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The Forum > Article Comments > Stoicism and the Invictus Games > Comments

Stoicism and the Invictus Games : Comments

By Peter Sellick, published 17/12/2018

My problem with the poem is that it is an example of stoicism, the idea that the adept will be immune to suffering and that virtue is sufficient for happiness.

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Sorry, but the Invictus Games, para-Olymics etc. are just feel-good exercises for someone or other. Greatest empathy for the disabled and all that but, just like women's cricket and women's AFL not worth watching and not a patch on the real thing. Not something we need to be bombarded with on TV.
Posted by ttbn, Monday, 17 December 2018 10:44:44 AM
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I liked it enormously, because unlike ttbn and his no human empathy ilk. Know just how much guts, sheer willpower and determination is required to come back from a serious disabling injury.

People just like ttbn who probably never ever carried life-changing or crippling injury would very likely scream like little babes at the sig >cause God knows, I wouldn't? Alan< t of a needle let alone five times, fractured spine.

The games were very special and a place for our wounded heroes to get back some of their lost self-esteem and if those on the far right haven't enough normal human empathy to appreciate that or value the sacrifice these folk have made for them and their continuing freedom?

Better off without them! ttbn and ilk, just useless baggage who would sell everything not nailed down to improve their own financial position?

With the usual, I'm OK jack the rest of you can just go visit the nearest taxidermist, and you're mugs for putting anyone else first! Alan B.

P.S. This contribution edited and corrected by Grammarly. and I'm leaving as they changed it as I was typing, so everyone can see what there is to recommend it The misplaced sentence superimposed, by Grammarly, on already written text, identified with > <.
Posted by Alan B., Monday, 17 December 2018 3:01:23 PM
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Methinks Invictus generally has a definite positive secular approach. And from Prince Harry, the ex-soldier, a martial tinge. Keepa da religion outta it, Aye!

What I'm trying to say is that most Invictus participants didn't seem to be blighted by that ever present curse of the God Botherers. I speak of RELIGION, my son.

For those so cursed with religion, yee be sentenced to watch endless reruns of The Handmaid's Tale at SBS OnDemand. Enjoy this handy Glossary for the Godsmacked http://www.cosmopolitan.com/entertainment/tv/a9549965/the-handmaids-tale-terms-glossary/

Blessed Be (not)
Posted by plantagenet, Monday, 17 December 2018 5:30:16 PM
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//Sorry, but the Invictus Games, para-Olymics etc. are just feel-good exercises for someone or other.//

I disagree. I consider it far more impressive that the world record for the longest archery shot under World Archery standards is held by one Matt Stutzman, who was born without arms. Appendages that are generally considered somewhat essential in the sport of archery... and Stutzman can shoot better with his feet than able-bodied archers can with their arms. Look him up on youtube. It makes for much better television than watching a pack of drongos chase a ball around a paddock for an hour with occasional breaks to hug each other.
Posted by Toni Lavis, Monday, 17 December 2018 7:36:42 PM
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The Invictus Games symbolises the determination of those who will not allow others to dictate their attitude to living.
An important relevance is made by Henley when he writes: "I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul".
This remark is a truism that confirms that nobody outside of oneself has any control over the outcomes of ones thoughts, words, or actions.
Religion, while being a rallying point for the study of morality and ethics, relies on the obedience to some imaginary supernatural being who must be obeyed.
It is faith-based, with all the power over behaviour which fervent personal commitment can achieve, yet religion is also a power-centred structure whose hierarchy uses the faith and belief of followers to reinforce compliance with the edicts of conformity.

The Invictus Games are anything but conformist - they are an occasion for personal striving and willpower to overcome the physical or mental restrictions of battle experience. They are a goal worth attempting and demonstrate that reliance on oneself brings results which flow from personal endeavour, not the munificence of some imagined being.

Peter's religion has among its memorable tenets the saying "as ye sow, so shall ye reap".
Karma.
Posted by Ponder, Monday, 17 December 2018 10:46:47 PM
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