Sportsmen that "thank God" for their victory.

Please cut it out. Yes, that means you, Zach Johnson (who?). Even if God existed, do you really think he’d give a shit about you hitting a little white ball around some trees in Georgia? I’m sure he’d have better things to think about – especially on the anniversary of his son’s death, you heartless bastard.

Oh, please shut the fuck up.

Faith in God gave ZJ presence of mind. Peace on the course. The belief that he had prepared properly for the event.

God is just as responsible for the victory as ZJ’s swing coach or shoe manufacturer or equipment sponsor.

You don’t have to like it. That’s why God, in His infinite wisdom, gave you arms and legs, so you could get your ass off the couch and go do something else.

Besides, what do you think ZJ was looking for? A bolt of lightning to hit Tiger? Do you think the power of prayer caused Tiger to go into the drink?
“Being Easter, my goal was the glorify God and hopefully I did that today,” said the Cedar Rapids, Iowa, native."

What’s wrong with that?

We athletes who are Christian believe that we DO glorify God through our competition. My training, my competition, and my victories serve as an example to others that we can tap the potential God gave us. My faith in God gives me the peace to train when conditions aren’t right, or after a loss, or when my head otherwise just isn’t in it.

Why? Because I think God will smite my opponents? Hell no. God doesn’t love me any more than He loves you or any of His other children. He doesn’t favor me over my opponents.

It is my belief that God is less concerned with the outcome of the event as He is with the fact that the event itself is an opportunity to glorify Him through our work.

God gave me the ability to compete- to be good at a certain thing. By training hard at it, by working to be the best at it, it is an example to others that they also have talents in one facet of their lives or another and that they can actualize their potential as well.

I consider it sinful to pray for victory. I know some Christians don’t go that far, but the main point of any athletic event is to glorify God, not smite the guy in the other-colored shirt.

Sorry, but that is very lame. I have nothing against people having faith, but spouting off about it at every given opportunity is obnoxious, not to mention arrogant. “I won because God is on MY SIDE!”

You shut the fuck up. Any God that gives two shits about what goes on in a sport dominated by multi-millionaires, all the while allowing millions of his beloved children to starve to death each year, is a punk and a fraud. Anyone who believes that God takes a special interest in his golf game is an arrogant idiot.

What about the other golfers. No one else is a Christian? Why wasn’t Jesus guiding them?

What about people who profess profound faith and find nothing but failure? If success is a measure of faith what does that say about them?

Wow.

If you’re being sarcastic, that’s hilarious. If you’re serious, that’s just silly.

-Joe

Robin Williams, on Golf… (best read in a Scottish accent)

After reading that, I kinda doubt that God rates golf all that highly…

What the fuck does it matter to you if someone thinks enough of God’s presence in their life to give thanks? It doesn’t materially affect you, and the guy is free to do it if he wants.

If one believes they have God-given talent and potential, their freedom to give thanks to God for it trumps your freedom to not be annoyed by people expressing their religious views.

I don’t think ZJ said that. Try another strawman.

Zach Johnson did not say that. He said he won because Jesus gave him strength.

Two golfers can work with Butch Harmon. One might win the Masters, the other place 23rd. When the one that wins says “I really want to thank Butch Harmon, my coach, who really helped me this year” they aren’t saying “and Butch completely slighted that guy who came in 23rd.”

Pro golfers are overwhelmingly Christian and overwhelmingly conservative. I try to watch them play (which I appreciate) rather than listening them talk - since their worldview is often very skewed from mine.

Actually, there is no trumping at all. He is of course free to thank Jesus for his victory, and others are free to call him an arrogant idiot for doing so.

In making his victory speech, he credited the power of Jesus, who walked beside him and guided him to victory. Since there is only one winner, Jesus did not guide anyone else to victory. Jesus caused him to win, and everyone else to lose. Pretty much sounds like Zach was his boy.

If Harmon walked alongside the golfer, and gave him power and guidance, the golfer would be disqualified, and Harmon would likely lose his PGA privileges.

I once saw a commedian comment on this. He said that he found it stupid that the winning teams always credit god for their win. You never hear the losers say, “Well, I would have made the touchdown, but Jesus made me fumble!”

