“For Herod himself had sent men who arrested John, bound him, and put him in prison on
account of Herodias, his brother Philip’s wife, because Herod had married her. For John had
been telling Herod, ‘It is not lawful for you to have your brother’s wife.’ And Herodias had a
grudge against him, and wanted to kill him” (Mark 6:17)
We know the outcome. The daughter of Herodias would perform a sensual dance that ended in the decapitation of St. John the Baptist. Why did he stick his neck out? What prompted him to shout to heaven and the people that their king was an adulterer and perhaps even a pedophile? Noblesse oblige. Royalty has its obligations. The Windsor’s of England understand that reality, even as some of them balk at their responsibilities.
St. John the Baptist dared attack the royal family of his time, because they were by virtue of their office role models for all of their subjects. John imitated St. Elijah centuries earlier, who had condemned King Ahab and Queen Jezebel. Elijah condemned them for prostituting the Holy Land by defiling it with a false religion. Both the Baptist and Elijah insisted that virtue begins at the top of society. Humans are herd creatures. We are influenced by one another, especially by those in prominent places, even if we claim to be rugged individualists. The Bible demands purity, goodness, virtue and decency from those in high places. Indeed, the Lord either pours out or withholds His blessings on the land in accord with the behavior of the people, especially those in authority.
As it was then, so it is today. Our new royalty are athletes and performers. Idol worship is the proper term, for we make idols of our sports heroes and we worship them by lavishing upon them extravagant financial contracts, the most precious gifts a materialist society like ours holds dear. We throw more money at them that they will ever be able to spend in a lifetime. The theologian, Paul Tillich, widened the definition of religion: He said that religion is more than belief in God. Religion is whatever is a person’s ultimate concern. For so many, worship of the Lord is for Sunday morning, but the rest of the week is spent worshipping athletes. Our region, for example, has signed a basketball player just graduating from high school to a multi-million dollar contract. Add to that another ninety million dollars for endorsing sneakers. Then we wonder in the media if and how he will manage all that fawning adulation.
The stars don’t always handle the adoration well. Those who do go through college—whether or not they graduate is another matter—are treated with deference far surpassing mere respect. Like the royalty in the days of monarchy, they take for granted a right to have whatever they please. Between “want” and “take” is a thin space. Girls [assuming nearly all these worshipped athletes are male] should be honored in being singled out for “love” as it’s called, even for a fling.
This autumn our nation will be treated to another spectacle. The media have already begun the barrage of attention over the Kobe Bryant extravaganza. It’s a national game we play for our entertainment: First elevate a star into the stratosphere, and then watch him as he crashes down to earth. Or does he? Will he instead, like OJ, thwart the myrmidons of lesser creatures and remain above the crowd—resented, but free.
So what? Or to use another commonplace cliche, what’s the big deal? I can only remind you of the first commandment that the Lord gave to Moses:
“I am the Lord your God…you shall have no other gods before Me. You shall not make for yourself an idol…you shall not bow down to them or worship them” (Deuteronomy 5:6)