Rugby Overtakes God, Church Services Canceled

[TheCarolinaScotsman]

God gives way to Grand Slam All Blacks in New Zealand churchWed Oct 26, 8:02 PM ET

Rugby is arguably one of New Zealand's most popular religions and it at least one church agrees, with Sunday services scrapped next month in favour of watching the All Blacks on their Grand Slam tour of Britain and Ireland.

"A lot of people are going to watch the All Black games on Sunday morning, so we figured if we can't beat 'em, join 'em," said Pastor Russell Embling at the Greerton Bible Church in the North Island coastal town of Tauranga.

Embling said Thursday he would be placing a big screen television in his church for his congregation to watch the rugby and church goers will have the option of attending a Friday evening service instead.

The Grand Slam -- in which the All Blacks go head-to-head with Wales, Ireland, England and Scotland -- was last attempted in 1983 and last achieved by Graham Mourie's 1978 team.

While the four-Test tour of Britain and Ireland was a rare event for New Zealand, Embling admitted cancelling a service was pretty much unheard of among churches.

"We have never done anything like this before in terms of shifting our Sunday service to make way for anything -- let alone the rugby."

[Dreamer1]

Oh my.

[Kiltedbiker]

You makes your choices, you takes your chances.

Thou shalt have no other gods before me. - Exodus 20:3

I have never understood why people would place that much importance on a game. That is all it is, a game.

In the larger scheme of things it means nothing. It is something that occupies your time. You only have so many ticks of the clock from the moment that you're conceived and you choose to spend it focused on somethng that means nothing when it is all said and done. That was time that you could have spent with your family or helping your church. You could have been teaching someone to read or learning something that would expand your world.

And then there is the rioting at sporting events. Dare I even approach this one?
A public flogging for the one that started the riot then all of those that participated it the riot.