I have found 2010 to be quiet about the argument about AFL having games on Good Friday. Maybe it has been because its only the second round and everyone is still getting used to the season beginning or maybe because its a non issue now.
What do you think of Neale Daniher's comments about Good Friday Football?
Let me state first, I’m a Christian & I think Good Friday is a great holy day, something which should be kept holy and set aside like Christmas and other religious days. I am reminded of Neale Daniher’s comments a few years ago which was:
Good Friday and Christmas now stand alone as days that are set aside for people, whether practising Christians or not, to take stock of their lives and values, to share with family and friends. For Christians, Good Friday is simply the most sacred day in the calendar. For many people, including active participants in the AFL, that should be reason enough to set aside this day. Melbourne coach Neale Daniher has said playing football on Good Friday would conflict with his beliefs.
Even people who do not share those beliefs are likely to benefit from a break from the intrusions of work and commerce into every day of their lives to the point where days, weeks and years can pass in a blur of activity. While a minority attends churches, most people exchange Easter eggs, symbols of new life that marked the northern spring equinox even before this was tied into Christian belief. The continuity of celebrations of a new dawn is a reminder that it would be a poor kind of life, and a poor kind of society, that is stripped of all ritual, of all sense of special days and seasons.
I think Neale & the writer has a few good points here and I do take his points a lot more serious than others as One) He is involved with Football (Was a player, coach & now at West Coast) but Two) He is someone who practices Christianity in some form.
I do not want this to become just a religious post, I would rather it be discussed from both sides of the argument, I do have a few points I would like to raise and then its up to you too discuss in the comments section below.
Is Australia a Christian country anymore? If yes, I understand why we keep Good Friday free but other codes have sporting events. Does that mean the AFL must also have a game? I would love to hear your opinion on this discussion from both sides of the fence. I do have one more question which I will finish off on. If you are not a practising Christian & want AFL on Good Friday, should you also work on that day? As I question the morality of you having the benefits from both situations…
April 1st, 2010 at 10:22 am
We have now on Easter Thurday night, Saturday, Saturday night, Sunday, Sunday twilight & Monday. Too much days of footy over Easter let alone 1 round.
Secondly, besides the religious aspect, & my wife agrees with you on that, is that it would take away our Royal Childrens Hospital Appeal broadcast by Ch 7.
Ch 7 won’t give up Better Homes & Gardens let alone a telethon.
Thirdly, if the supermarkets have set out to close their doors, it should be left alone.
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April 1st, 2010 at 10:50 am
Before I start, I want to state that I am a non-practicing Anglican and people can take the below as not a bash on religion, just my point of view.
I don’t see the point of stopping everything on Good Friday, not just footy but shops and everything. I live by myself and have tomorrow off; I can’t wait for the Dragons v Storm game to kick of during the day to give me something to do. Shutting the country down for a day, does not seem to make a lot of sense to me personally.
Australia is no longer the religious country it once was (I have my theories on why this is, but this is not the place to discuss it) and I think sport and society are going to have to change with the times. I think AFL may have to jump on the wagon or get left behind (there are 2 NRL games on tomorrow and I am sure there will be other sporting events played around the world). Yes, this will offend people but there are ways to do it, maybe something similar to how the Anzac Day game works (that is nothing before midday).
April 2nd, 2010 at 8:09 am
The nothing before Midday works for me.
What I do not get is that Easter Sunday is just as important as Good Friday, as for us Christians its the risen part of the Easter weekend that we get excited about. Not the death as anyone can die for someone but rising from the dead & defeating death is what we celebrate. So going on from that, maybe it should be Sunday we protect & not Good Friday.
April 1st, 2010 at 5:44 pm
1. “quiet”, not “quite” (in this context).
2. I am a practising atheist.
3. I can go see a movie on Good Friday. Why are we not running a campaign to close theatre complexes on Good Friday?
4. 7-Eleven and ‘service’ stations are open. Pubs are shut on Good Friday, but open for Christmas lunches. Consistency anyone?
5. Why is Good Friday more special than Easter Monday? Surely Jesus’ resurrection is just as central to Christian doctrine as his death?
6. Do hot cross buns, easter eggs and chocolate rabbits in the supermarkets in January diminish the significance of Easter? (Hint: the answer = Yes!)
7. Since the timing of Easter each year is determined by the phases of the moon, Jesus’ death could have been any day. Let’s not play footy on any day.
8. If Easter and Christmas weren’t public holidays I’d work, but they are. If they weren’t public holidays, we wouldn’t having this discussion, so there’d be no moral ambiguity for me to concern myself with.
9. If we get to a point where practising Christians are a minority in the country, will Christians give up Easter and Christmas public holidays in favour of Ramadan or Buddha’s birthday or whatever? Can we play footy on those days of immense religious significance to other people? Or is it only Christian sensibilities that cannot be affronted?
