What is the correlation between sports and religion?

Stanford Report, May 4, 2005

By Barbara Palmer

L.A. Cicero

Rev. Joanne Sanders, a former tennis coach, said greed is seen too often among some athletes. “In just as many terms as one can speak glowingly about sport, you can criticize it as profoundly corrupt,” she said.

Over the years, the Rev. Joanne Sanders, associate dean for religious life, has been an athlete, a collegiate tennis coach and an Episcopal priest. But one thing has remained the same, Sanders told students and others last Friday during a talk, "One Nation Under Sports: Conviction, Conversion and Corruption," she made at Ethics@ Noon, a weekly discussion series.

"I'm not a very good spectator," Sanders said. "The uniform has changed throughout the course of my life, but I don't consider myself to be a person who likes to remain on the sidelines—particularly on a subject like the role of sports and athletics in our world."

In her remarks, Sanders argued for the benefits of finding a deeper relationship between sports and religion than "seeing players kneeling down in the end zone, thanking some supreme being" for a touchdown.

Such displays make her uncomfortable, she said. In addition to limiting our understanding of the connection between sports and religion, they create the potential to marginalize athletes who are nonreligious or practitioners of religious outside the mainstream, she said.

It's not possible for her to say that sports are "simply and only a game," she said. Sanders likened the primacy of sports in contemporary culture to the central position religion held in the pre-modern age. Both sports and religion are linked to the deep human need for play, she added.

The word "sport" is related to "disport," which means to divert one's self, she said. In ancient and medieval times, virtually all diversion available to human beings—including art and music—came by way of religion, she said. The Olympic games of antiquity were part of a religious festival, she added.

Before the modern age, religion supplied three things: a welcome diversion from daily life, a model of coherence and clarity, and heroic examples to admire and emulate, she said. "Cultures have always had a need to make life make sense for those of us who lead it."

After the Industrial Revolution, things became a little more confusing, Sanders said. Humans found themselves "at the mercy of social and political hurricanes that we couldn't escape or control or understand—and we're still in that space today," she said.

Sports became a way for people to bring back some coherence into their lives and "serve a nuanced sense of a religious or spiritual function, she said. "It's not that you get religion by being an athlete or a sports enthusiast, but in a sense, sport is almost a natural religion in and of itself."

Just as she approaches her religious vocation with skepticism, she is committed to the thoughtful critique of the culture of sports. "As much as I love it, I have some concerns about what is going on," she said, listing among its ills the way that sports are played in middle and high schools and the current scandal about performance-enhancing drugs.

"What's gone wrong with sports? Guess what?" Sanders said. Thousands of years ago, "the same thing was true: The root of many evils is greed."

Along with notions of freedom, the symbolism connected with sports often has been based on subjugation, power and dominance, one discussion participant pointed out: "In just as many terms as one can speak glowingly about sport, you can criticize it as profoundly corrupt."

Fear and anger dominated her high school track meets, an undergraduate student added. "Most athletes at least on the high school level do it out of a sense of fear," she said. "Coaches get very worked up and angry. There isn't a sense of trying to transcend a situation or have it be an expression of your integrity as a human. It's more about getting results."

Sanders agreed with those assertions and pointed to the work of the Stanford-based Positive Coaching Alliance, which works with coaches, parents and sports organizations to transform the "win-at-all-costs" sports culture.

"I'm not sure any one of us can solve the problem of the unraveling of sports," Sanders said. "For me, it's about retrieval, restoration and renewal. I want to keep engaging in conversation about the deeper sense of sport. Part of the human condition is still the need for celebration and the need for play."

Ethics@Noon is a weekly discussion series sponsored by the McCoy Program in Ethics in Society. On May 13, Van Harvey, the George Edwin Burnell Professor of Religious Studies, Emeritus, will speak on "The Ethics of Religious Belief." On May 20, Tom Ehrlich, senior scholar at the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, will talk about "Political Bias in Undergraduate Education." The brown-bag discussions are held from noon to 1 p.m. in Room 101K in Building 100.

Re­li­gion has had both a pos­i­tive and neg­a­tive re­la­tion­ship with sport.

