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There's a Difference Between Sacrifice and Stupidity by Roger Young Much was written recently of the decision by football player Pat Tillman to spurn a multi-million dollar contract offer from the NFL’s Arizona Cardinals to pursue a new career as an Army Ranger. Numerous columnists gushed over and praised Tillman’s gesture with such platitudes as “awe-inspiring.” They characterized it as an act of “selflessness and loyalty,” while describing him as a “breath of fresh air” and “a role model.” Thanks to a July 14, 2002 column by Dallas Morning News sports columnist Kevin Blackstone, “Heart Not in NBA, But in Right Places,” (you’ll have to go through their archive to find the column) I’ve learned that a similar decision was made by a young professional athlete back in 1996, but without the hype and fanfare provided Mr. Tillman. An NBA rookie by the name of Marcus Mann was just about to play in his first professional basketball game with the Golden State Warriors. He wasn’t making the millions that Pat Tillman was offered, but the league minimum salary of $220,000 was quite an improvement over the meager beginnings Marcus had playing college ball at tiny Mississippi Valley State. Mann decided that his place in life was to help kids in Mississippi rather than being a sports star. He’s now back working in his hometown at Walnut Grove Youth Correctional facility, a private prison for 13-20 year olds. "I get happy seeing someone else happy," Mann explained. "And I've always been drawn to kids. If someone doesn't take time out with these kids, then what? They've never had someone care about them, encourage them, tell them they can be somebody. Like the Bible says, 'What a man thinketh, he is.' " Marcus was convinced a couple years later to attempt a comeback in basketball, but he blew out his knee in just the second game playing in the CBA. “I knew all along what God had in store for me," he claimed. "Basketball was my avenue. It opened up doors for me to work with kids. That's why God blessed me with this gift to play basketball." In his column Blackstone attempts to compare the alleged noble actions of both players and sees a similarity between the two. He perceives that both are following their “heartfelt desire” and “serving their country.” Though both players decisions are technically sacrificial, the motivation behind and the ensuing path followed shows a marked contrast. Mann gave up a lucrative occupation providing people entertainment with his basketball skills to serve others in a much less lucrative way--helping troubled youth. Add to this fact that he is pursing this work in a private prison, no less, where the success of his work will be monitored by the discipline of the marketplace. Tillman, meanwhile, gave up an equally productive pursuit to follow a path of useless destruction--serving his government in the defense and expansion of the American Empire. There, his actions will be absolute and unaccountable. Mann will be blessing young people with his knowledge and experience. Tillman will be under orders to kill anyone deemed “the enemy,” including children. One party is serving others, showing them how to live productive, moral lives as individuals. The other serves an omnipresent State whose only interest is maintaining the collective. Mann’s decision represents the logical deliberations of an individualist exhibiting clarity of thought. Tillman’s choice depicts an insecure conformist fooled by the notion that there is nobility in service to The State. The actions of only one party, Marcus Mann, illustrates maturity. The actions of the other, Pat Tillman, demonstrates a psyche still immersed in childhood fantasies, chasing bad guys and boogie men. Mann’s life record will be a legacy of growth and development for himself and others. He’ll be credited by history for a positive effort, no matter the actual results. Tillman’s life journey will document the foolishness of force, coercion, carnage and genocide. He will share the blame with his superiors for the imbecilic belief that war creates anything more than the germinating seeds of more war. C. S. Lewis observed, “The rescue of drowning men is a duty worth dying for, but not worth living for. It seems to me that all political duties (among which I include military duties) are of this kind. A man may have to die for our country; but no man must, in any exclusive sense, live for his country. He who surrenders himself without reservation to the temporal claims of a nation, or a party, or a class is rendering to Caesar that which, of all things, most emphatically belong to God; himself.” Marcus Mann is living a life that reasoned forethought has deduced to be the path to follow for a happy existence. By doing this, he has made the conscious decision not to live (or die) for his country but rather serve it. Pat Tillman has jumped into a tenuous and dangerous situation in which one yields a precious freedom: self-determination. Any value the uniqueness of his creation may have is swallowed, digested and vomited by a rampaging, voracious, colossal Leviathan. I am reminded of lyrics in the gospel song "Amazing Grace": "I once was lost but now am found." Mr. Mann has thankfully "found" his calling in life. Mr. Tillman is just plain "lost."
discuss this column in the forum Roger Young is a freelance photographer in Texas and maintains a website called PixelPrairie.com. He believes that being a Christian, creationist and anarchist are three of the most rational decisions a person can make. |
