them, and if that's the case, heads should be rolling throughout the organization. That's where I think the coaching staff and management of the Dolphins is to blame.
According to several published reports, the Dolphins coaching staff instructed Incognito to "toughen up" Martin. Okay, let's break that down a little bit, shall we? We're talking about a six-foot plus, three hundred pound plus, professional offensive lineman here. It's pretty obvious to me they didn't mean for Incognito to toughen him up physically, so it tells me they believed he was "soft" mentally.
Now, exactly what the hell does THAT mean? My guess is that they (the coaches) didn't believe he had enough of the "killer instinct" needed to, in their eyes, succeed in the NFL. That's about the only thing I believe Incognito would be capable of even attempting to help Martin with, since I'm surprised the guy's smart enough to tie his own shoes. (Incognito, not Martin. Martin's a pretty damned smart cookie.)
If that's the case, it speaks to the savage mentality still present in the professional game. It's been believed for a very long time that if you don't have the killer instinct, you're dead meat. Now, like I said, I never played in college or the pros, so I don't have a clue as to whether or not that's the case. What I DO know is that if you don't love your sport and place it above everything else in your life, there's no way in Hell you'll make it to that higher level. That, besides an obvious lack of any sort of athletic talent, is why I was a football manager my junior and senior years of high school instead of a player. While I LOVED the game, I didn't love it with the intensity needed to make it the primary focus of my life. And, honestly, I have no regrets about that. My knees and back are bad enough as it is. I can't imaging how jacked up they'd be if I'd kept playing any longer than I did.
On top of the "toughening up" order to Incognito, the fact that Martin didn't go to management with his concerns opens up another possibility: he didn't believe they would help him. That's another problem. If you've got players on your team who don't believe they can come to you with their problems, you're in danger of possibly losing your team. Think about it like this: who were the best bosses you've ever had? Weren't they the ones who cared about YOU, the individual, instead of YOU, the number? Of course they were. Same principle in the locker room. You have to believe that there's SOMEONE there you can trust. If you don't have that, the situation's screwed, and there's no coming back from it.
Like I said at the top: we're nowhere NEAR the end of this story yet. In my gut, I know something's coming that will finally, hopefully, shed a little more light on just what the hell went wrong.
Until then, I blame everybody, because everybody's to blame.
The Fat Guy
It's Been Two Months???? AGAIN????
Shit.
Well, sorry. I figured once Jen and I got over having the most adorable little baby I've ever laid eyes taken out of our home (we were fostering and she was returned to her biological father), I'd be updating ye olde blog a bit more often.
For whatever reason, that just hasn't been happening.
But, I'm here (and so are you, obviously), so let's see what's been going on lately, shall we? By the way, I've got two more big posts coming today, so there will be a couple of things that don't make this list because I'm gonna gab about them some more later.
1. (and it pains me to say this) Big time congrats to the Boston Red Sox for taking out my beloved Cardinals. They did what the Birds had done all year long: timely hitting, great pitching, no mistakes. Give them credit: they WON the damn thing.
2. However, I get to say for the gazillianth fucking time how much I HATED those damned beards. I just wanted to run out on the field with a straight razor and a bottle of friggin' Nair. No shit.
3. Been playing Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag. Not a bad game, but I think they're starting to get a little lazy. Not to ruin it, but while it's cool to be a pirate the way they've got it set up, part of me feels like they were just going through the motions, and those motions mimicked jerking off.
4. I hear on the old interwebs that Lawrence Kasdan has been recruited (read: Shanghaied) into coming aboard to do a rewrite of Star Wars: Episode 7. Don't know how I feel about that yet, but I was stoked when I heard J.J. Abrams was directing. If you don't think he can do wonders for the old franchise, just look at the two Star Trek movies he's directed.
5. On that note, I JUST got around to watching Star Trek Into Darkness yesterday. Good flick. A bit predictable, but what the hell. I just hope Abrams loses the lens flares for Star Wars.
Know what? I'm stopping at five because I've got two more posts to write. Catch you then.
The Fat Guy
Well, sorry. I figured once Jen and I got over having the most adorable little baby I've ever laid eyes taken out of our home (we were fostering and she was returned to her biological father), I'd be updating ye olde blog a bit more often.
For whatever reason, that just hasn't been happening.
But, I'm here (and so are you, obviously), so let's see what's been going on lately, shall we? By the way, I've got two more big posts coming today, so there will be a couple of things that don't make this list because I'm gonna gab about them some more later.
1. (and it pains me to say this) Big time congrats to the Boston Red Sox for taking out my beloved Cardinals. They did what the Birds had done all year long: timely hitting, great pitching, no mistakes. Give them credit: they WON the damn thing.
2. However, I get to say for the gazillianth fucking time how much I HATED those damned beards. I just wanted to run out on the field with a straight razor and a bottle of friggin' Nair. No shit.
3. Been playing Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag. Not a bad game, but I think they're starting to get a little lazy. Not to ruin it, but while it's cool to be a pirate the way they've got it set up, part of me feels like they were just going through the motions, and those motions mimicked jerking off.
4. I hear on the old interwebs that Lawrence Kasdan has been recruited (read: Shanghaied) into coming aboard to do a rewrite of Star Wars: Episode 7. Don't know how I feel about that yet, but I was stoked when I heard J.J. Abrams was directing. If you don't think he can do wonders for the old franchise, just look at the two Star Trek movies he's directed.
5. On that note, I JUST got around to watching Star Trek Into Darkness yesterday. Good flick. A bit predictable, but what the hell. I just hope Abrams loses the lens flares for Star Wars.
Know what? I'm stopping at five because I've got two more posts to write. Catch you then.
The Fat Guy
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