On one hand, both re­li­gion and sport have been built up­on a pos­i­tive ethos of com­mit­ment to hard work, per­son­al sac­ri­fice, fair­ness and achieve­ment. They both in­cor­po­rate the use of rit­u­als and cus­toms and it is com­mon to see the in­vo­ca­tion of God in train­ing, team meet­ings and in the cel­e­bra­tion of suc­cess and even fail­ure.

On the oth­er hand, it has been ar­gued that the spir­it of the com­pet­i­tive sport has some­times weak­ened the spir­i­tu­al bond of peo­ple both as ac­tive and pas­sive par­tic­i­pants.

In Chris­t­ian dom­i­nat­ed US, Woods (2007) ar­gues that re­li­gion has been used as a means to jus­ti­fy Amer­i­can pre­oc­cu­pa­tion with sport. Not on­ly is sports seen as hav­ing an ap­peal to God, but it has al­so been a means through which re­li­gious bod­ies have used sports to re­in­force its mem­ber­ship.

For in­stance, Woods (2007) cites the Young Men’s Chris­t­ian As­so­ci­a­tion (YM­CA), sec­ondary schools such as Christ the King and uni­ver­si­ties such as Oral Roberts Uni­ver­si­ty use sport through the pro­vi­sion of sport­ing fa­cil­i­ties and ex­cel­lent sport­ing pro­grammes to at­tract new mem­bers, stu­dents and even donors.

Ama­ra (2008) cites that sports have been able to mo­bilise na­tion­al­ist sup­port through­out the Mus­lim world cut­ting across class, gen­der and sec­tar­i­an dif­fer­ences. He ar­gues that mod­ern sports and Is­lam can co­ex­ist in the same world. How­ev­er, he claims that sports have to be seen as a site for the ne­go­ti­a­tion of dif­fer­ences which can en­hance cross-cul­tur­al ex­pe­ri­ences.

This ap­proach has the po­ten­tial to min­imise the clash of west­ern and tra­di­tion­al val­ue sys­tems which has been the source of some of the con­tro­ver­sies in sports par­tic­i­pa­tion as it re­lates to the ath­letes from the Mus­lim world.

In an in-depth study of eight schools in West Mid­lands, Eng­land, to gain an un­der­stand­ing as to why Mus­lim girls were with­draw­ing from phys­i­cal ed­u­ca­tion, Da­gakasa et al. (2011) con­clud­ed that re­li­gious con­cerns of the girls need­ed to be in­cor­po­rat­ed in­to the schools’ poli­cies as well as in its phys­i­cal ed­u­ca­tion pro­grammes.

Some of the spe­cif­ic prob­lems that were iden­ti­fied by the stu­dents and their par­ents were the lack of flex­i­ble dress codes es­pe­cial­ly as it re­lat­ed to the wear­ing of the hi­jab and the use of pub­lic swim­ming pools. Da­gakasa et al. (2011) ar­gued that a more em­brac­ing sports pol­i­cy would al­low for the in­clu­sion of Mus­lim girls.

As stud­ies have been con­duct­ed else­where in the world, the same has to be done in T&T and the wider Caribbean. The ben­e­fits of un­der­stand­ing this link can be mul­ti­ple and ever­last­ing es­pe­cial­ly in a so­ci­ety that is high­ly dif­fer­en­ti­at­ed along re­li­gious lines.

As re­search has in­di­cat­ed, women are more like­ly than men to be re­strict­ed from par­tic­i­pat­ing in sports and phys­i­cal ac­tiv­i­ties as they are ex­pect­ed to be the prime bear­ers of re­li­gious val­ues and prac­tices. Out­side of en­gag­ing in sports and phys­i­cal ac­tiv­i­ties for recre­ation­al and fun rea­sons, many tal­ent­ed per­sons may be dis­cour­aged from tak­ing part in sports se­ri­ous­ly be­cause of in­sen­si­tiv­i­ties to re­li­gious di­ver­si­ty in ex­ist­ing sport­ing pro­grammes.