Of course God doesn’t care about sports. He cares about the sex of the person you put your penis into, and which words come out your mouth.

But does he care about the mouth you put your penis into?

Or your play, I guess.

More seriously…maybe I’ve never understood this…doesn’t that sound a little…meaning no disrespect…narcississtic?

I mean, Donald Trump looks for opportunities to be glorified by his underlings. Does God need the praise heaped upon Him? Wouldn’t His ego be pretty secure? And why golf? Wouldn’t you think God Himself has some real achievements under His belt?

Sailboat

Well, I don’t think so, because it’s not really about me, it’s about God. If I win, the glory is God’s. It’s my opinion that the level of success I have achieved is due in some part to my faith- that I don’t want to waste the gifts God gave me in the sport that I love.

Sure, I don’t think God NEEDS me to glorify Him. But that’s not the point, is it? I do it because I believe in God and I want to thank Him for giving me the ability to compete and the presence of mind to use my ability to win.

And I think that, and I mean no disrespect here, but that a lot of people who don’t understand this idea think it’s odd because their lack of faith in God means that they don’t understand love FOR God.

I don’t glorify Him because Jesus told me to. I don’t worship God and give Him burnt offerings because otherwise He’ll take my abilities away from me. I don’t want Him to smite the other team. I do it because it’s my way of thanking Him for His presence in my life, a life that has allowed me to play a SPORT.

Secondly, I think a lot of people, and particularly Contrapuntal, in their zeal to argue, are falling prey to the idea that, “If Jesus helped one competitor, He must have harmed the others.” They lose sight of the fact that God isn’t favoring me over His other children. Jesus gives all of us strength. Jesus watches over all of us. But you know what they say, even if you pray to God to win the lottery, YOU Still have to go buy the ticket.

Jesus may have given ZJ the strength and compusure to play. But ZJ still had to play.

And just what do you find silly about it? My statement might be a bit hyperbolic, but what, exactly, do you find silly about the sentiment?
EDITED TO ADD: The Butch Harmon metaphor that Contrapuntal dodged was quite apt.

I thought his caddy looked familiar.
Me, I want Moses, makes the water hazards and sand traps a lot easier to deal with!

CMC fnord!
YouTube - Robin Williams - Golf (Full Version)

There can only be one winner of a golf tournament. If Jesus gave Zach the *power *and *guidance *he needed to win, while walking alongside him (a point you seem to be dodging) then, ergo, he did *not *give anyone else the power and guidance *he *needed to win.

Including the part about Johnson being DQ’d?

And those of us who don’t mind it so much are free to say they think the OP’s taking offense is a bit over the top.

Except that most Christians believe that God is omnipotent and omnipresent, and therefore multiple people can seek God’s guidance simultaneously. So it does not logically follow that ZJ believes Jesus caused everybody else to lose.

I was watching the end of the Masters with my brother and his wife. We all disdainfully groaned and complained about Johnson’s comment, Aussie sports stars don’t do that schtick.

Later some one hit a putt that appeared to be going in the hole and just rolled over it. My sister in law jumped up and pointed at the TV, “Look, look there’s the Lord’s finger, goal tending.”

A few months ago when my God-botherer boss was moving to another job he called us together to let us know. At the time Israel was bombing the crap out of Lebanon. He was asked why he had accepted this new job and he replied that, “God gave me a sign.”

I said, “Considering all the troubles in the Middle East, I’m surprised that God has nothing better to do than to be your careers advisor.” From the look I got and the subsequent crap I had to deal with I can only hope his God is more forgiving than he is.

No argument here. You claimed, however, that certain rights to expression trumped other rights to expression.
“If one believes they have God-given talent and potential, their freedom to give thanks to God for it trumps your freedom to not be annoyed by people expressing their religious views.”

Can you explain that? That is what I was responding to.

As has been noted,* there can only be one winner.* We are not talking about *seeking *God’s guidance, we are talking about a man who claims that Jesus provided him with *guidance *and power, and as a result, he won a golf tournament. Maybe they all sought God’s guidance, but only one got what he needed to secure the victory. Causing one man to win *necessarily *causes the others to lose. There is no way around it.