Well, it seems the Christian Soldiers have taken it all to another level:
http://graphics8.nytimes.com/i…
Apparently, mainstream white evangelicals (like Dobson) are merging mixed martial arts/UFC with church and God stuff, because :
“The man should be the overall leader of the household,” said Ryan Dobson, 39, a pastor and fan of mixed martial arts who is the son of James C. Dobson, the founder of Focus on the Family, a prominent evangelical group. “We’ve raised a generation of little boys.”
(New York Times)
The Fight Within…
Chirst, Harden Me Against THe Weak Fighter with a Pathetic Voice who cries for the Round to be over instead of praying for endless time on the mat…
from anointedfighter.com, http://www.anointedfighter.com/
“This whole generation is raised on the idea that they’re in a culture war for the heart and soul of America,” said Stephen Prothero, a professor of religion at Boston University.
Paul Burress, 35, a chaplain and fight coach at Victory Baptist Church in Rochester, said mixed martial arts had given his students a chance to work on body, soul and spirit. “Win or lose, we represent Jesus,” he said. “And we win most of the time.”
But on that cold night in Memphis, Mr. Renken, the pastor from Xtreme Ministries, watched as two of his three fighters were beaten, one emerging with a broken ankle.
Another, Jesse Johnson, 20, a potential convert, was subdued in a chokehold and decided not to return home with the other church members after his bout. He stayed in Memphis, drinking and carousing with friends along Beale Street, this city’s raucous, neon-lighted strip of bars.
NYT –
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02…
Make no mistake, the American far right is creating a bunch of soldiers that will do their bidding. And as incentive to get started they’re offering bloodsport, guns:
For tomorrow’s service at his church in Kentucky, a pastor has invited his congregation to bring along their Bibles, a tin of canned food, a friend – and their guns.
Ken Pagano, who packs a pistol of his own, wants his parishioners to openly wear their firearms at the New Bethel Church in Louisville to mark the 4 July Independence anniversary and celebrate the part guns played in the making of the nation.
The Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worl…
(Sex? Oh yeah, they offer that too-I know guys that only went to evangelical church to pick up girls. )
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(from the annointed fighter site -scrolling through these idiots galleries is scary):
http://api.ning.com/files/Dnil…
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http://api.ning.com/files/ea*n…
(also from anointed fighter dot com)
Modern evangelical churches typically glom onto pop culture to try to attract adherents–I am reminded of the whole Christian rock music thing, for example. The recent rise in popularity of mixed martial arts probably made it inevitable that evangelical types would latch onto it as yet another recruiting tool. Overt insertion of religiosity into sporting contests is nothing new of course. Just think about the group prayers that many school football teams commonly have just before starting a game, as the players huddle around their coach. Church affiliated MMA teams are merely an extension of this phenomenon.
It would be a mistake to think that all participants in martial arts have a conservative, evangelical Christian orientation, or even tend to be right of center. I practice Jiu Jitsu myself and train at a dojo (school) that also features instruction in MMA style fighting. The range of interests and orientation of the students and teachers at this school is pretty striking and would probably cover the entire political spectrum. Of course, this a secular school in a large city, with no religious affiliation at all.
I appreciate the links to the articles that Wilberforce has provided, and encourage reading the articles themselves.