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Evangelicals Infecting Not Just Military, Politics but also … Sports
Few need to be reminded that exclusionary religious forces are embedding themselves in myriad
American institutions. But can’t they leave sports alone?
Sportsfans notice the occasional baseball player ripping a HR or QB tossing a touchdown, then pointing to the sky and acclaiming that Jesus Christ is number one.
Strikeouts and sacks—those are the work of the desolate one and no cause to acknowledge his work.
USA Today columnist Tom Krattenmaker’s under-the-radar Onward Christian Athletes: Turning Ballparks into Pulpits and Players into Preachers (Rowman & Littlefield, October 2009) looks like a respite for those viewing post-game, on-field prayer meetings as foolish displays of exclusionary, only-through-Christ silliness.
Check out Michael Smerconish’s When playbook meets praybook in today Philadelphia Daily News:
DONOVAN McNabb had reason to be thankful.
The Eagles quarterback was back on the field for the first time since week one. On the second play of his latest comeback, McNabb dropped back, moved left to avoid a defender and launched a 51-yard touchdown pass to rookie Jeremy Maclin.
It was the beginning of a nearly flawless return to the lineup: 16 for 21, 264 yards, three touchdowns, no interceptions and a 157.2 passer rating.
As Maclin picked himself up in the end zone and played to the crowd, the TV camera found McNabb in the midst of his own celebration. The Eagles quarterback was standing with his eyes skyward and palms pressed neatly together as if in prayer. (That image was on Page 1 of Monday’s Daily News.) A moment later, he pointed both index fingers toward the heavens.
Watching the game at home over a couple of hoagies, I said to my three boys: "If McNabb had thrown an interception or Maclin had dropped the pass, would either have scowled or shaken his fist at the sky?" I doubt it.
BUT SUCH IS the fusion of sports and religion today.
Athletes cross themselves after making the big play. They yell things like "God is good!" after winning the big game.
They wear gear and get tattoos that bear witness to their religious beliefs.
But have you ever seen a player blame God after a fumble, a strikeout or a turnover? To put it in the lingo of an NFL injury report: Doubtful.
It’s not just McNabb, of course. Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow cites Scripture in his black under-eye markings, which included playing January’s national championship game with "John 3:16" on his face ("For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.")
A few weeks later, QB Kurt Warner celebrated his Arizona Cardinals’ trip to the Super Bowl, which capped his own career "resurrection" by saying: "There’s one reason I’m standing up on this stage today. That’s because of my Lord up above."
Of course, as author and USA Today contributor Tom Krattenmaker notes, when the Cardinals lost the Super Bowl two weeks later, Warner was gracious in his postgame remarks – but left the Lord up above out of it.
Krattenmaker addresses the infusion of religion into big-time sports in his new book, "Onward Christian Athletes: Turning Ballparks into Pulpits and Players into Preachers." His problem is not with religious athletes but what he sees fueling their frequent public displays of religion.
He observes a movement that "promotes an exclusive theology (and politics) counter to the interests of the majority of us in a religiously, politically diverse America." There is, he writes, an overemphasis on evangelical Christianity and right-wing politics that dominate to the exclusion of other beliefs and worldviews.
"It troubles me when you have individuals and organizations operating in sports that promote this exclusive doctrine that essentially says our version of Christianity is right and other people won’t be in good standing with God," Krattenmaker told me.
His is NOT a hit-piece on Christian athletes.
He’s correct to avoid condemning religious players or advocating for separation of church and sport. ("The installation of complete secularity in and around pro sports hardly constitutes a fair and neutral playing field for diverse America," he writes at the book’s conclusion.)
Obviously, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with athletes’ maintaining strongly held religious beliefs. Indeed, it would seem that many of today’s stars – who continue to encounter fame and wealth at younger and younger ages – would do well to adopt the humility and regard for others that Christianity espouses.
But enough with the pointing to the sky and shout-outs to God during postgame interviews.
They’ve become gaudy, excessive, and routine to the point of saturation. And now that a "Hallelujah!" accompanies every home run and Hail Mary pass, I doubt that these postgame proclamations are effective evangelical tools anyway.
Why? Because they evidence a flimsy notion of spirituality. How can an athlete celebrate God’s presence in victory only to ignore it in defeat?
Take a page from T.O.’s book. Stick with the celebrations of yesteryear. Fist pump. High five. Toss the ball to the ref.
