6 Billion Reasons to Play!. Page Under Construction.
Will feature sport in general, and soccer in particular, as a way to unite people.
Although soccer is technically the most common sport in the United States, it has failed to win over adults. As a result, the United States is unable to take advantage of this 'World Sport' as a means to build bridges to other cultures.
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| Imagine Mosaic in Central Park |
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| Soccer in Djibouti |
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One of the perks of learning almost any language other than English is that a tradition of soccer comes with the language. Flemish is no exception. The Flemish are soccer fanatics.
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Calidocious Inc. hopes to one day support international '4 Piece' sports festivals that inadvertantly promote peace by demonstrating how much all cultures have in common with each other.
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Interestingly, there is a centuries old tradition in North
America of using sport to promote peace. The sport was game of
LaCrosse, which has many similarities to soccer. (Although a peaceable
sport, LaCross was anything but gentlemanly. It was one of the most
physical sports in history.)
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| Cherokee Athlete |
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| Stickball |
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One of the most tragic battles
of all time was the Passiondale battle in Flanders in WWI. Over a
period of six months Allied Forces fought German forces in hideous
trench warfare using mustard gas, etc. The battle cost over 500,000
lives and was a strategic draw. The red Passiondale poppy has become
the symbol of the battle.
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| World War Memorial |
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| Flanders WWI Gas Attack |
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The holiday also celebrates the American commander in Belgium in
WWII who replied "Nuts" when told by Germans to surrender or face
annihilation.
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The holiday particularly honors Saint Damian, a Flemish priest who, despite criticism, gave his life to teach and help the Hawaiian sufferers of Hansen's Disease (Leprosy) who had been banished to the island of Moloka'i. In 2009 Father Damian was canonized as Saint Damian. The Flemish people consider him the "Greatest Flemming Ever".
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| Saint Damian's Grave in Hawaii |
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| Father Damian- circa 1870 |
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| Amazingly, Father Damien was attacked during the time he lived (and died) on Molokaii by prominent church leaders in the neighboring (and leprosy free) island of Ohau- which was the Capitol of the Hawaiian Islands. Fortunately, Robert Louis Stevenson was visiting Ohau during this period, and Stevenson wrote an immortal rebuttal to the attacks on Father Damien's work and character. (Note: In defense of those who criticized Father Damien, R.L.S's rebuttal went unchallenged- which is to say, there was no easy black-and-white case in the 'Father Damien Saga', other than at the end of the day, Father Damien was a magnificent human being.)
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The current, 2017. R.L.S. (Robert Louis Stevenson) website states that "Stevenson argues that Damien should symbolize a father figure for all of mankind and chastises Hyde (a pastor who belittled Damien in 1890) for missing this (what was for Stevenson) crucial point": “that he (Damien) was your father too, if God had given you the grace to see it” (p. 31).
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Proceeds
generated by the festival are slated to be given to "peace" projects
such as the "Music for Peace Radio-marathon" of Radio StuBru (Studio
Brussels), or the (ex-) Radio Voice of Peace ship in Israel.
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