Both of the Christian schools I attended here in the US as well as the Bible college from which I graduated had sports teams named "The Eagles." How boringly unoriginal! Just Google "Christian school eagles" and you'll see what I mean. Yeah, I get that the eagle has everything that you want in a sports team mascot (fierce, noble, easily chanted by cheerleaders), and as an added bonus for the Christian school crowd, Isaiah 40:31 provides a nice tag line verse, but
come on... show a little creativity, people!
Of course, "The Eagles" still beats "The Crusaders," which, thankfully, has fallen out of favor as people started paying closer attention in church history class and realized, "Oh, the crusaders weren't holy warriors for God. They were genocidal fanatics!"
Anyway, a while ago one of my brothers and I came up with the coolest Christian school/college sports team mascot ever:
Leviathan. I can assure you that, contrary to Scofield, Ryrie,
et al leviathan is
not a crocodile... just read through
Job 41. Leviathan is some sort of invincible, fire-breathing sea monster. Can't you just see the whole soccer/football team come running out onto the field under a giant sea-serpent costume (kinda like the dancing Chinese dragons) while the crowd goes wild? There's even a cool "tag line" verse: "Lay your hand on him; Remember the battle; you will not do it again!" (v. 8).
Of course, Psalm 74:14 and Isaiah 27:1 seem to use "Leviathan" as a symbol for evil people/nations, but we can just insist that we're referring to the fierce, unconquerable creature of Job 3 and 41 and Psalm 104. "We're the Le-VI-athan, unconquerable le-VI-athan, everywhere we go-oh people wanna know-oh..."
Do you like your school's mascot?
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Comments (42)
I like it. Or how about Behemoth?
My Christian high school's mascot was, indeed, the Crusaders--our yearbook editor had a helmet made of aluminum foil and he'd dance around with the cheerleaders. The year after I graduated they changed it to the Eagles. *snort*
How about the Seraphim? Nobody's going to mess with a six-winged mascot covered with eyes!
lol nice.
Yeah... I guess we were really "unchristian". my high school was panthers and college was bison.
I like the Seraphim idea too! lol
Haha, we were the Saints.Â
I agree with above, Seraphim is more easily chanted, but both are pretty effing cool (:My first college experience was at a small Christian college in Central California. In my first semester, the Board of Dir.'s felt that our mascot was too violent. We went from being the Vikings to the... (wait for it)...
Songbirds! Who the heck's ever heard of the fighting Songbirds?!? Talk about never "instilling fear" in your opponent!
I promptly moved to Fresno State.
We were the Ambassadors *rolls eyes* but our sister school was the Crusaders so I was just glad I didn't go there.
One of our teachers actually dressed up in a suit and descended from the rafters of the gym...and her long hair got tangled in ropes and she had to pull out a knife (I really don't know why she had a knife on her) and cut her hair out of it. That was the first, last and only time we actually had a mascot at the game.
My college mascot was the Evangels and the logo was a roman soldier thrusting a sword. Didn't make any sense. I continually told them they were miscommunicating the Gospel for the sake of an intimidating athletic image.
My school is The Crusaders...we actually had someone do an editorial in the school paper last year about if we should change that based on, y'know, what the Crusaders actually did.
I prefer the Fighting Pacifists.
the high school i attended had an eagle as a mascot, heh.
the first elementary school i went to was a panther, and now the college i'm at is a panther.
through all those mascots, i have come full-circle, kind of.
leviathan --- niiice.
No Christian school mascot is cool.
Leviathan is interesting. It appears to be a dragon. Then there's Rahab or Rachab, if you want another dark and mysterious OT creature. Behemoth also has potential. Cherubim in the Bible are fierce, but the world has screwed that one up pretty badly. How about Bulls of Bashan? (Speaking of which, a girls' team from a local public high school is called the Lady Rams, and there's a college team called Lady Stallions. Is that gender confusion or PC Gone Wild?)
Songbirds would be enough to make me transfer, too, and deny that I ever attended such a school.
Some more to consider: Martyrs, Disciples, Deacons, Elders, Apostles, Servants, Foot-Washers, Prophets, Corinthians, Laity, Kick-ass Clergy?
