Pastor David Rietveld isn’t against Good Friday footy, he just wants the day acknowledged
This article was originally published in The Mercury Newspaper (Tasmania). The article can be found at https://www.themercury.com.au/news/tasmania/pastor-david-rietveld-isnt-against-good-friday-footy-he-just-wants-the-day-acknowledged/news-story/88b3c43bd607b44989e81fe44d29e421.
An open letter to Gillon McLachlan:
This year we will finally get a game of AFL on Good Friday. The Roos will host the Dogs today at Etihad Sadium.
Speaking not only as a lover of all things sport, but also as a Pastor of a church, I say I’m neither surprised nor offended.
The days of Sundays as a “sacred” day of rest where our entire culture slows down have long gone.
For better or worse. Footy on Good Friday is just the next logical step. Attempting to replicate the success of the Anzac Day game makes for an even more compelling argument.
That explains why I am not surprised, but why not offended? As I see things, Australia is no longer exclusively a Christian country, nor are we exclusively secular. Rather, we are pluralist.
In line with our celebration of multiculturalism, we are, and need even more so to become, a country that not just tolerates, but welcomes the best of every faith. And footy is the unofficial religion of many.
It is! The MCG is our cathedral. Game day is our new day of worship. The likes of Buddy (Franklin) and Paddy (Dangerfield) are our new gods (or idols, depending on your perspective).
After “what’s your name”, footy fans ask each other “who do you barrack for?” Eddie McGuire and co are the TV evangelists. All of this makes Gillon McLachlan our high priest.
And I am OK with that. In a pluralist society I look for Muslims, Buddhists, atheists, agnostics, epicureans (their belief: who knows what happens after we die, so let’s enjoy gourmet food now) and the AFL fraternity to bring their best to the common table.
What is more, the AFL knows this. They now coach players to be “role models”.
We celebrate ethnic diversity — the Italian Silvagnis, the Greek Zaharakis, and now the Asian Lin Jong and the Sudanese Aliir Aliir.
When there is racism, our high priest comes out and announces this as “sin”, the tribunal hands out “penance” — and so they should. As a public religion, the AFL has a role to play in modelling and upholding our best values.
Pastor David Rietveld
But it goes further than this. Think about the Anzac Day game. This too is about more than just a game, or ratings, or money. It is about reinforcing the core Australian value of mateship. The Anzac Day pregame ritual is public liturgy that reaffirms our commitment to mateship as a core footy and Australian value.
All of this explains why we were so dirty on Gary Lyon. Not because he had an extramarital affair. Not because he cheated on his wife. But because he cheated on his mate — Billy Brownless. Lyon broke the moral code that his sporting code espouses — and Australians don’t like hypocrisy.
So here is my challenge to Gillon McLachlan. By all means — let’s have a Good Friday game. But why don’t we mirror the Anzac Day game, and evolve a pregame ritual that affirms another great Australian value — heroes that put others first, that are self-sacrificial. It is another core footy value. We love players who take one for the team, who shepherd, who provide decoy leads — it’s all part of our game.
And where does this value of self-sacrifice come from? From our Christian heritage. From Jesus, and the Easter story.
It comes from a Jesus who willingly gives up his life for others. This Australian virtue, though, is not unique to us. It comes from our Christian heritage. And it is now woven into the fabric of Australian (and Australian rules) culture.
Part of being a mature, diverse Australia is learning to celebrate the best of our past, and reaffirm its place in our pluralist present. Part of being a high priest of a high-profile public religion is retelling our stories that affirm our best values.
Gillon, I invite you to meet me, and a couple of AFL chaplain mates of mine — the guys who were there for the footy community when Adelaide coach Phil Walsh died — and see if we can’t evolve a Good Friday tradition that celebrates the virtue of putting others’ needs before our own one day in April.