As such in­for­mal set­tings such as schools, once a prop­er un­der­stand­ing of how re­li­gious be­liefs and prac­tices im­pact up­on how stu­dents view and en­gage sports, prop­er in­ter­ven­tion strate­gies can be un­der­tak­en. These strate­gies can be help­ful to phys­i­cal ed­u­ca­tion teach­ers, par­ents and most im­por­tant­ly the stu­dents.

Lo­cal re­li­gious or­gan­i­sa­tions must al­so look to put greater ef­fort at en­cour­ag­ing their fol­low­ers young and old to par­tic­i­pate in sports and phys­i­cal ac­tiv­i­ties. Not on­ly would such ac­tiv­i­ties ben­e­fit the in­di­vid­u­als per­son­al­ly but col­lec­tive­ly it can be a means through which re­li­gious groups can fur­ther con­nect with their mem­bers. As much as com­pe­ti­tion and win­ning are im­por­tant, sports can al­so be a good means through which re­li­gious bod­ies can teach im­por­tant life lessons to their mem­bers.

Al­though it may not be sur­pris­ing if some sports ad­min­is­tra­tors claim that re­li­gion is not their busi­ness there many in­ter­na­tion­al gov­ern­ing bod­ies adopt­ing mea­sures an un­der­stand­ing of re­li­gious dif­fer­ences of ath­letes. A per­fect ex­am­ple of this is FI­FA’s de­ci­sion to al­low for re­li­gious head­wear to be worn by play­ers. Such a move not on­ly recog­nis­es the dif­fer­ence in re­li­gious be­liefs but al­so paves the way for more per­sons to come for­ward to par­tic­i­pate in foot­ball.

Re­li­gion when com­bined with oth­er vari­ables such as so­cial class, fam­i­ly, school and com­mu­ni­ty, does im­pact on the lev­el and ex­tent of par­tic­i­pa­tion in sport and phys­i­cal ac­tiv­i­ties. As such the var­i­ous sport­ing au­thor­i­ties and re­searchers should em­bark up­on gain­ing a deep­er un­der­stand­ing of the con­nec­tion be­tween re­li­gion and sports as it can best serve the over­all good of so­ci­ety.

Page 2

Re­li­gion has had both a pos­i­tive and neg­a­tive re­la­tion­ship with sport.

On one hand, both re­li­gion and sport have been built up­on a pos­i­tive ethos of com­mit­ment to hard work, per­son­al sac­ri­fice, fair­ness and achieve­ment. They both in­cor­po­rate the use of rit­u­als and cus­toms and it is com­mon to see the in­vo­ca­tion of God in train­ing, team meet­ings and in the cel­e­bra­tion of suc­cess and even fail­ure.

On the oth­er hand, it has been ar­gued that the spir­it of the com­pet­i­tive sport has some­times weak­ened the spir­i­tu­al bond of peo­ple both as ac­tive and pas­sive par­tic­i­pants.

In Chris­t­ian dom­i­nat­ed US, Woods (2007) ar­gues that re­li­gion has been used as a means to jus­ti­fy Amer­i­can pre­oc­cu­pa­tion with sport. Not on­ly is sports seen as hav­ing an ap­peal to God, but it has al­so been a means through which re­li­gious bod­ies have used sports to re­in­force its mem­ber­ship.

For in­stance, Woods (2007) cites the Young Men’s Chris­t­ian As­so­ci­a­tion (YM­CA), sec­ondary schools such as Christ the King and uni­ver­si­ties such as Oral Roberts Uni­ver­si­ty use sport through the pro­vi­sion of sport­ing fa­cil­i­ties and ex­cel­lent sport­ing pro­grammes to at­tract new mem­bers, stu­dents and even donors.

Ama­ra (2008) cites that sports have been able to mo­bilise na­tion­al­ist sup­port through­out the Mus­lim world cut­ting across class, gen­der and sec­tar­i­an dif­fer­ences. He ar­gues that mod­ern sports and Is­lam can co­ex­ist in the same world. How­ev­er, he claims that sports have to be seen as a site for the ne­go­ti­a­tion of dif­fer­ences which can en­hance cross-cul­tur­al ex­pe­ri­ences.

This ap­proach has the po­ten­tial to min­imise the clash of west­ern and tra­di­tion­al val­ue sys­tems which has been the source of some of the con­tro­ver­sies in sports par­tic­i­pa­tion as it re­lates to the ath­letes from the Mus­lim world.

