The crowds were loud. The wrestlers were colorful and there was often blood, but everyone knew it wasn't real. That's why I struggle with mixed martial arts. I know many people call it a sport. They admire the discipline, the training, and the courage it takes to step into the cage. I respect all of that. But unlike the wrestling I watched as a child, the injuries are real. The punches are real. The choking is real. The goal is to physically overpower and damage another human being.
We spend our lives teaching children not to hit. We tell them violence isn't the answer, yet we fill arenas and television screens with people cheering on as one person beats another one into submission. As a physician, I've spent my career trying to heal broken bodies. I simply can't find entertainment in watching people intentionally break one another.
Life matters, human dignity matters. I believe we're at our best when we celebrate what people can create, accomplish and build together, not how much pain they can inflict on someone else. This is Dr. Scott Morris for Church Health.
