a little bit of footie

Anyone from a soccer (football!) playing nation will understand the current angst of the Irish. World Cup qualifiers have been going on and in the match between Ireland and France the French superstar Thierry Henry touched the ball with his hand - which is, of course, illegal in soccer. The call was missed on the field and the game continued but the French won and the Irish were up in arms - demanding a replay.

To understand the emotion here you have to roll the Superbowl and the Olympics into one and then add some. Sporting and national pride combine during the World Cup. It is one of those events which can impact social attitudes and even crime statistics improve. Shops are full of national gear and "football fever" overtakes all but the most stubborn of folks.

I do not really feel qualified to comment too much on the ethics of "getting away with what you can" which seems to be, pretty much, a universal sporting maxim. It makes me uneasy but I also realize that greatness sometimes comes from pushing up against the rules and I am not sure I always understand when a rule gets pushed so hard that it ends up broken.

What I get more upset about is the vilification of the player who committed the offense. And this is why I have used this soccer example - it is emotive and similar situations have led to a lack of humanity being displayed.

There are always people who do things wrong, who annoy us, who push us further than we would like to be pushed - but our response often says a lot about us and who we believe God to be in relation to us. I am not really talking about losing our temper or telling someone what we think - I am talking about the vilification of another person - that seeing them as evil, or worse than us, or "out to get us" because of something they have done.

Compassion for those we find it hardest to love is a Christian virtue - this is not denial, not saying that we are not angry and definitely not hiding things under the carpet. Compassion has to do with how we see the whole person opposite us - as just that, a whole person, not condemned by their particular deeds but someone capable, as we are, of errors and of redemption. This is how Christ sees us and without the parity of compassion we are always in danger of becoming the mob who simply shout for vengeance - not those who seek to grow in love.