March 15 Film and Concussion
Good Morning and Welcome to this week’s Gospel and Culture update, by Alan Vink
March 15 Film and Concussion
Monday 14th June, 2021
The story of March 15 needs to be told on the big screen. But not like this
POV. I was disappointed to hear the news about this proposed movie last week. I was encouraged to hear that our PM said over the weekend that ‘this is not her story’. And she’s right of course. In saying that I am in no way want to understate the outstanding response she made……it was stunning in every way…..but it’s not her story. It’s the story of a community of people who were at worship. There they were unarmed and defenceless, as 51 were slaughtered in an act of supreme ethno-fascist hate. These people were killed because of their faith and their race. By a killer who couldn’t bear to be served by people of colour, and took his mother and her partner to another café where they could be served by white people.
I agree with Anjum Rahman 100% when she wrote last week “The story of this tragedy must be told in film. There is much to be brought to public attention around the demonisation of a community, the rise of white supremacy, the impact of viral disinformation campaigns, and how these led to the kind of radicalisation where 51 people lost their lives in a meticulous planned act of cold-blooded execution”
As Christians we believe in freedom of religion. That is exactly what was going on that fateful Friday afternoon in 2019 and I believe we should once again stand with our Muslim neighbours insisting that an appropriate story be brought to the silver screen. How could this act of terror possibly have happened in New Zealand of all places?
World Rugby facing concussion lawsuit
POV. I have for most of my adult lifetime been worried about contact sports and repeated brain injuries. I was informed of this by some very basic study of the brain back in the 70’s while studying human development, and my wife quoting one of her lecturers during her nursing training, a neurologist, who said candidly that no son of his would be playing rugby. Now it looks like the pigeons have come home to roost.
Surely common sense should prevail. When any other part of your body gets a severe knock, a bruise will be the result. Your leg or arm has an internal injury evidenced by bruising. It hurts, right? An occasional bruise in the same spot probably won’t cause any permanent damage but repeated bruising will. A concussion is a mild brain injury. It happens when a bump, blow or shake to your head or body causes your brain to shake inside your skull. We know that the brain is remarkable in it’s ability to heal itself (brain plasticity) but with repeated knocks a person is at risk of permanent brain injury that some scientists are now saying can lead to diseases of the brain like early onset dementia.
As Christians we hold to the view that our bodies are the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit and therefore we are careful how we treat our bodies as 1 Corinthians 6:12-18 teaches. This therefore must apply to contact sports especially where there is speed and weight involved. All activities have some risk associated to them of course that’s true but what is the level of risk? What is the risk of serious damage? We all know that in the case of rugby it is very high. So why has this issue not been addressed assertively years and years ago?
Next Sunday night on the Sunday Programme at 7.30pm on TV 1 there will be an expose about this issue. It’s time!. In the meantime you may like to read these two articles here and here.
Alan Vink is currently the Executive Director for LeadershipWorx. Prior to this role he has been the Executive Director of Willow Creek Association NZ (WillowNZ), a Baptist pastor (23 years), Bible College teacher, and church consultant.
