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| | == Objectionable Super Bowl shows == | | == Objectionable Super Bowl shows == |
| − | In 2017, [[Lady Gaga]] sang for the Super Bowl halftime show. Lady Gaga is also known for her political activism, particularly with Hillary Clinton, [[immigration]], HIV/AIDS, and homosexual "rights". | + | In 2017, [[Lady Gaga]] sang for the Super Bowl halftime show. Lady Gaga is also known for her political activism, particularly with [[Hillary Clinton]], [[immigration]], HIV/AIDS, and homosexual "rights". |
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| | In 2015, the Super Bowl halftime show featured in nearly every performance the pro-[[homosexual]] activist Katy Perry. She became popular among liberals for her pro-lesbian song in 2008, and is an outspoken supporter of homosexual "rights". | | In 2015, the Super Bowl halftime show featured in nearly every performance the pro-[[homosexual]] activist Katy Perry. She became popular among liberals for her pro-lesbian song in 2008, and is an outspoken supporter of homosexual "rights". |
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| | == Gambling == | | == Gambling == |
| − | The Super Bowl halftime show features bizarre symbolism that has been associated with the occult and/or [[gambling]]. Beginning in 2012, the NFL began allowing casino advertisements at stadiums during games<ref>http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/04/12/nfl-lifts-ban-on-casino-ads-for-two-years/</ref>; Since then, online sports betting sites have regularly advertised during NFL games (which then caused the NFL to add more advertisements warning about problem gambling), and one stadium has awarded naming rights to an online betting site (the Superdome in [[New Orleans]], which was then named '''Caesar's Superdome''). | + | The Super Bowl halftime show features bizarre symbolism that has been associated with the occult and/or [[gambling]]. Beginning in 2012, the NFL began allowing casino advertisements at stadiums during games;<ref>http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/04/12/nfl-lifts-ban-on-casino-ads-for-two-years/</ref> since then, online sports betting sites have regularly advertised during NFL games (which then caused the NFL to add more advertisements warning about problem gambling), and one stadium has awarded naming rights to an online betting site (the Superdome in [[New Orleans]], which was then named '''Caesar's Superdome''). |
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| − | The NFL allows ESPN to publicize point-spreads that encourage gambling, while the NFL publicly pretends to oppose betting on its games. The Super Bowl is the basis of more gambling than any other event, and the NFL profits from that through increased viewership. | + | The NFL allows ESPN to publicize point spreads that encourage gambling, while the NFL publicly pretends to oppose betting on its games. The Super Bowl is the basis of more gambling than any other event, and the NFL profits from that through increased viewership. |
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| − | The gambling drives television viewership up, while actual attendance by fans at football stadiums has generally not grown. With the NFL's exclusion of Tebow—who is very popular with fans at stadiums—the NFL may be saying that genuine fans (as opposed to gamblers and television viewers) don't really matter to the NFL's business model.
| + | [[Gambling]] drives television viewership up, while actual attendance at football stadiums has generally not grown. With the NFL's exclusion of Tebow—who is very popular with fans at stadiums—the NFL may be saying that genuine fans (as opposed to gamblers and television viewers) don't really matter to the NFL's business model. |
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| | === Christian position === | | === Christian position === |
| − | The Catechism of the Catholic Church does not address whether gambling violates the First Commandment against idolatry (gamblers worship uncertainty and fall prey to superstition).<ref>http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p3s2c1a1.htm</ref> The Catholic Church has stated that gambling becomes morally unacceptable when it deprives someone of what is necessary to provide for his needs and those of others. The passion for gambling then risks becoming an enslavement.<ref>[http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p3s2c2a7.htm Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 2413]</ref> The early church excommunicated people for gambling, and theologians today generally consider gambling to be morally licit under certain conditions.<ref>http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06375b.htm</ref> (It should be noted, though, that [[New Orleans]], located in heavily-Catholic south Louisiana, reached a naming rights agreement with Caesar's Sportsbook to rename the New Orleans Saints home stadium "Caesar's Superdome".) | + | The Catechism of the Catholic Church does not address whether gambling violates the First Commandment against idolatry (gamblers worship uncertainty and fall prey to superstition).<ref>http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p3s2c1a1.htm</ref> The Catholic Church has stated that gambling becomes morally unacceptable when it deprives someone of what is necessary to provide for his needs and those of others. The passion for gambling then risks becoming an enslavement.<ref>[http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p3s2c2a7.htm Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraph 2413]</ref> The early church excommunicated people for gambling, and theologians today generally consider gambling to be morally licit under certain conditions.<ref>http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06375b.htm</ref> (It should be noted, though, that [[New Orleans]], located in heavily Catholic South Louisiana, reached a naming rights agreement with Caesars Sportsbook to rename the New Orleans Saints home stadium "Caesar's Superdome".) |
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| | Among Protestants, fundamentalists are the most stringent opponents of gambling, believing it to be wrong in all cases. Evangelicals and Pentecostals/charismatics have generally opposed it as well, though not as stringently as fundamentalists. Mainline Protestants—consistent with their generally liberal theology—generally have only provided opposition from a secular standpoint (such as quoting studies showing its ill effects on society). | | Among Protestants, fundamentalists are the most stringent opponents of gambling, believing it to be wrong in all cases. Evangelicals and Pentecostals/charismatics have generally opposed it as well, though not as stringently as fundamentalists. Mainline Protestants—consistent with their generally liberal theology—generally have only provided opposition from a secular standpoint (such as quoting studies showing its ill effects on society). |