If you'll forgive me for infecting this blog with another story of a sportsman, this entry is actually, again, not in fact about sport. At least, not directly. Some of you may be aware that the position of England football manager is currently vacant, with a search under way for (preferably for many in England) an Englishman to fill the role.
Perhaps due to a dearth of suitable Englishmen, one name which has come up is a certain Glenn Hoddle, one of the finest footballers England has ever produced and a man who has in fact managed England before. He has been quoted as saying he's interested in doing the job again and has received support from some of the influential names within the game. A strongly religious man, he was dismissed from the role first time round because of the fall-out from an interview he gave to The Times newspaper, in which he said this:
"My beliefs have evolved in the last eight or nine years, that the spirit has to come back again, that is nothing new, that has been around for thousands of years. You have to come back to learn and face some of the things you have done, good and bad. There are too many injustices around... You and I have been physically given two hands and two legs and half-decent brains. Some people have not been born like that for a reason. The karma is working from another lifetime. I have nothing to hide about that. It is not only people with disabilities. What you sow, you have to reap... You have to look at things that happened in your life and ask why. It comes around."
(The ellipsis dots are mine. They're in there to show gaps where he went on for a bit but I have not edited out anything which would change the meaning of the words.)
He was, after a storm of criticism from all quarters (including then Prime Minister Tony Blair) sacked. He blustered and thundered, saying he'd been 'misinterpreted', 'misconstrued' but, tellingly, not misquoted. There was not much in the way of demurral at the time. But now there are, suddenly, plenty of people who in the last few days have been saying that his dismissal for non-football reasons was wrong (I even read one piece which described it as 'scandalous').
Do those who now support his appointment think he's 'served his time', perhaps? Or that he's done nothing wrong? This is the latest in an irritating trend where people are using religion to excuse statements or behaviour which would not be countenanced anywhere else. A recent example is the guest house in Marazion, successfully sued by a gay couple after its owners refused to allow them to stay there. Despite such actions by businesses being specifically outlawed, there was considerable sympathy for Peter and Hazelmary Bull, the owners in question, from Christians. Now it seems Glenn Hoddle is receiving similar sympathy, though for doubtless very different reasons. I realise his bizarre views are personal, and genuinely held, but all he had to do was keep his mouth shut, and he'd have kept hold of his job.
For me, what he said was absolutely outrageous and he should not be allowed near such a prestigious and influential job as the England management again. Religious belief should not be allowed to be used as a stick with which people can beat those who don't fit their holy book's ideals. Otherwise, why not let them get away with burning the heretics next door while they're at it? It is, again, an example of religious dogma not being flexible enough to move and reflect the society from which its flock is drawn.
The judge in the guest house case got it, for me, spot on. I hope the mandarins at the Football Association responsible for the selection of our new manager remember that Hoddle's views will not have changed merely because he hasn't been stupid enough to open his mouth again since – he hasn't recanted his theism or retracted what he said in that interview. Unless he at least does that, they cannot possibly give him the job again.
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