This document discusses the relationship between religion and sports. It covers how sports have both conflicted with and been integrated with various religious traditions over time. For example, it describes how sports were initially denounced by some Christian groups but later became more widely accepted. It also examines how sports and religion share similarities as forms of communal ritual and experience. The document explores perspectives on whether sports can be considered a type of popular religion or if they are completely separate spheres.

1. Religion and Sports
RELI 2850

2. Chidester, Baseball Coca-Cola, and Rock N Roll
1. Baseball ensures a sense of
continuity in the midst of a
constantly changing America
2. Baseball supports a sense of
uniformity, a sense of belonging to
a vast, extended American family
that attends the same church.
3. Baseball represents the sacred
space of home.
4. Religion of Baseball represents the
sacred time of ritual.

3. Christianity
• Protestant Christianity
• Evangelical Christianity

4. Protestantism
• Originated from Reformation
• Four Types
– Mainline (e.g., Lutheranism)
– Anabaptists (e.g., Mennonites)
– Restorationists or Evangelical
– Nontrinitarian (e.g., Jehovah’s Witnesses)
• Five Tenets (Sola)
– Christ Alone
– Scripture Alone
– Faith Alone
– Grace Alone
– Glory to God Alone
• Sacraments
– Eucharist (Presence at Lord’s Supper) and Baptism

5. Evangelical Movement
• Four Defining Characteristics
– Conversionism, conviction that
lives need to be changed
– Activism, expression of gospel
– Biblicism, particular and
constant regard for the Bible
– Crucicentrism, focus on the
Sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross

6. Civil Religion
Set of quasi-religious attitudes,
beliefs, rituals, and symbols that
tie members of a political
community together.

8. Sports Conflicting with Religion
• Sports denounced because it
was associated with evils
• Gradual popularity
• Sabbath bans enforced on
sports later lifted
• Shift in the 1960’s to Sunday
Football

9. Sports Comingling with Religion
• Muscular Christianity Emerged
• Traditional Christianity
blended with sports
• Church sponsored sports
• Missionary opportunities
through sports

10. Religion Conscripting Sports

11. Sports Co-Opting Religion
• Prayer used to win games
• Locker room worship to unite players
• Sports uses religious language

12. Sports Supplanting Religion
• Academics understand sports tied
to religion
• Play and ritual relational
• Both sports and ritual create
another “world”

13. Born Again Sports
• Link between Evangelical
Christianity and Sports
• Two examples:
– The Fellowship of
Christian Athletes
– Athletes in Action

14. Assessment of Born Again Sports
• Athletes usually have history
of evangelical Christianity
• Sports used to convert un-
churched
• Total Release Performance
• Supporting athletes

15. Aitken’s Argument
Aitken states that Born again sports has
contributed to the ongoing process of
secularization by reducing religion to magic
where secularization is interpreted in a
deeper philosophical sense as a reduction
of sensitivity to the sacred or supernatural.
Here we need to make a distinction
between religion and magic. Religion binds
people to the sacred and to sacred things:
magic uses occult practices to influence
everyday events. Religion is concerned
with transforming life to a higher plane;
magic is primarily concerned with
controlling events in this world. Aitken
argues that born again athletes use prayer
much like magic thus trying to influence
the outcome of the game

16. Three Basic Positions
• Sports and religion are completely separate.
Sports is more like work than religion.
• Sports is religious like and thus is a natural
religion, and
• Sports is a religion

17. Hockey: A Divine Sport?
Hockey is not a religion mostly because fans do
not formally self-identify themselves as
belonging to a religion, however, sports and
hockey can function as popular religion and
parallel religious activity and belief.

18. Hockey and Religion
• Star players are like gods or heroes and
heroines
• Icons such as Wayne Gretzy are like saints
• Coaches, owners, scouts make up high
councils, elders, and other religious figures
• Reporters and commentators are like
scribes
• Uniforms and pre-game rituals parallel
regalia and ceremonies
• Arenas function as sacred places
• There are hockey shrines honoring people
• The Stanley cup is like a religious icon
• Fans have had near-ecstatic experiences

19. Deeper Parallels to Hockey and
Religion
• Hockey provides a person to be bodily aware to experience a body,
mind, spirit connection
• Promotes communal interdependence through team
• However, it highlights societies inequalities – promoting white
males
• Glorification of suffering for example Bobby Braun’s Stanley Cup
winning goal which he did on a broken leg – pain is a consequence
of playing hockey and injury part of the sport parallels Christianity
• Individual players form a team and all experience a sense of
community or togetherness.
• Sports closely parallels heroic-centered religion – elevated status of
certain individuals
• Experience of athletes (and a certain extent fans) losing themselves
in the moment parallels with religious experience of transcendence

20. Cathedral of St. John the Divine - New York City, New York
'Sports Bay' Stained Glass Window.
1) St. Hubert (656-728). While hunting, Hubert encountered a
white stag whose antlers formed a crucifix. He converted to
Christianity and later became Bishop of Liege. He is the patron
saint of hunters and animal protection.
2) St. Paul's injunction to run the good race (1 Corinthians
9:24)
3) Tennis.
4) Figure Skating.
5) Fencing.
6) David conquering Goliath (1 Sam. 17:49).
7) Baseball.
8) Swimming.
9) Basketball.
10) Jacob wrestling with the angel (Gen. 32:24).
11) Ice Hockey.
12) Auto Racing.
13) Football.
14) Esau the hunter (Gen. 25:27). Esau is the son of Isaac and
the brother of Jacob. Esau was tricked out of Isaac's blessing
by Jacob.
15) Boxing.
16) Bowling.
17) Boxing.
18) St. Paul's injunction to put on the whole armor of God
(Eph. 6:11)
19) Fishing.
20) Bicycling.
21) Golf.
22) St. Matthias chose by lot to take the place of Judas who
had committed suicide (Acts 1:23-26).
23) Skiing.
24) Sailing.
25) Polo.
26) Samson Killing the Lion (Judges 14:5-6).
27) Hunting.
28) Tobogganing.
29) Soccer.
30) Elijah and the chariot (2 Kings 2:9-15).
31) Archery.
32) Sculling.
33) Archery.
In the outer margins of the window:
a) Billiards.
b) Fencing.
c) Pistol shooting.
d) Curling.
e) Lacrosse (?).
f) Cricket.