Rich Schrotenboer's Big Mistake + Olympics In China

8/13/08 RICH SCHROTENBOERS BIG MISTAKE,+ OLYMPICS IN CHINA = ……………..

8/13/08 RICH SCHROTENBOERS BIG MISTAKE,+ OLYMPICS IN CHINA RICH SCHROTENBOER’S BIG MISTAKE & WHY SUPPORTING THE OLYMPICS IN CHINA MAY BE OUR BEST BET FOR BETTER THINGS TO COME 1

FROM CHINA Like a lot of young Grand Rapids “Christian” kids growing up in the Christian schools and the Christian Reformed Church in the 80’s I went on from the Christian junior high school (Millbrook) to GRAND RAPIDS CHRISTIAN HIGH (GRCH) and being a football player the first teacher/coach I encountered was Rich Schrotenboer, who was the 10h grade football coach back in 1982-83. That first FOOTBALL season went fairly well ! For some reason Rich Schrotenboer looked favorably upon me as a football player. One thing I had working in my favor was the fact that I had PLAYED FOOTBALL already for several years, unlike many of the other 10th grade GRCH students. I started playing football in the recreation Rocket league with Mike Waalkes, a neighborhood friend. And I also had a GREAT ATTITUDE and was very thrilled to be playing football and wanted to win. GRCH has occasionally been called a “country club’ school with more emphasis on sports such as GOLF, SWIMMING, SKIING, & CROSS-COUNTRY, but maybe that has changed since I left GRCH. I don’t follow Grand Rapids news enough to know, but I noticed the EAGLES have had a few good seasons in football since I left. Anyways, for one season (10th grade football) everything was GREAT between myself and Rich Scrotenboer. Rich was a CLEAN-CUT fellow who also taught mathematics—GEOMETRY if I recall correctly, and probably ALGEBRA too, among other things. It was NOT until later that I also had Rich for math class. And even though my OLDER SISTER (SISSY-JULIE) had intense antipathy towards Rich Schrotenboer, I had NO HARD FEELINGS against him when I first arrived at GRCH. However, after the 10th grade freshman football season ended I tried out for 10th grade (freshman) basketball. 10th grade is “freshman” at GRCH, or it was when I was there. Maybe that has changed too, I don’t know. Back then the junior highs were 7th-9th and then you go on to high school. For some reason by the time 9th grade basketball TRYOUTS began, my attitude less positive. I am NOT sure what changed it, but one day I 2

showed up for basketball TRYOUTS wearing a SOUTHERN COMFORT t-shirt. It was my older brother Andrew’s shirt, and depicted a bottle of whiskey on it. Of course, in the Christian school, such shirts are not allowed. The fact is I am NOT even sure I was aware that I was wearing it, or if it just happened to be the only t-shirt in my athletic bag. But SCHROTENBOER pulled me aside after a TRYOUT PRACTICE and told me NOT to wear that shirt. I didn’t argue and he didn’t send me to the office or give me a detention. And I continued to show up for TRYOUTS but it was PROBABLY the CLINCHER in SCHROTENBOER’s decision to CUT me from the team. At the end of the tryouts SCHROTENBOER posted a LIST OF NAMES of who MADE THE TEAM, and if your name was NOT on it, it meant you were CUT. My name was NOT on the list. I walked out of the locker room without saying anything and tried to focus on the POSITIVE aspects of what this meant. The other reason I was doing LESS WELL in sports and perhaps part of my attitude decline was due to my poor eyesight. And back then contact lenses were not very well developed. My first pair were HARD CONTACTS and they were extremely irritating. I finally gave up on them and didn’t wear glasses either. This meant I did a LOT OF SQUINTING. Some people thought I was GLARING or STARING at them but the fact is, I was squinting because I could barely see without corrected vision. And so I left that day a little DOWNHEARTED. And it recently STRUCK ME—actually struck me today as I was reading about the OPENING OF THE OLYMPIC GAMES IN BEIJING , CHINA , and the decision of PRESIDENT BUSH to attend as well as the decision to downplay making the OLYMPICS into a political rally for human rights. BUSH has repeatedly emphasized that the OLYMPICS are an athletic event and has made a point of mentioning the problem of human rights abuses in China but has not tried to UPSTAGE the OLYMPICS with political pronouncements and posturing of that sort. And here is my SPECULATION as to why: Is it because PRESIDENT BUSH does not care about human rights ? I DON’T think so. Is it 3

