WHAT SHOULD BE THE CHRISTIAN VIEW POINT OF STEROIDS IN SPORTS? Part three

Sylvester Stallone, 61, has stated publicly that he took human growth hormone and testosterone, substances that supposedly promote a lean, muscular body. (USA Today February 2008) A new movie RAMBO coming this month.

But doctors and scientists who study these potent hormones say Stallone may be playing with more fire power than even John James RAMBO can handle. or Rocky Balboa

• In popular culture, the name Rambo has become an eponym for a tactic of military aggression or, alternatively, a person demonstrating heroism through extreme violence, especially when outnumbered. However, the term can also be used somewhat derogatorily to describe someone who thoughtlessly charges into a fight with no rregard for personal safety or careful planning. This term is commonly referred to as "Going Rambo"ular culture (or pop culture) can be deemed as what is popular within the social context - that of which is most strongly represented by what is perceived to be popularly accepted among society

Within the Christian community, we live within the society that surrounds us. Often what society deems popular becomes the norm for Christians. Think for a moment what society was doing twenty years ago, that they no longer deem popular to do? Think again for a moment and ask, what do Christians do today that is deemed wrong twenty or thirty years ago, but is okay today? Then ask yourselves, did society set the standards, or did Christains set the standards or is there bibical gounds for the standards?

• For example: Today in our society, men can wear ear rings (again) Generally our society doesn't even thinking about this. Women can percies their skin in just about any place and place a ring there. Today divorce is no longer looked as a major factor in our lives. Marriage seems less important than a few years ago. Attending a local church seems less importance. The list could continue.

The Biblical Worldview is even different from the Christian worldview. A Christian today has many viewpoints different from one another. Even the difinition of the term Christian has changed.

-

Worldviews embrace the world as it exists in one's time, but only in relation to how the world is pictured by this or that person, this or that community or institution, tainted by possible agenda. A religious worldview can not only describe the beliefs and agenda of a group, but the style and tone of that worldview can reflect a general emotional state of those who speak for that group.

-

Now this leads me finally to the subject of steroids in sports in this post today.

--
As we have shown in the last several post, often people set the viewpoint about a certain view. In our subject the use of steroids in sports, in the entertainment field, etc.

-
Popular culture (or pop culture) can be deemed as what is popular within the social context - that which is most strongly represented by what is perceived to be popularly accepted among society.

• Otherwise, popular culture is also suggested to be the widespread cultural elements in any given society that are perpetuated through that society's vernacular language or lingua franca.
  

• It comprises the daily interactions, needs and desires and cultural 'moments' that make up the everyday lives of the mainstream. It can include any number of practices, including those pertaining to cooking, clothing, consumption, mass media and the many facets of entertainment such as sports and literature. (Compare meme.)
  

• Popular culture often contrasts with a more exclusive, even elitist "high culture," that is, the culture of ruling social groups. The earliest use of "popular" in English was during the fifteenth century in law and politics, meaning "low", "base", "vulgar", and "of the common people" till the late eighteenth century by which time it began to mean "widespread" and gain in positive connotation. (Williams 1985) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Popular_culture

As I said in yesterday’s post, wrestling has shown the pop culture of our day. When Eric (my oldest son) and I went to pro wrestling in the early 80's in Coffeyville, Kansas, in a Jr Hi gym, there was no cussing, and no vulgar language, no drinking. Later in the late 80's there was an amazing change. The wrestlers were getting bigger and the crowds were getting vulgar in their language.

Athletes and bodybuilders were getting bigger

^
Growth hormone stimulates growth and cell reproduction. It is produced in the pituitary glands, the pea-sized "master gland" that sits at the base of the brain. It has been popular in recent years with bodybuilders (as we have stated) and athletes because they believe it will increase muscle mass, decrease fat and allow them to more quickly recuperate after punishing workouts.

-
What was first a useful drug, now has been abused: How?
-

What Dr. Ziegler developed, with the help of the Ciba pharmaceutical company was called "Methandrostenolone" or Dianabol. This was the creation of the first anabolic steroid that wasn’t simply testosterone. That was late in 1956. By the time the early 1960s rolled around, Ziegler’s weightlifters were dominating American weightlifting. And since then, many different steroids, each with their own different set of characteristics, have been developed

-
Of course, there have been other documented instances of athletes taking various drugs and other substances in an attempt to enhance their performance. Thomas Hicks, an American marathoner in the 1904 Olympics, had to be revived after he drank Brandy laced with cocaine and strychnine. He won the gold medal, although I believe the Brandy/Cocaine/Strychnine cocktail never really took off in popularity among his fellow athletes. His fellow runners, the sprinters attempted to use nitroglycerine a couple of decades later, to dilate (expand) their coronary arteries; they later switched to experimenting with Benzidrine, an amphetamine.

• So what am I saying, to attempt to enhance performance didn’t just happen in the last twenty years. And it’s been known for more than fifty years. So why are we just now beginning to say it’s wrong?
  



• Many such compounds had been used, but none are as powerful or provided such rapid increases in strength and powerful as anabolic steroids. For this reason, after its invention by Dr.Ziegler, Dianabol was quickly made available to anyone looking for an extra edge. It helped many bodybuilders, weightlifters, football players, and Olympic athletes train harder, longer, and more efficiently. As all steroids can do, it enhanced protein synthesis and allowed new muscle to be built at a rate that was much more rapid than would otherwise be possible. And that increased muscle power and strength translated into financial rewards for the athletes who were taking them
  -