According to the philosophy they teach in seminary, the human will cannot will evil. Say what? What about when people sin? That’s because they have somehow convinced themselves that it is a good.That’s because we’re more grounded in ‘reality’.
The latter.
That works when you are on the ground, but I was referring to getting caught by a punch or kick while standing. Even with headgear, if an errant punch lands a certain way, you could be seeing stars (I speak from experience).
Well, it’s good to know you have some practice sparring done. Let me ask you a question: are you planning on making a pro career out of this, or is this just a hobby? The reason I ask is that if further consultations with priests lead you to believe that this activity were to be gravely sinful but light sparring were not sinful, would you be willing to just do light sparring (assuming that loght sparring in MMA is not a contradiction, like no-contact ice hockey)?
Are you or were you in the seminary?
No but several of my friends are/were
My plan was to do this one fight and be done. I start school again in September and wouldn’t be able to train as hard. I just wanted to do it for the sake of doing it, but I would be perfectly happy just to continue sparring as I have. I just need to figure out how to tell everyone that I won’t fight. They’ve even started introducing me to new guys “That’s Rocko, he’s fighting in September.”
What do you base your faith on, the infallible teaching of the Church or the personal opinion of your priest?
The problem is, however, that our first contact with the infallible teachings of the Church more often than not comes through priests, nuns, etc. Yes, if there is a church document that we can refer to to doublecheck if a priest/nun is in error, we can utilize it, but I don’t know if there is such a resource for MMA fighting (considering this is a sport that has only become mainstream in the past 15-20 years).What do you base your faith on, the infallible teaching of the Church or the personal opinion of your priest?
Let me toss you a scenario. Let us say that your priest comes back and says MMA is actually right, but really it is wrong. Does that mean you will not be sinning? Of course not, you would still be sinning, though you were mislead. Now let us say that it is actually right and your priest says it is wrong. If you disobeyed your priest would you be sinning? No, because you know he is wrong. And if you didn’t fight, you would be letting your team down.
My point is relying on whether the priest says it is right or not is good most of the time, but to make this the main means by which you decide what you do in every single aspect of your life is not a good idea because priests can be wrong. Some of the early Church Fathers were even wrong about some things (like the deuterocanon and whether souls exist before birth or not). The Church is infallible, not your priest. And your priest’s opinion does not encompass what the whole church believes about fighting sports, from what i picked up from all the other posts i read and even you remarked about. I think God brought you to this situation in order for you to further develop your moral compass. By just falling back on the priest and not knowing why, you do not develop your conscience.
Also…and i do mean also…remember that some people are, especially amongst the faithful in today’s lovey dovey liberal hippy war is always wrong no matter what society…for lack of a better word, prudes. They are overly prudent, meaning that although they learn what is wrong and right over time, they become so scrupulous that they start to put some things that are morally neutral into that “wrong” category. It has happened with alot of hardline Catholics i met. You see, since Christianity has met and debated with other religions, there are those who have saught comprimise. Hence you have mixed beliefs, some of which people have no idea of the origins of said beliefs (like thos who say that Jesus or John the Baptist was the last prophet of Christianity (even though revelations talks about two prophets during the end times) dispite that this is a comprimise with the Islamic belief that Mohammed was the last prophet, or those who say that War is always wrong no matter what as well as violence (even though this is borrowed more or less from Zen Buddhist thought, or stems from some protestant sects)). Alot is said, but not all is true. In essence you must learn to sift through the ****, cause there is alot of it out there.
To even partake in MMA you must be brave, so i am not doubting your bravery. But i have to wonder, is this really about morality or are you just nervous?
That is a capital idea.
Back in the “good old days” of seminary training, seminarians used to be taught boxing and football skills to get more stamina and be more outgoing and aggressive. I think it’s time to bring these sports back!
That might one way increase seminary enrollment, and I wonder if Quigley had a fotball team would it have stayed open?
Good call. That makes a lot of sense. That makes me ponder some of my thoughts leading up to my conversation with the priest. I really got an uneasy feeling when some of the guys were explaining to me that if I get in a full mount position I should pound his face. I showed them that I could get an arm bar just as quickly and get the submission, but they insisted that “ground and pound” was better because it’s easier and “more fun.” Like I said, that gave me an uneasy feeling like my “moral compass” was going through turbulence. I really have a ton of respect for these guys I train with, but that gave me a sour insight to their personality that didn’t sit well with me. So I guess this is what you mean by developing my moral compass?
Soooo true. I’ve been learning that for a while now! My cousins are Sedevecantists!
HAHA! No doubt I’m nervous!!! But I’d like to think that wouldn’t stop me from going through with it. I really do want to go in the cage. It gives me a goal to reach and a reason to train hard. It’s amazing how many people are willing to work with you and help you and give you advice once they know you’re for real. I’ve made some really awesome friendships these past few months, so there’s no way I could let them down because I’m nervous! But I would let them down in a heartbeat if it was the Will of God (or at least I’d like to think I would)To even partake in MMA you must be brave, so i am not doubting your bravery. But i have to wonder, is this really about morality or are you just nervous?
Thank you for the prayers and the saints. I didn’t know that about St. Sebastian. I know St. Michael is good. I recently prayed to him while we were doing one of our training exercises of pushing a car up a mild hill. Up to that point I hadn’t been able to push it to the finish line without some help. Before “go,” I asked St. Michael to push the car with me and I was able to push it for the first time without anyone helping! Since then I ask him to push with me every time.
That reminds me of my “good old days” when I was a kid, playing football with some of our Fraternity priests - always in full cassock. I thought it was so cool to get to tackle a priest! I doubt they would go for it now that us kids are more grown!
I see what you mean, but try looking at it this way. You are not pounding in the face of someone who is inexperienced and who you have had a minor misunderstanding with. You are pounding in the face of someone who knows that if he gets mounted his face will be pounded in. He knows its not personal, but you are doing it to win. Your bringing a fight to someone who knows what fighting is about, and knows that its a competition. However, i understand, and if all else fails, just use the arm bar. Your team mates are just trying to show you an easier way to win, but you don’t have to do it. Yes there are a few moves that seem cruel, but it does not mean that the whole sport is bad. And it may not have anything to do with their personality so much as the experience they’ve gained after countless fights, so try not to overly judge them. Try to take what they say with a grain of salt.
It’s those people who are concerned with human respect that our Lord will say…‘I have never known you, depart from me, you evil men’.
Okay. Point taken. Now lets compare the same scenario with something we know for sure is sinful. Pre-marital sex. Just because your partner knows what she is getting into does not make your own actions virtuous. So just because your opponent knows he could get mauled, does not necessarily mean that mauling him is okay.
So true. I believe that 100%.
And besides, they already KNOW I’m not a wimp!