06.13.05
Posted in life at 3:32 pm by
Strange things happen here whilst I’m away. A major comment spam attack, 7 days of all-inclusive gluttony, and a herd of visits from angry mixed martial arts enthusiasts later…here I am.
With a domain name like badchristian.com, you’re bound to piss some people off. This week, while I was away, was no exception. Someone from a mixed martial arts bulletin board found the piece I wrote about Diego Sanchez. They took it upon themselves to write this post.
Following that post, a thread ensued.
Following that thread, I got a number of angry comments.
If there were ever a group of people I think it might be wise not to piss off, it would probably be a group of mixed martial arts enthusiasts. This pissed off throng of mixed martial arts enthusiasts proceeded to argue vehemently over my post. That’s fair enough, everyone’s entitled to their own opinion.
What will forever befuddle me, however, is the reticence of some to actually deal with the issues I bring up in my article. It is much easier to tear down themes which I didn’t deal with in my post or to participate in ad hominem attacks rather than to deal with the meat of my argument.
First, many commenters seem to insinuate that I wrote a piece that roundly condemns mixed martial arts as a sport. This is simply not true. Now, I will go on the record and say that I find fairly little redeeming value in two dudes who go into an octagonal ring in order to beat the shit out of one another. I will also admit that this preference is just that: a preference. It’s not really rooted in any theological mandate. In fact, as much as I don’t care for mixed martial arts on the whole, I actually enjoyed the other mixed martial art bout between the two Light Heavyweights on the Ultimate Fighter. They fought vigorously and honorably. And, if you actually took the time to read my first post rather than to put words in my mouth, you’d see that no where do I insinuate that Diego Sanchez is a particularly dis-honorable person. I just don’t buy his theology.
Another attack is that I’m putting words into God’s mouth. Of course, this was mostly in jest. (And, once again, if you actually take the time to read before squawking, you’ll notice that I gave a bit of a disclaimer about this.) I don’t think, though, that I was far off. Diego Sanchez, after winning his fight, insinuated that God was on his side and that’s why he won. That, my friends, is lousy theology. Also, it’s not as if I’m trying to place God firmly on the side of some controversial issue such as tax cuts or governmental versus individual aid packages and the merits of each. My guess about what God is thinking in this case is fairly well scripturally supported.
Others can’t handle my language. Read this, this, and this.
Someone even was foolish enough to think that my mission was to name ‘bad Christians.’ Diego Sanchez was just another target of mine. My how charming it is when folks decide to open their mouths without any sense for the context of a community.
My favourite comment though was this:
how about you do something better with your time? mixed martial arts is a sport, like basketball, boxing, or anything else. you dont have a problem where in football one guy slams another into the ground then thanks God after the game?
there have been ZERO (0) deaths in mma, how many deaths have there been because of religion? you and your fat girlfriend need to find a hobby you tree hugger. Go read the bible, or why dont you actually take the time to speak to an mam fighter who is Christian and get a real point of view. Btw great Job speaking on behalf of God, retard.
I really hardly need to respond to this comment. I suspect that most of you are laughing yourselves silly and musing about the neural damage that gross overuse of testosterone supplements must have done to this fellow. When you recover from the sheer lunacy of the above comment, I’d like to point out one key misunderstanding. The commenter above blames many deaths on religion. In truth, he is mostly correct. However, blaming religion for deaths is a spurious argument.
The combination of religion (and historically Christianity) and the belief that God hates the same people you do is what causes death. Theologies like the one espoused by Diego Sanchez where God is a supposed agent of power in the violence against other human beings…those are the theologies that cause death. Not peaceful Theologies. I highly doubt that a follower of Mahatma Ghandi or the Dali Lama is going to go ape shit on another human being and then go about claiming that God willed them to do so.
However, to all my MMA.TV visitors: Thanks. While I know that not all of you hold the same views as those who commented on my first post, those of you who visited and posted venom did truly give me a chuckle when I came home. And, for that: I thank you!
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Posted in life at 3:32 pm by
Strange things happen here whilst I’m away. A major comment spam attack, 7 days of all-inclusive gluttony, and a herd of visits from angry mixed martial arts enthusiasts later…here I am.
With a domain name like badchristian.com, you’re bound to piss some people off. This week, while I was away, was no exception. Someone from a mixed martial arts bulletin board found the piece I wrote about Diego Sanchez. They took it upon themselves to write this post.
Following that post, a thread ensued.
Following that thread, I got a number of angry comments.
