American idols — talking about "patriotism," war for oil, Ten Commandments, NY Yankees, groupthink & more

In The Book of Daniel (chapter 3), it reads: 

King Nebuchadnezzar made an image of gold, sixty cubits high and six cubits wide, and set it up on the plain of Dura in the province of Babylon. He then summoned the satraps, prefects, governors, advisers, treasurers, judges, magistrates, and all the other provincial officials to come to the dedication of the image he had set up. 

Then the herald loudly proclaimed, “Nations and peoples of every language, this is what you are commanded to do: As soon as you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipe, and all kinds of music, you must fall down and worship the image of gold that King Nebuchadnezzar has set up. 

Whoever does not fall down and worship will immediately be thrown into a blazing furnace.

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Tragic, huh? Surely, only a freedom-hating, egomaniacal dictator would issue such an unenlightened decree — and only a deeply programmed/coerced populace would comply.

Right?

This got me thinking about the time, 20 years ago, when I went to a Yankee game at which they gave out free caps. “NY” on the front, of course, and a shiny patch on the back of the hat acknowledged the giveaway day sponsor: Hess. 

The House that Ruth Built became a living, breathing ad for the oil industry — with giant screen instant replays brought to you by Dodge.

The seventh-inning stretch, as usual, required fans to stand in honor of the “men and women in uniform” who fight to “preserve our way of life.”

Fifty thousand folks obediently removed their free caps, watched a digitized flag wave on the big screen, and held the Hess patch over their compromised hearts while belting out “God Bless America” — collectively choosing to ignore the barrels of blood being spilled in Iraq and Afghanistan at that moment to keep the world safe for petroleum. 

The Yankees won and many happy fans rushed out to drive home in their ubiquitous SUVs — adorned with the ubiquitous “support the troops” yellow ribbon sticker.

Surely I wasn't the only one contemplating this Neanderthal-level performance of conformity and “patriotism.” But just as surely, if I had articulated those feelings aloud, many of my fellow Yankee fans would have responded with overt hostility and threats of violence.

While I would not have been thrown into a blazing furnace, my point remains. We may scoff at the “primitives” who worship idols but… well, just take a good honest look around. 

With the recent news about the Ten Commandments, here’s a quick reminder of #1:

P.S. Click here to find out how things went when King Nebuchadnezzar tried to enforce his ill-advised directive.

NOTE: This post is about something far deeper than militarism or sports.

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