1.- Hietanen, how is everything a sports player does an act of gambling? Does a baseball player commit a mortal sin for gambling every time he swings at a pitch? Is that really gambling?
An athlete probably knows that people are putting bets on him and on his team. He are thus himself a part of the gambling results and their pay outcome. The better the player/team is, the more is he worth less for the gamblers, since their pay outcome is less. If the best player is wounded, the gambling winning prize may increase since the team is not now as strong as it would be, etc. As we can see, everything revolves around the players in regards to gambling.
The athletes probably understands that people are gambling on their sporting activities, on their injuries and their achievements, etc. which they themselves are the cause of existing.
This athlete helps not only the gambling to exist, but he is also a part of the other mortal sins that gambling may lead people into, such as ѕυιcιdє, despair, wrath, sloth and the always mortally sinful practice of excess gambling (wasting money, throwing away money on nothing when people starve; we don't own out own money, God owns them!, we only own what we lawfully need, everything else belong to our neighbor!).
It's a fact that these players are the cause of that the mortal sin of sports-gambling even exist to begin with, thats the first problem. The second problem is that they also have an income because of it, and they know about it, thats the second problem. So, when being aware of these facts, the only moral thing for a person who fears God to do, is to disapprove of it and renounce it and no longer help in the cause of this sin to exist. If he can do it, but refuses, he is in fact approving of it by his continual deed of playing.
It does not matter if a politician says he is against abortion, but by his action or silence actually helps the cause of allowing or spreading abortion. This politician would be even more culpable by his silence the more he knew of the other sins this sin of abortion lead people into committing, such as adultery, fornication, etc. If the politician really was against abortion a,d the other sins it lead people into committing, he would do everything to prevent it.
Likewise, these players are guilty of all the other sins taking place around the arena (cheerleaders, bad commercials on the field, Sabbath breaking, etc.) and all the possible sins these sins might lead people into committing, such as the mortal sin of lust, the mortal sin of masturbation, the mortal sin of adultery or the mortal sin of fornication.
There is clearly no excuse for such behavior, and if they continue to be a part of what they know and see constitutes mortal sins for millions of people! They will have no excuse at all, and neither will all those who agrees with them or enjoy them committing these mortal sins against God and against their neighbor!
2.-I think IrishUkrainian brought up a good point. If these things are mortal sins to do or even watch then we may as well go as far to say that using electricity on Sunday is a mortal sin.
No, it is not a mortal sin to use necessary things on a Sunday, don't be ridiculous. You need electricity to keep yourself warm and survive, you need electricity to feed yourself. Stop being ridiculous.
Whether it be a sin or no sin at all lies first and foremost on necessity. People can be and is excused through necessity. By necessity may you work on Sunday, if you have to. Without necessity, their is mortal sin. Likewise, if you without cause do a completely unnecessary activity such as eating out on a Sunday when you don't need to (and which most people will never need to do on a Sunday), you are in fact committing a mortal sin through non-necessity. Through this non-necessity, where you the cause of creating a possible mortal sin of unnecessary work on a Sunday to your neighbor. There is no excuse for such behavior unless you did not understand that what you did was wrong. But now, however, when being aware of these facts, you will not escape mortal sin if you are helping others in doing unnecessary work through non-necessity.
We may as well say buying a car is a mortal sin because it keeps car dealers that are open on Sundays in buisiness.
Your exactly right. You don't have to buy a car on a Sunday, you can buy a car on another day. A person will not escape mortal sin if he obstinately continue with doing unnecessary things on a Sunday that he knows will constitute unnecessary work for his neighbor on a Sunday!
If you for some reason must buy a Car, because you are about to die, and you need to go to the hospital, then do neither you nor he who sold you the car sin, since both had necessity, he for selling, and you for buying.
However, the car dealer would not escape mortal sin if he worked knowingly on a Sunday (without necessity), and if he where unaware of your position (that you where dying and needed a car), since his intention was not to help you but to earn money unlawfully on a Sunday.
We also may as well say that we are in mortal sin for using the internet on Sunday, since it takes us into a "virtual world". See the error in your logic here?
Internet is not a work, unless you make it a work. Internet is a recreation. The difference with internet and with the real world is that you cannot possible know who is working or not working on a Sunday. So when there is ignorance and uncertainty if there even is sin, there cannot possible be sin on something as delicate as the Sabbath, since this particular subject only becomes sinful through what a person can understand.
One might presume news sites on the internet work on Sundays, but watching news can be a necessity (example: tsunami alert) and are therefore lawful. Besides from necessity, one should not seek out news on Sundays, or any worldly things or activities that you otherwise would do on the other days. Sundays is intended to be kept holy in search for God through prayer and reading.
And since we're talking about internet. For those who wish to avoid all the filthy ads on the internet forever, use this program:
http://adblockplus.org/en/3.-If sports never played on Sunday or had trashy cheerleaders you'd still find some kind of way to say it is a mortal sin to watch sports.
If sports was never played on Sundays nor had trashy cheerleaders, there would still be the gambling problem, and a problem if there was bad commercials on the field that was approving of sinful activities/sins, whether it be contraception, alcohol or gambling, etc.
As a matter of fact, I have seen both high school and college football teams that not only refrain from playing on Sundays, but likewise do not have trashy cheerleaders. Are they still in mortal sin even though they have modest cheerleaders?
Woman should not dance or perform like cheerleaders do. They are after attention and to arouse sensuality in men. To do so is totally unacceptable. This activity of cheerleading is of itself a mortal sin! To move the body as the cheerleaders do is totally unacceptable, do to so is a clear cut mortal sin in of itself!
And unless the cheerleaders are fully dressed, wearing a dress eight inches below the knees, and not revealing their upper body in anyway, they are not modestly dressed at all.
It's unacceptable to wear a dress that are tight, or that are higher than eight inches below the knees (which was the minimum standard for Padre Pio). Woman are forbidden to wear pants that are anything near tight and that reveal their behind and their legs. In fact, woman shouldn't wear pants at all, and it could possible even be a sin for woman to wear
modest pants. Woman never used pants ever before (unless for extreme necessity (like in war), as did John of Arc, but even then did she have a skirt covering the behind), and that for a reason. Mans eyes is drawn to the womans behind, and that's a fact! That is why the devil want woman to use pants. Woman is also forbidden to wear shirts that reveal their upper body in an unacceptable way. To show of the breasts in any way is an abominable mortal sin to be guilty of.
As pious modest woman dressed before the start of the filthy 1900 hundreds is really how woman always should be dressed if they desire to be saved. How did pious woman dress before? In such a way that they could not do scandal to their neighbor. If you do not dress like that (to avoid scandal), then you are probably already on the road to Hell unless you change immediately!
All those who dress trashy, or use make up to make others lust at you; yes all you who make your outward appearance looking good while deforming your soul, you should read this file:
http://www.catholic-saints.net/spiritual/#Vanity