In an in-depth study of eight schools in West Mid­lands, Eng­land, to gain an un­der­stand­ing as to why Mus­lim girls were with­draw­ing from phys­i­cal ed­u­ca­tion, Da­gakasa et al. (2011) con­clud­ed that re­li­gious con­cerns of the girls need­ed to be in­cor­po­rat­ed in­to the schools’ poli­cies as well as in its phys­i­cal ed­u­ca­tion pro­grammes.

Some of the spe­cif­ic prob­lems that were iden­ti­fied by the stu­dents and their par­ents were the lack of flex­i­ble dress codes es­pe­cial­ly as it re­lat­ed to the wear­ing of the hi­jab and the use of pub­lic swim­ming pools. Da­gakasa et al. (2011) ar­gued that a more em­brac­ing sports pol­i­cy would al­low for the in­clu­sion of Mus­lim girls.

As stud­ies have been con­duct­ed else­where in the world, the same has to be done in T&T and the wider Caribbean. The ben­e­fits of un­der­stand­ing this link can be mul­ti­ple and ever­last­ing es­pe­cial­ly in a so­ci­ety that is high­ly dif­fer­en­ti­at­ed along re­li­gious lines.

As re­search has in­di­cat­ed, women are more like­ly than men to be re­strict­ed from par­tic­i­pat­ing in sports and phys­i­cal ac­tiv­i­ties as they are ex­pect­ed to be the prime bear­ers of re­li­gious val­ues and prac­tices. Out­side of en­gag­ing in sports and phys­i­cal ac­tiv­i­ties for recre­ation­al and fun rea­sons, many tal­ent­ed per­sons may be dis­cour­aged from tak­ing part in sports se­ri­ous­ly be­cause of in­sen­si­tiv­i­ties to re­li­gious di­ver­si­ty in ex­ist­ing sport­ing pro­grammes.

As such in­for­mal set­tings such as schools, once a prop­er un­der­stand­ing of how re­li­gious be­liefs and prac­tices im­pact up­on how stu­dents view and en­gage sports, prop­er in­ter­ven­tion strate­gies can be un­der­tak­en. These strate­gies can be help­ful to phys­i­cal ed­u­ca­tion teach­ers, par­ents and most im­por­tant­ly the stu­dents.

Lo­cal re­li­gious or­gan­i­sa­tions must al­so look to put greater ef­fort at en­cour­ag­ing their fol­low­ers young and old to par­tic­i­pate in sports and phys­i­cal ac­tiv­i­ties. Not on­ly would such ac­tiv­i­ties ben­e­fit the in­di­vid­u­als per­son­al­ly but col­lec­tive­ly it can be a means through which re­li­gious groups can fur­ther con­nect with their mem­bers. As much as com­pe­ti­tion and win­ning are im­por­tant, sports can al­so be a good means through which re­li­gious bod­ies can teach im­por­tant life lessons to their mem­bers.

Al­though it may not be sur­pris­ing if some sports ad­min­is­tra­tors claim that re­li­gion is not their busi­ness there many in­ter­na­tion­al gov­ern­ing bod­ies adopt­ing mea­sures an un­der­stand­ing of re­li­gious dif­fer­ences of ath­letes. A per­fect ex­am­ple of this is FI­FA’s de­ci­sion to al­low for re­li­gious head­wear to be worn by play­ers. Such a move not on­ly recog­nis­es the dif­fer­ence in re­li­gious be­liefs but al­so paves the way for more per­sons to come for­ward to par­tic­i­pate in foot­ball.

Re­li­gion when com­bined with oth­er vari­ables such as so­cial class, fam­i­ly, school and com­mu­ni­ty, does im­pact on the lev­el and ex­tent of par­tic­i­pa­tion in sport and phys­i­cal ac­tiv­i­ties. As such the var­i­ous sport­ing au­thor­i­ties and re­searchers should em­bark up­on gain­ing a deep­er un­der­stand­ing of the con­nec­tion be­tween re­li­gion and sports as it can best serve the over­all good of so­ci­ety.