If there were ever a group of people I think it might be wise not to piss off, it would probably be a group of mixed martial arts enthusiasts. This pissed off throng of mixed martial arts enthusiasts proceeded to argue vehemently over my post. That’s fair enough, everyone’s entitled to their own opinion.
What will forever befuddle me, however, is the reticence of some to actually deal with the issues I bring up in my article. It is much easier to tear down themes which I didn’t deal with in my post or to participate in ad hominem attacks rather than to deal with the meat of my argument.
First, many commenters seem to insinuate that I wrote a piece that roundly condemns mixed martial arts as a sport. This is simply not true. Now, I will go on the record and say that I find fairly little redeeming value in two dudes who go into an octagonal ring in order to beat the shit out of one another. I will also admit that this preference is just that: a preference. It’s not really rooted in any theological mandate. In fact, as much as I don’t care for mixed martial arts on the whole, I actually enjoyed the other mixed martial art bout between the two Light Heavyweights on the Ultimate Fighter. They fought vigorously and honorably. And, if you actually took the time to read my first post rather than to put words in my mouth, you’d see that no where do I insinuate that Diego Sanchez is a particularly dis-honorable person. I just don’t buy his theology.
Another attack is that I’m putting words into God’s mouth. Of course, this was mostly in jest. (And, once again, if you actually take the time to read before squawking, you’ll notice that I gave a bit of a disclaimer about this.) I don’t think, though, that I was far off. Diego Sanchez, after winning his fight, insinuated that God was on his side and that’s why he won. That, my friends, is lousy theology. Also, it’s not as if I’m trying to place God firmly on the side of some controversial issue such as tax cuts or governmental versus individual aid packages and the merits of each. My guess about what God is thinking in this case is fairly well scripturally supported.
Others can’t handle my language. Read this, this, and this.
Someone even was foolish enough to think that my mission was to name ‘bad Christians.’ Diego Sanchez was just another target of mine. My how charming it is when folks decide to open their mouths without any sense for the context of a community.
My favourite comment though was this:
how about you do something better with your time? mixed martial arts is a sport, like basketball, boxing, or anything else. you dont have a problem where in football one guy slams another into the ground then thanks God after the game?
there have been ZERO (0) deaths in mma, how many deaths have there been because of religion? you and your fat girlfriend need to find a hobby you tree hugger. Go read the bible, or why dont you actually take the time to speak to an mam fighter who is Christian and get a real point of view. Btw great Job speaking on behalf of God, retard.
I really hardly need to respond to this comment. I suspect that most of you are laughing yourselves silly and musing about the neural damage that gross overuse of testosterone supplements must have done to this fellow. When you recover from the sheer lunacy of the above comment, I’d like to point out one key misunderstanding. The commenter above blames many deaths on religion. In truth, he is mostly correct. However, blaming religion for deaths is a spurious argument.
The combination of religion (and historically Christianity) and the belief that God hates the same people you do is what causes death. Theologies like the one espoused by Diego Sanchez where God is a supposed agent of power in the violence against other human beings…those are the theologies that cause death. Not peaceful Theologies. I highly doubt that a follower of Mahatma Ghandi or the Dali Lama is going to go ape shit on another human being and then go about claiming that God willed them to do so.
However, to all my MMA.TV visitors: Thanks. While I know that not all of you hold the same views as those who commented on my first post, those of you who visited and posted venom did truly give me a chuckle when I came home. And, for that: I thank you!
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JF said,
June 13, 2005 at 8:07 pm
There is a sport in the uncivilized part of Africa where one human catches skins and beheads another. For that I think that the sport of cricket is a sin. —– “Mixed Martial Arts” does that mean that they got mixed up and thought they were supposed be big and tough with words? I know, Brandon, that you were not attacking the sport I got your point, I was just being facetious.
James said,
June 14, 2005 at 8:02 am
Fair play to you for responding to the comments and making them available in this post - it would have been much easier to just ignore them and let them get ‘lost’ further down the blog!
rick said,
June 14, 2005 at 9:18 pm
You know, Jesus ought to kick your ass for some off the things you say. You need discipline and ain’t nothin’ like a good ass whippin’ to set you straight. It is a good kind of ass whippin’, it looks like a street fight, but it’s not. Don’t think GOd kicks ass? What about God being so pissed off at your sin that he sent Jesus to take a major ass whuppin’ on your behalf That is how much God loves you. And then you turn around and poke fun at some young man who gives credit where credit is due. Sounds like you have an ass whippin’ coming your way.
I love this blog. I always get a great chuckle when I visit here. Thanks for putting it out there.