10. Why do we not have public holidays — and no organised sport — for other important Christian dates?
11. Aren’t public holidays tied to days of religious significance a hangover from the past when Christian observance was much more common across the population? Perhaps we can be a grown-up society and just decide that some extra days of rest are an appropriate compensation for our toil lining the pockets of the captains of industry (a.k.a. robber barons).
12. “Neale has a few good points hear. . .” Try here. “I would love your opinion” = good. “If your not a practising. . .” = bad. you’re = you are.
13. Did the earth open up and swallow Sydney because NRL was played on Good Friday? Or is Sydney just the modern manifestation of Gomorrah anyway?
14. If a children’s hospital relies on a Good Friday telethon to survive, our society’s values are way more screwed up than wondering about whether to play footy on that day. A hospital telethon is hardly an appropriate parameter to not play footy on a public holiday (and couldn’t they collect money from the punters at the footy anyway?)
15. Why does Neale Daniher’s ‘opinion’ carry any more weight just because he is a practising Christian? In fact, the only part of that editorial that concerns Daniher is the sentence containing his name. He’s hardly making any points, let alone good ones. The arguments were being put by The Age’s editorial writers, not Daniher.
16. I don’t have a particular problem with not playing games on Good Friday, but there’s no good reason not to change that policy.
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April 2nd, 2010 at 8:18 am
Many good & interesting point ARB (and I think I have fixed up all those grammar mistakes – getting better on the spelling but grammar still gets me).
5) Its Easter Sunday which is the special day (see replied comment on Geaghs original comment) not Monday, that’s just Australia giving us an extra day off…
7) That is true & I am sure you do not want to be reminded of the reason why Easter was originally celebrated on that day by the underground church.
9) Interesting… I think even though only something like 3% of the population regularly attend church (once a week), we still are a Christian nation. As our laws & way of life still revolve around Christian beliefs. England however is one country that is closer to become a non-Christian nation than us.
10) Do we have any sport on Christmas day in Australia? I know the US does with basketball.
15) I used Neal’s (& the writers) comments as imo he gave a better more balanced pov than just normal people as he has played & coached the game but is also a registered reverend/ pastor/ priest. In the original comments he made (I couldn’t find them), he did in fact make the comment that Australia is fast becoming less and less ‘Christian’.
April 2nd, 2010 at 12:34 pm
@Jermayn,
Those are spelling errors. We haven’t started on grammar yet!
5. and on the third day he rose again: wouldn’t that be Monday? Regardless, why are we so uptight about Friday when it’s Sunday/Monday that are more significant doctrinally?
7. ‘Remind’ me, please. As far as I’m aware, the Roman church appropriated pagan festivals and rebranded them.
9. A Judeo-Christian basis for public administration doesn’t necessarily translate to continuance of public holidays tied to Christian festivals.
To support your argument, you could look to the ABS and find that an overwhelming majority of the population at the last census identified as Christian of one sort or another (personally, I am Jedi). The fact that they aren’t practising regularly undermines your case, so it’s a double-edged sword.
10. Funny. It would be hard to find a more overtly and publicly Christian nation than the Americans, yet they’ll happily schedule sporting fixtures for Xmas day. America surely is the land of the Paradox.
15. I know it’s annoying when you can’t find the quote you’re looking for, but substituting something that’s ‘close’ actually damages your case far more than it helps it. Notwithstanding that, I’m not sure how the country becoming ‘less and less Christian’ supports a no-football policy on Good Friday.
I reckon that leaves me about 10 reasons up!
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April 4th, 2010 at 9:04 pm
Sorry about the delay in replying but I’ve been busy with family
The Christmas holiday was “modified” to match the pagan holidays, this was so the Christians could celebrate and not get killed by the Romans.
Easter wasn’t though, as it follows the Jewish holidays of the Passover etc
In regards to my original article & using the Age article. I was not taking a side so to say but more opening an argument & allowing people to discuss.
April 6th, 2010 at 10:41 am
@Jermayn,
Still it’s only symbolically got anything to do with Jesus, and
from Wikipedia:
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April 2nd, 2010 at 4:36 am
Love your work ARB, funny, insightful, educational and RIGHT!!! Point number nine was particularly succinct. Australia is widely acknowledged as a Multi-cultural society with a population that has varying religious beliefs. why on earth should we stop a GAME purely for those who believe in Jesus? The Buddhists, Hindus and Muslims of this country do not get afforded the same treatment…If it is good enough for guys like Hasem El-Masri to play rugby during the Muslim’s sacred month of Ramadan then it should be ok for the AFL to play a match on Good Friday. Those who wish to attend will ,those who are morally conflicted won’t…simple. There should be a choice for everyone not just those who believe in Christ.