because PRESIDENT BUSH is naïve and Pollyannaish and thinks that things might get better just by ignoring the problem ? I don’t think so. A President who is hard-headed enough to declare war and keep us fighting as long as we have now in Iraq is NOT naïve nor Pollyannaish. Bush knows there are problems in China. But he also knows that some things can work INDIRECTLY to improve a situation. He probably knows that CHINA leaders and the China style of government can be hard-headed too, and the MORE we DIRECTLY push on them to change their ways, it can sometimes have the EXACT OPPOSITE effect. However, with CHINA DEFINITELY EAGER to impress the world with their hospitality and with a beautiful OLYMPIC opening ceremonies and well-run infrastructure for the duration of the Olympic games, CHINA may gain momentary admiration and respect from much of the world. And IF SO, CHINA will for the first time feel what it is like to be TRULY ADMIRED AND LOVED by a majority of people, and not just grudgingly obeyed by their citizens under communist rule. And the fact that CHINA is eager to impress shows that CHINA is showing some civility and may be moving in the right direction in terms of how they treat people. If they can TREAT THE WORLD right, subsequently this may lead to treating their own people right in a roundabout way, over time. And so the MORE WE CHEER CHINA on in a positive way we may be MORE LIKELY to get positive results in terms of human rights as well. It’s called POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT! WE stop talking about the bad things they are doing and focus on the GOOD THINGS they are doing. It’s what I TRY TO DO when I am a substitute teacher and there is one or two bad apples in the classroom. I try to IGNORE the bad apples and applaud the good apples. Sometimes I get so distracted by the bad apples that I forget my policy, but I keep coming back to that focus, in general. Likewise, RICH SCROTENBOER may have made a general policy mistake over the years he was a coach at GRCH (and maybe he still is--, in fact I thought I noticed he is an athletic administrator at GRCH now) by focusing on negative points of student-athletes, rather than dwelling 4

on the positive potential and positive reinforcement. ON his behalf I have to say he did NOT dwell on my Southern Comfort t-shirt. He only mentioned it once and I never wore it again, but I believe he may have made a final decision to CUT me based on that alone. And there were a few others who also may have gotten the brunt of his anger because of a minor incident of one sort or another, some of it alcohol-related. At GRCH experimentation with alcohol usually begins around 10th grade. Kids start drinking beer at parties—usually not in a major way, but nonetheless it does happen. And this is NOT to say it should be completely tolerated or accepted but should it become a FELONY ? By the way, is there anything GOOD about drinking alcohol ? The BIBLE in places speaks of it is being acceptable. It does NOT applaud drunkenness or debaucher y BUT even JESUS CHRIST Himself drank some wine, and wine is still used in churches for HOLY COMMUNION. I , myself, to this day, only drink alcohol for the purpose of EUCHARIST with the BODY OF CHRIST. And GRCH is NOT a fundamentalist school such as the BAPTIST schools. GRCH comes from a REFORMED DUTCH CHRISTIAN TRADITION that is NOT fundamentalist meaning it does not CONDEMN use of alcohol as a black-and-white sin. Some theologians say that there are various issues about which GOD is indifferent, and that alcohol is one of those issues. There is drinking alcohol and then there is alcohol abuse. GOD is not indifferent to alcohol abuse, but HE may be in favor of the occasional sip of beer, wine, etc—ESPECIALLY, obviously FOR HOLY COMMUNION, but it can be used casually in a EUCHARISTIC manner as well. Drinking a beer with buddies can potentially be a form of Eucharist—IF DONE in the proper manner with the right attitude and state-of-mind. ALCOHOL can also help control the libido. And as a teen who doesn’t have a high libido? And they tell teens you CAN’T have sex until you’re an adult, and in the Christian schools not until you’re properly married. So what to do until then ? Sure, pray and ask for HOLY SPIRIT power, and focus on other things—SUBLIMATE sexual thoughts and desires, but what if the LIBIDO keeps acting up? You want the teens to start masturbating INSTEAD ? I DON’T ! I would rather have them control the libido through prayer, meditation, exercise, and YES, even an 5

occasional sip of beer or wine. The drinking age used to be 18. Now it is 21. And the PRIMARY reason it was changed was because of the problem of drinking and driving. And that is a GOOD REASON. But teens are still teens and libido is still libido, and HOLY COMMUNION is still HOLY COMMUNION and the facts-of-life are still the facts-of-life, and so I say, lets NOT make alcohol out to be a demon. Just like GUNS are not DEMONS in and of themselves, it is how they are handled. Rich Schrotenboer SEEMED to have a little more of the FUNDAMENTALIST in him than was normal for the GRCHREFORMED-CRC-CALVINIST tradition and may have wronged a few young athlete-students because of it. Take me—had he put me on the basketball team it would most definitely kept me PREOCCUPIED for the winter and definitely kept me interested in basketball as a sport and probably kept me trying to be a good citizen-student. Could I alone have gone against the flow of good sportsmanship had I MADE THE TEAM? Doubtful. Can CHINA go against the FLOW of being a good world citizen once that FLOW starts going like a tsunami ? DOUBTFUL. I think PRESIDENT BUSH is counting on China’s self-interest in being a good world ambassador for the OLYMPICS to become part of a “tsunami” of positive good-will which will SPILL OVER into the way China treats its own citizens and those of TIBET, etc. If RICH SCHROTENBOER had continued to nurture me despite wearing a stupid old Southern Comfort t-shirt who knows what might have happened ! of course maybe I became a better person in the long run because I was cut from the basketball team. ONLY GOD KNOWS, but I still think that SCHROTENBOER had the opportunity to make me a better person but CHOSE to punish me and cut me off instead, all because of a t-shirt with a bottle of whiskey on it. And for CHRISTIANS our decision to HELP people should not be based solely or always on REWARDING them for being good, but also even when they are BAD—not rewarding them but focusing on the positive they have done despite one negative or one foul. Couldn’t RICH SCHROTENBOER find anything good about me , or any positive 6