Of course, I wasn’t serious about the ass whippin’.
t.r.messer said,
October 21, 2006 at 12:14 pm
I have read through some of the posts on your blog-site and have thoroughly enjoyed them. I am professionally a scientist. In my private life, I am a linguist and a martial artist. The threads that I particularly liked are the ‘04 and ‘05 posts about curse-words and Diego Sanchez/MMA. Also, the responses to that one one about Diego Sanchez were hilariously embarassing(spelling?).
I have long mused about the taboos of “bad language” in much the same way that you have; so I found what you had to say very interesting. It is refreshing to see someone that is not part of the “linguistics academia” thinking about these things in that way.
As a full-contact competing martial artist myself, I have to say that I am annoyed by fighters who thank God in their interviews. There are many religious fighters in Pancrase, Pride FC, UFC, etc. But most of them are very tasteful with their religious expressions and are doing the same thing they do when they do anything, not just fight. For example, Vitor Belfort always crosses himself and drops to his knees while bowing his head at a fight. Usually he does this before and after a fight. This is his private prayer to do well in the fight as well as a prayer for good competition with as few injuries as possible. Typical of any sport. However, he does not do what so many rappers at award ceremonies, actors, and other fighters do: get up and thank God as if it was God’s ultimate goal to make them win at whatever it is. I feel the same about Sanchez doing it as I do about those particular rappers whose songs are only about shooting people, beating people, drug trafficking, and prostitution getting up and thanking God. Sure, God gave them all their talent, but how they use it is their own choice.
As a side note, many of your posters seemed genuinely offended by mixed martial arts competition. I believe this is due to a misunderstanding of the sport. Most competitors have the utmost respect for their opponents. I know I do. I do not personally know any fighter that doesn’t; although I’m sure they exist just like the bad apples of any hobby, creed, or profession. There is more to martial arts competition than what goes on in the ring. There is a desire for personally pushing oneself to the ultimate limits of ability and fitness just to see what the human body can do. It is not unlike ballet or gymnastics. Most martial artists who fight competitively are capable of much, much more than what is seen in the ring. Not just in the way of combat, but also in the manner of spectacular display of skill and discipline. Part of the point of the fighting competition is to show what skill you have in your ability to submit your opponent in ways other than necessarily hitting them. That is why MMA calls that constant hitting style “ground and pound”. It is recognized for what it is: can be very effective, but is not a true display of skill like, say, submitting via a toelock or kneebar. Outside of the fighting arena there are other types of competitions that martial artists participate in; it’s just that the general public has no interest in them: they want to see the fights. Many competitions are for determining strength, grace, or precision. They are run much like a gymanstics tournament, having solo and team events. Competitors do things like show off their most spectacular acrobatics and dance with weapons or veils. They are graded on the beauty, grace, and precision of their performance. Sometimes something as simple as not making a kimono flutter just right will lose a competition (like a japanese geisha dance). I am rambling, and I apologize. It’s just that these things are very interesting and, unfortunately, it seems that America’s general public only cares for the fighting. Perhaps you will be able to use this post to respond to other unwanted supporters of MMA who only show their ignorance in the ways that they choose represent themselves in their posts. After all, I am a participant in MMA, just not in the mainstream sensations like UFC, so it’s not like I don’t know what I’m talking about. It’s my interest, not my living. I prefer to compete on the low where the people associated with the competitions completely understand the sport.
Once again, I have thoroughly enjoyed your site. Your angry posters were hilarious. You gave very good reponses back to them. Thanks for being someone with a strong opinion based from your brain instead of stupidity.
david andrade said,
November 16, 2006 at 1:35 pm
u guys are gay
Wendy said,
November 24, 2006 at 11:15 am
This whole thread was hilarious….I am a Christian and I direct & promote amateur MMA cage fights. Our fighters all have the utmost respect for one another, and we have yet to put on an event that was themed on hate or anger. They have a genuine passion for their sport. So with that said, I have to agree that unless you are on mission and/or your audience is appropriate, giving thanks to God should be a private affair. Not to say that it can’t be a good arena (I guess there could be a time…..???) but there is definately a time when it is NOT appropriate. btw….we have an event this weekend (12/9/06) to benefit our local Toys for Tots and Childrens Hospital…..our fighters have a passion for this fight, and we have dubbed the battle “Fighting for Life”….my point is that a lot of good can come from these matches. We estimate that these guys will bring in close to 2500 new toys, and $3000 for the Shriners. Our fighters help market our events and sell tickets, so their hearts are really in it. That totally rocks! Anyhow…..good luck with this site…its hilarious.