Olympic Slavery

Today the Olympic Games commenced.  Hope you didn't miss the US women's soccer squad come back from a 2-0 deficit against France to win 4-2.  If you thought that the games didn't start until Saturday, don't worry, I was confused too.  But thankfully I'm excited enough about the games that I've been checking the official website every morning for any new stories, and voile, I saw that there were a bunch of women's soccer matches today.

Coinciding with my Olympic excitement, though, is a dread in knowing that events like the Olympics attract huge numbers of sex slaves.  Now that "olympic" and "olympian" are synonyms for "grand" and "great," it's safe to say that the Olympics attract an olympic number of slaves.  Or something.

Perhaps it's only because my sensibilities are more finely tuned to slavery in recent years, but it seems to me that the public has become more aware of how much sex slavery these large events attract.  The 2010 World Cup in South Africa, and the Confederations Cup before that, brought with it news that hundreds and thousands of sex slaves would be transported in and around the soccer venues.  The most recent Superbowl, which I can not really talk about yet (Patriots fan), brought with it news that around 100,000 sex slaves were expected in Indianapolis for the weekend.  Not that the World Cup figures are not disconcerting, but the 100,000 for the Superbowl a few months ago should catch our eye: one weekend, one game, in the so-called civilized and freedom-loving United States of America, here in our country.  And just think, Lucas Oil Stadium, where the game was played, can't even hold that many fans...

Now, I haven't been close attention to CNN or newspapers or even Polaris Project lately as I take a lot of time to myself, so maybe that's why I haven't heard a similar report about the anticipated number of sex slaves to "treat" the London Olympians and fans.  But we all should be aware that thousands and thousands of sex slaves have been trafficked to the London area, and all other cities hosting any of the events (the Americans played in Glasgow, Scotland today), for the few weeks that we should be celebrating clean international competition, patriotism, and good sportsmanship.

Am I suggesting that we not enjoy the Olympic Games, knowing that the games are essentially sponsoring slavery?  Absolutely not.  I look forward to the Olympics like any other sport-lover.  My point is merely this: just as with the Penn State scandal, we have to learn how to temper our love for sports, action, comraderie, and whatever the heck else we enjoy about sports, with an unwavering moral center that upholds the lives of all other human beings.  After all, if the Olympics don't remind us Americans that we believe in everyone's right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, then this country has truly lost its way.