Alex Baumann (WARNING: this post is all over the map!)

A recent article (read: ploy) by the CBC to get people discussing the Olympics was a forum on who is the better athlete: Usain Bolt or Michael Phelps? I think both are fantastic athletes, and I see no reason to compare apples and oranges. I will, however, say that I am more partial to swimming than track (although I love running). I have been ever since I watched my first Olympics -- the heavily boycotted Los Angeles games of 1984. In one of my first memories, I watched Alex Baumann win two gold medals in world record time in the 200m and 400m IM (Individual Medley - you have to swim all four strokes - back, breast, fly, free). Baumann was my first athletic hero, and the image that prompted me to learn to swim, and become a lifeguard. I comtemplate becoming a competitive swimmer about every four years thanks to him as well.

For that or some other reason, I've always loved the Olympics. I don't have cable TV, and I've been away on vacation, so I have seen very little of the coverage (despite streaming internet video!). I did happen to catch one of the commercials that the Olympics themselves put out about these athletes being the best of us.

I'm not so sure.

I wonder if the elevation of the human body to the pinnacle of beauty isn't really a symptom of the greatest problem that we as humans face. Exalting creation beauty over Creator is the sin that got Satan kicked out of heaven, and Adam and Eve booted out of Eden. It is the mindset that gives human physicality, sexuality and pleasure the revered position, the primacy and the urgency in society that it currently has. Our culture would say: "Get sex. Get it often. Get it at any price. Forget relationships or commitment. Sex is better."

Interesting, then, to hear that teenage girls are having less sex, and using more condoms. At least in Canada. Maybe, the whole Abstinence or bust program isn't the best way to tackle this issue. We haven't had many abstinence programs in Canada, and this is working. What I hope we have, is self-worth programs. I hope these stats show that girls are beginning to understand the value of their self and their bodies as a part of that self. That's my kind of feminism!