{"id":119,"date":"2008-04-18T16:37:53","date_gmt":"2008-04-18T16:37:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/changeyourbody.wordpress.com\/?p=121"},"modified":"2008-04-18T16:37:53","modified_gmt":"2008-04-18T16:37:53","slug":"the-fear-of-fitness-persecution","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/howtobefit.com\/coach-blog\/2008\/04\/18\/the-fear-of-fitness-persecution\/","title":{"rendered":"The Fear of Fitness Persecution"},"content":{"rendered":"

An Open Letter from Rich<\/a> to His Coaches<\/a>.<\/p>\n

As \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tcoaches<\/a>, fitness persecution is a real fear that we all have and it certainly \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tlimits our desire to spread the religion of fitness. Although we are passionate \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\twhen we are among those who share our beliefs and feel safe when we get \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\ttogether and talk about how much we love what we do and the benefits of what we \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tdo, there is always that underlying fear that if we tell someone else outside \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tof our religion, we will be persecuted.<\/span><\/p>\n

Is \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tthat fear unfounded? Absolutely not. Religious persecution gives us the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\thistorical precedent for that fear. Moses brought forth Judaism out of Egypt \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tand the Ten Commandments forbade the worship of all but one god. The spread of \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tthe pantheistic Roman Empire to that area brought with it religious conflicts. \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tOut of Judaism came Christianity, and its strict adherence to monotheism and \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\temphasis on conversion lead to greater persecution. Anti-monotheistic \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tpersecution of Christians began with Nero and reached its apex with the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tInquisition. While Christianity’s empire stretched across Europe and \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tneighboring regions, south and east of their empire a new monotheistic religion \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tarose, Islam, and it spread across Africa, the Middle East and northern \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tIndia.<\/span><\/p>\n

Out of religious intolerance and \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\treligious persecutions arose religious wars which have occurred in much of the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\trest of the world. In this country, we have the freedom to attend churches and \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\ttemples and mosques without fear. But there now exists a reluctance to openly \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tspeak about our religions to other people for fear of offending their religion \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tor out of fear that the person will think that we are trying to convert them to \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tour religion.<\/span><\/p>\n

And so it is with fitness and \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\thealth. Unlike our religious beliefs which can be easily concealed unless we \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tspeak about them, fit and healthy people are obvious to everyone around them. \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tWe have the glow of health from eating right, the lean fit bodies and energy \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tthat we get from exercising and smiles on our faces, in our case, because we \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tare making money from promoting our lifestyles. That is fine when we are in the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tsafety of our own homes, but what about when we have to venture out. \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPersonally, I suggest wearing baggy, heavy clothing so that our low body fat \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tand lean bodies are concealed and we blend in better with the rest of the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tpopulation. You can also feel sad for all of the overweight and out of shape \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tpeople that you see and that will mask the revealing smile that might otherwise \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tgive us away.<\/span><\/p>\n

Finally, I would continue to not \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tspeak openly about what we do so that people won’t think that we are trying to \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tconvert them. Our fear of persecution for promoting fitness and health is real \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tand the repercussions are obvious. God forbid that we would meet someone, begin \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\ttelling them about what we do and get into a conflict in the grocery store, for \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tinstance. I don’t know about you, but I for one don’t have the physical stature \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tto get into a conflict with someone as they counter what I have to say and \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tbegin to advocate the benefits of being obese, not exercising and eating \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tpoorly. I am cringing at the thought of the consequences of losing that \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tconversation. It is far better for us to limit what we have to say about the \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tbenefits of being fit and healthy to strictly the people who share our beliefs \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tand won’t persecute us for our beliefs. It is a far safer existence.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sincerely,<\/p>\n

Rich Dafter
\nTeam BeachBody Coach \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tHowtobefit<\/a>
\nhowtobefit@aol.com<\/a><\/p>\n

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An Open Letter from Rich to His Coaches. As coaches, fitness persecution is a real fear that we all have and it certainly limits our desire to spread the religion of fitness. 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