God and Sports

After organized worship, athletic competition is perhaps the oldest communal impulse known to mankind, and today sports and religion mirror each other as never before, experts say. "Super Bowl Sunday" on Feb. 6, 2005, is a case in point: a Sabbath-day event that will bring thousands to a contemporary cathedral - and tens of millions more via television - to watch gridiron gladiators who call on God's help for their success.

But more than ever before, scholars, religious leaders, and the general public are wondering whether the intimate connections between religion and sports are such a good thing. Drug scandals, violence on the playing field and in the stands, recruiting violations and ethical lapses are clouding sports at every level, from the pros to college to kids' leagues. Money seems to be the ultimate goal, and good sportsmanship often seems a thing of the past for fans as well as athletes, not to mention the excesses of parents and coaches. And though religious traditions often praise athletes for their displays of skill and virtue, "sports" in the modern context often denotes a winner-take-all competitive mentality that is anathema to many religious teachings.

At the same time religion seems to be becoming more prominent than ever in the sporting world, and arenas are a virtual pulpit. Athletes routinely thank God for their victory or use their post-game interviews as an opportunity to witness to their faith. Post-game prayer circles are regular features, and athletes wear expressions of their faith on sweatbands and protective gear. NASCAR races, heavyweight boxing bouts, professional golf tournaments and even poker games have become forums for faith.

Many worry about the effects of this dynamic. Does invoking God on behalf of one's team cheapen the tradition of prayer, especially when there is so much suffering in the world? Is religion in America taking on the uglier aspects of hyper-competitive sports in a race for converts? Is the enormous respect accorded athletes uncomfortably close to the worship of fame and wordly success rather than faith? And why is it that sports has become so acceptable that many believers think nothing of spending their Sabbath watching games, or sending their children to play in them?

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