{"id":1664,"date":"2009-06-09T20:06:52","date_gmt":"2009-06-09T20:06:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/owenstrachan.com\/?p=1664"},"modified":"2009-06-09T20:06:52","modified_gmt":"2009-06-09T20:06:52","slug":"sacrificing-children-to-sports-not-molech","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/thoughtlife\/2009\/06\/sacrificing-children-to-sports-not-molech\/","title":{"rendered":"Sacrificing Children–to Sports, Not Molech"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"TeeBall\"There is no way to make adolescence injury-proof.\u00a0 Competition and sports can be very good things (Photo: GettysburgFlag site<\/a>).\u00a0 But when you see stats like this in a NYT article<\/a>, you have to wonder about whether the harmful side effects of high-contact sports are worth it:<\/p>\n

\u201cHigh school athletes in nine primary sports sustained an estimated 137,000 concussions in the 2007-8 school year, according to a study conducted by the Center for Injury Research and Policy at Nationwide Children\u2019s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio. Football had the most, with more than 70,000, followed by girls soccer (24,000), boys soccer (17,000) and girls basketball (7,000). These were only reported concussions; more were almost certainly sustained but went unrecognized or ignored.\u201d<\/p>\n

These figures should sound alarms in the minds of many parents.\u00a0 Again, sports are not inherently evil, but it is clear that many children\u2013yes, children\u2013are experiencing harmful effects from athletic competition.\u00a0 These effects can harm a child not only for a short period of time, but permanently.<\/p>\n

This data from a secular source reminds us that morality in Christianity is not limited to questions of virginity, abortion, and television watching.\u00a0 Moral questions confront us in many areas of life.\u00a0 We are often blind to them, to our shame.<\/p>\n

In a sports-crazed society, when every parent wants a future All-Star (and scholarship collegian), it can be hard for us to see the morality of sports.\u00a0 We can limit our understanding of this subject to questions of sportsmanship and spiritual mindset.\u00a0 We should consider these things carefully, of course, but there are other matters to think about as well.<\/p>\n

For example:<\/p>\n