Are sports the national religion in America?

[notredame_999]

I have always loved sports but as I am getting older and learning more about my faith, it seems like here in America the national religion is sports. This maybe particuarly true for young men between 15-30. Are there any men out there who are coming to the same conclusion?

 

[GloriousOrder]

I must conclude that the national religion of America is Americanism, a strict belief in the “otherness” of America. Perhaps an inordinate attachment to aggressive sports may be a symptom of this, but it’s all integral. It’s simply a whole worldview of republicanism, democracy, protestant ethic, and capitalism mixed in. The nation is indeed unique, but more because it constantly insists that it is unique than for any actual singularity, hehe.

Sports are indeed an obsession in that country, but look at football (“soccer”) in the United Kingdom, Germany, and Spain; in lieu of religion (which is declining rapidly in those countries), people pledge loyalty to football clubs. It is all a great exercise from God, teaching us what substitution and sublimation look like.

 

[dmorgan]

one of them. Along with profit, societal status and love of ones self. Actually i believe America as a whole is becoming more secular every day. Many self identified Christians are actually quite secular when one delves into their actual beliefs. The Pew research center did a fascinating poll of members of various denominations as well as Catholics on a variety of topics. You can see the results here:

religions.pewforum.org/

Just open any of the topics and look at the results. Some are quite astounding.

 

[Planty_Pall]

I have always loved sports but as I am getting older and learning more about my faith, it seems like here in America the national religion is sports. This maybe particuarly true for young men between 15-30. Are there any men out there who are coming to the same conclusion?

I grew up at the Little League Park in the 60’s. We had no faith. I can remember being in awe of people who went to church. I just didn’t know anybody who ever talked about God. We (my family) loved baseball, basketball, and football. Later, I came to have faith in God and His Son and by the 1990’s, the Catholic Church. If you don’t have God your love of other things will probably be inordinate. We are going to find something to love whether it is worthy or not.

There are moments that are unforgettable in sports. I replay plays that I made as a boy at secondbase fairly often, or shots that I made (basketball). It makes me smile even now as I write these words. All I know is that as an older guy, back surgery, bad knee, nerve problems…who no one would suspect of ever being quick or fast or making some great plays…man…I know I did. I threw out _____ _________ at the plate with a bullet. I had a weeny arm but it was like something automatic and we win the game 1-0. It was all slow motion. Here comes the grounder and this speed guy is charging for home and no hesitation from me…we are not giving up a run…no extra innings…the ball, Nate’s mittt, a cloud of dust, and the guy coming from third all at once and we got him! Perfect throw…Hahahaha…Perfect. He’s out! And Mr. Nonchalant acts like its nothing…and forty plus years later he can’t forget if he wanted to. He is OUT!!!

Have you ever been what they used to call “hot”? They call it being “in a zone” nowadays. This is something that God gives us, I mean as a part of our nature. It comes with practice. Beside sports guys, I think musicians and other artists and skill people get it too. Horowitz, Michaelangelo and so on. Practice makes for a second nature that instinctually does what would be otherwise impossible. And you feel it and know you can’t miss. I suppose guys do mistake it for religion. It should lead us to God because it is as uncanny as the salmon who find their way to the stream where they were hatched.

 

[georgewithfaith]

Yes sadly in my opinion for far too many people sports serves as their religion. I went to a Catholic High School in Minnesota. A great school where I have fond memories but there was one flaw. The baseball program was treated with religious fervor because it made money. Also, kids flocked to our program because we went to state often. Our diamond was immaculate. The Principal was an assistant coach. I don’t recall the same zeal shown for our Catholic faith.

 

[gonefishing]

I have always loved sports but as I am getting older and learning more about my faith, it seems like here in America the national religion is sports. This maybe particuarly true for young men between 15-30. Are there any men out there who are coming to the same conclusion?

I’m responding solely to the thread title here–I’m not reading posts here. The thread title is what caught my eye.

No, sports is not the national religion in this country. Sex and drugs are. Sad. We’re obsessed with them both.

If it was sports, there’d be sports incorporated into nearly every TV show, news story, and even fiction books. Sports is not a constant, unrelenting onslaught in America–sex and drugs are. This is why I don’t think satan or the devil (whichever name you prefer) is an individual or otherworldly. I think he’s man. I can’t see having other people impose this stuff on everyone else and trying to ‘convert’ as many other people as possible into this deviant lifestyle and pointless life, and then blame it on the hollywood construct of some guy with red horns and a pointy tail who doesn’t even live on this planet but rather unseen somewhere else entirely. Evil is man. And in America, where both sex and a woman’s body are both public property and we’re trying to legalize pot, the national sports are sex and drugs. Far and away.

 

[manualman]

More like it’s ONE idol the people worship among many.

Just look at what tickets cost to nearly any pro venue.

Here’s my challenge: Add up the total of what you spend on sports in a year (tickets, equipment, bets, clothing, etc). Now compare that to what you give to church.

Idolatry.

 

[ConstantineTG]

I have always loved sports but as I am getting older and learning more about my faith, it seems like here in America the national religion is sports. This maybe particuarly true for young men between 15-30. Are there any men out there who are coming to the same conclusion?

It does feel that way, doesn’t it? You’ll get more hate online for saying bad things about Kobe Bryant or Lebron James than if you said bad things about someone’s faith. Sometimes the word “idol” to get elevated to the true meaning of the word rather than just a figure of speech. One reason these athletes get so much in endorsements is because people would buy anything they endorse, or do anything they tell them to do. They have more clout than priests and bishops and other moral leaders of our society.

 

[coolduude]

I have to agree with an above poster who said sex and drugs are the ‘national religion’. Sports may be an unhealthy obsession in Americna culture, but I hesitate to say they take the place of religion.

Perhaps this will comfort some of you:
“The general feeling about religion [in America] became apparent when a federal appeals court in 2002 tried to ban the Pledge of Allegiance because it contained the phrase ‘under God.’ There was an overwhelming and bipartisan condemnation of the ruling. To a degree that would be almost unthinkable in many other democracies, religious beliefs will probably continue to shape political culture in America for many generations to come. The Supreme Court, by deciding that the man who brought the case was not entitled to do so, left the Pledge intact without deciding whether it was constitutional”.

Furthermore, 58% of Americans think it is neccesary to believe in God to be moral compared with 30% of Canadians, 25% of the English, 13% of the French, 33% of Germans, and 27% of Italians.

Religion is still important to Americans. It’s just not manifested like sports are.