Nice!
The Christian schools I've been to have been varied. I've been an Eagle twice... a Lion once, and yes, even a Crusader!
You know, we wouldn't have a western civilisation to-day if it hadn't been for the Crusaders. I'm not condoning everything they did - some of them probably did some bad things. But if it hadn't been for the five or six thousand Knights of St. John at Malta when 40,000 Turks showed up to conquer the Christian world, we wouldn't even be having this discussion on a Christian website.
Give some credit where credit is due.
That is all.
And yes, Leviathan is a pretty awesome mascot.
@MysteriumFidei@xanga - "Crusaders" brings to my mind not the defensive actions fought (by groups who may have had their birth during the Crusades) against Ottoman Turks seeking to invade Europe, but the various offensive campaigns which included slaughter of Jewish and Muslim civilians as well as attacking other Christian groups.
I thought of the chinese dragon too. how weird.
My first christian school was "The Patriots". My second was "The Eagles". My third, and last, were "The Warriors".
@J0EL@xanga - The point is that all those groups were Crusaders. They were a mixed bag, and without the good ones of them, we wouldn't have what we consider the western world to-day. Most Crusaders fought on the defensive. There are some groups who did bad stuff - granted. But the world blows them out of proportion on purpose as a way to attack Christianity and it is unfounded.
We owe a great deal to the Crusaders who risked their lives in the defence of Christendom.
@MysteriumFidei@xanga - I strongly disagree...the first 9 or so Crusades (5 sanctioned by popes) were all about conquest (and featured many atrocities). That some chivalric orders formed during the Crusades later defended Europe against invasion is, to my mind, nothing more than one profitable thing (granted, a fairly important thing) coming out of a series of horrendously un-Christan acts...not really the main point of the post anyway.
at least you guys aren't the Bells.....it's lame but Bell pride all the way. Go bells! God bless!
My Christian alma mater has a rather iconic archway-- known as "The Arch"-- as the entrance to campus. Which is cool, except that our athletic mascot was Archie the Archer.
(A man with an oversized head, vest, and blue hat... not a walking talking archway, at least, thank heavens.)
@J0EL@xanga - Who cares who sanctioned them? The Popes should be honoured for calling their European brethren to arms in defence against the Turks. The guilt-mongering over the Crusades is wrong-headed and is a rather recent innovation. Read Thomas Woods' blurb here. Talking about the Crusades as all one event or outside of the context of four sold centuries of pillaging by the Mohammedan hordes is absurd. There was a reason the Pope called Western Europe to war - because Eastern Europe had been trampled to oblivion.
Arabia, Egypt, and Turkey used to be the epicentres of ancient Christian bishoprics. They were taken by conquest and all most Crusades did was to keep the jihadists at bay. Atrocities happen on all sides in war, and it is never excusable. But to pretend that the Christian soldiers were these barbaric brutes whilst the Mohammedans were peace-loving hippes who only wanted a place to grow their vegetables is just ridiculous. The entire continent of Europe didn't just wake up one day and say, "Hey, let's kill people!" They had been the object of pretty much constant attacks since the death of Mohammad.
@MysteriumFidei@xanga - 1. I never said the Muslims didn't act equally as barbaric at times.
2. My point is that it's wholly inappropriate to glorify the primary actors in an era featuring frequent atrocities by both sides and the slaughter of civilians (including European Jews who had nothing to do with either side) no matter what good may have come of it.
3. This discussion is pointless as we are obviously not going to change each other's minds.
Man, this was just supposed to be a light-hearted post.
...we're the Devils, so make of that what you will, I guess.
@J0EL@xanga - Ha, it was a lighthearted post! And I liked it a lot. I just hate when everybody dumps on the same warriors to whom they're indebted for still having a Western Civilisation. God bless!
I would be afraid of people making fun of the students for living lives that were "solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short."
Sports at the school that really rely on teamwork might fall apart too if the students start clinging to the notion of Bellum omnium contra omnes (the war of all against all).
God I'm a dork. Seeing the word Leviathan immediately made me think of Hobbes.
I am home schooled therefor my school does not have a mascot. Thank the Lord!!! Those things scare the fire outta me!!!