potential in me as a potential basketball player and teammate despite the t-shirt incident ? Didn’t I stick with the TRYOUTS and the warm-ups and the scrimmages, passing the ball like a team player from time to time ? Didn’t I make a few baskets ? Didn’t I show up 90% of the time in proper attire ? Didn’t I have any potential at all ? Doesn’t CHINA have any potential ? Should we PROTEST the OLYMPICS because 10 or 20% of what they do is NOT according to our standards ? Doesn’t the fact that they want to PUT ON THE OLYMPICS for the world to see show that they are at least trying and moving in the right direction and can be gently prodded towards doing better in the future ? Is there ANYBODY OUT THERE who is 100% perfect right now at this moment in time? What about the potential abuses of the USA at GUANTANAMO ? Is Rich Schrotenboer perfect because he does not drink (or does he only drink at home)? When Schrotenboer was a youngster did he ever drink? And if NOT does that make him perfect or imperfect? It would NOT be very Christian for a CHRISTIAN to never participate in Eucharist. And I believe that the ORIGINAL INTENT of JESUS CHRIST for HOLY COMMUNION was not simply in a HIGHLY CONTROLLED SETTING such as once a month in church (or less for some) and a tiny sip from a tiny cup of wine (or grape juice in some churches) but for the BODY & BLOOD to be a regular part of our “communion” with fellow Christians and potential Christians (the lost sheep). Yes, drinking should be done in a respectful manner, but NOT SO STERILE that we lose all camaraderie and brotherhood. The LAST SUPPER was not a matter of tiny little cups of wine or grape juice passed by elders and deacons staring down at us from the end of the aisles. It was MUCH more personable than that—and the focus was on brotherhood (& sisterhood) in Christ. Back to GRCH—we were raised to be PROTESTANT CHRISTIANS and yet CLEAR ANSWERS were not always given nor proper guidance always provided. We were told we are NOT Catholics AND that we are 7

part of the “Reformation” but for too many it was just pick-and-choose WHAT you want to believe or not believe. There was NO REAL UNITY, and ANYBODY could come to “Christian High” and say they are “Christian” –especially if you had a DUTCH NAME. But if there are NO FRUITS THEN ARE YOU TRULY A CHRISTIAN ? And does sipping alcohol prove you are NOT a Christian or that you ARE a Christian. I am NOT talking about alcohol abuse. LEGALISM is a sin too. Not allowing for TRANSCENDENCE is a sin of omission. You can be TOO LEGALISTIC in the way you teach or coach, and not allow for transcendence. Here in AMERICA we like to wag our fingers at the rest of the world and speak of the abuses they commit, but we must also LOOK in the mirror sometimes. We too committed the SIN OF SLAVERY for many years here in the USA. And so while we try to improve the rest of the world we should also think about how to do so while SAVING FACE. In China, SAVING FACE is a concept that is very important to them. To DISHONOR SOMEBODY or embarrass them IS A SIN of sort. Likewise, we could LEARN from the CHINESE (or Asians in general) in this regard about the importance of honoring others –maybe even a slight bow of respect towards each other when we greet them. And we can learn about respecting the need of one person to sip a little wine at times to control his anger or libido or whatever while another person doesn’t need alcohol but controls himself in other ways. There’s NO FORMULA for right or wrong, and just because our legislature made a drinking age BY LAW does that mean they have the WISDOM OF SOLOMON or that the law was ordained by GOD ? We MUST REMEMBER that the way of the world is NOT always the way GOD intended it to be. Our legislators make mistakes. Our judges make mistakes. Our police make mistakes. Society goes in the wrong direction. And so it goes. When the ways of the world CREEP into the ways of our Christian fellowship it may mean simply that the Christians are being led astray. We must FIGHT AGAINST that tendency. Lets be POSITIVE AND LEAD POSITIVELY. Don’t fall into the errors of the world. VANDER KOK JOHN THE EVANGELIST

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