LLOYD OMDAHL: Legislature grabbing for power — again
January 16, 2011 at 6:05 pm in Grand Forks Herald
The present session is only a couple of weeks old, and bills already have been introduced to take charge of the UND Fighting Sioux logo controversy. Under the state constitution, this issue is none of the Legislature’s business. Continue Reading
Does the prospect of a constitutional amendment by a referendum passing present the same problem?
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How can you dislike a question?
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It doesn’t seem that we actually are too concerned about the constitutionality of state board jurisdictions since we engage in the religious function that sports represent. With our govt. rooted in Greek & Roman concepts we condone the use of athletics just as they did as a religious spectacle. There is no separation of church and state for college athletics. Here is a description of what sport really is about. Seems to me to be consistent we should honor UND sports as a religious function and not accuse it of trivializing the image of the Sioux Nation.
Ancestor worship joined fertility rites to produce funeral games in honor of deceased kinsmen and chieftains; commemorative festivals kept fame alive. In a portrayal of Greek life around 1000 B.C.E.,Homer’s Iliad gives a richly detailed account of some funeral games held in honor of a Greek soldier slain in battle at the gates of Troy.As young warrior-athletes engaged in chariot races, boxing and wrestling matches, and discus and javelin throws, they affirmed life in the face of death.
In Homer’s rendition, the gods took active interest in the events. Like modern athletes who chalk up wins or losses to “the will of God,†those ancient young Greeks blamed or praised the gods depending on the contest’s outcome. An archer supposedly missed his target because he had failed to promise Apollo a sacrificial offering. Presumably, Apollo begrudged him victory. When a chariot driver dropped his whip in the midst of a race, he blamed Apollo for knocking it out of his hand but thanked the goddess Athena for helping him retrieve it.As early as 1000 B.C.E., athletes looked to the heavens for assistance. Eager to win the prize for a foot race, Odysseus charged down the stretch praying to Athena, “O goddess, hear me, and come put more speed in my feet!†Hundreds of local religious-athletic festivals thrived around the Greek-influenced rim of the Mediterranean, each one in honor of a Greek god. They appealed to Artemis to help them in the hunt, to Poseidon when they sailed the seas, to Aphrodite in matters of love. The Greeks firmly believed that all the gods,whatever their specialty, looked with favor on the male warrior virtues of physical strength, agility, and endurance, skills best taught and practiced in athletic contests. By the 5th century B.C.E., four major festivals dominated the Greek athletic circuit: (1) the Pythian Games at Delphi in homage to Apollo, (2) the Isthmian Games honoring Poseidon at Corinth, (3) the Nemean Games in Nemea, and (4) the Olympic Games at Olympia, the latter two in the name of the mighty Zeus.
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Thank you Mr. Omdahl. It never ceases to amaze me that people think “public opinion” is the end all/be all in a democratic/representative society.
Public opinion DOES rule: eventually. Public opinion is fickle. What is popular today is anathema tomorrow. That is why our system of government is set up on checks and balances; roadblocks to mitigate the effects of temporary passions. This is simply one example among many of a tempest in a tea pot.
I simply regret that we have to spend time and treasure on such an inconsequential issue. Be it the Fighting Sioux or the Flickertails, I will still be true to the school.
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