Athletes are already expected to be role models and spokesmen. It’s inappropriate for them to be amateur theologians as well.
Listen to Michael Smerconish weekdays 5-9 a.m. on the Big Talker, 1210/AM. Read him Sundays in the Inquirer. Contact him via the Web at www.smerconish.com.
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Short URL: http://www.veteranstoday.com/?p=8989
Posted by Yanira Farray on Oct 15 2009, With 0 Reads, Filed under Of Interest. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
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Having spent considerable time on both sides of the church doors, I can tell you that evangelicals are a greater danger than the government to our privacy, liberty and pursuit of happiness.
Although the Bible clearly indicates Christians are to be ambassadors of Another world, too many try to rule This one, which means that they are aligned with Satan.
We all have to be very, very careful here.
Like it or not, whether comfortable with the idea or not, we must recognize that America has been a Calvinist-Puritanical Garden of Eden philosophically since long before it was American.
We have to remember, the very heart of our common national core value system was laid down by the Puritans who settled New England and the Calvinist settlers of places like Jamestown, VA who had a very much sterner view of the Deity than anyone today would have. These people were here quite literally to found a New Jerusalem and they wrote, spoke and lived under that world view.
The Protestant Work Ethic is the very foundation of how we judge each other and ourselves. If I am not doing well, I am obligated as an American to try harder, even unto my own death.
This is just how we are put together.
We seem to think in our secular world today that our view is very common. It is not, it is very uncommon.
These ancestors of ours were the people who wrote the Mayflower Compact, the various colonial laws in the Colony Assemblies under Britain, and finally the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. Although they were secularists as much as a 18th Century politician could be, their documents are filled with allusions to God and his grace.
It was a different world then and the Deity was simply a necessary part of that world. Our legal system, our educational system, even our prison system reflects this sense of “judgment from On High” and a very, very Calvinist, “black and white with no shades of gray” view of how a community should operate.
Like it or not, Deism is a part of the American characer.
Now, how do we deal with this reasonably in a largely secular and post-Christian age in a world that is quickly seeing religion as a sister to mythology, or worse, to superstition?
How do we deal with this while we are actively engaged in two or possibly three West Asian wars (Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan) where Muslim ultra-Orthodox reactionaries are insisting that “their” view of Islam is the proper view and anyone else is an apostate or a backslider?
I submit, we open our eyes, let people worship or not worship however they want directed at whomever they want and absolutely insist that we be left alone when it comes to anyone prostelytizing us.
Remember, we have freedom OF relgion in this country, not freedom FROM religion. Like it or not, that is law of the land here.
I am not comfortable with all the Calvinist parts of our national character either, but it is who we are. Like it or not, we are still the Puritans, regardless of our religion, our nationality or whether or not we have been here 150 years or 15 minutes.
Calvinisn is who we are. In my opinion, that is what gave the Bushites such incredible power. They tapped into this deep vein of our national psyche. They understood it like a secularist never could.
This is our greatest strength in times of trouble and our greatest danger in times of potential imperialism. We truly believe that we are the Chosen Ones of the Deity.
May God help us. We are not going to change. It is too late for that.
“We are not going to change. It is too late for that.”
Over the Gates of Hell in Dante’s Inferno, a sign read
“Abandon Hope All Ye Who Enter Here”
http://rawstory.com/2009/10/n-c-church-to-burn-satans-books-including-works-of-mother-theresa/
Like it or not, Calvinism IS Biblical Christianity. So much of Evangelical Christianity today is NOT Calvinism, but in fact, is Arminianism, which was declared a heresy at the Synod of Dort. It still is! God changes not.
I am always fascinated by the number of people today who claim to be Christians but are unwilling to let God be God, to accept His sovereignty.
To the tiniest nuclear particle anywhere in the universe, nothing is outside God’s direction/plan. He created it all and He directs/allows it all!
Sports events? Human pride wants to claim that win for ourselves, but the One Who actually produced the win is God! Those who publicly acknowledge Him are simply obeying His teaching in Scripture! In the meanwhile, enjoy the sporting events He has given us, and delight in Him!
Tom : The mumbo jumbo that you speak of is not deism, it is the garbage of the revealed religions …….. Deists: Do not accept the belief of most religions that God revealed himself to humanity through the writings of the Bible, the Qur’an or other religious texts…………..
Disagree with strong Atheists who assert that there is no evidence of the existence of God.