Is sports practice a sin?

[jmcrae]

Anyways wasnt Peter a fisherman, thats a sport:thumbsup:

Well, to be technical, Peter did it as a profession.

But I feel sure that Jesus and the Disciples played games and ran around just for fun, from time to time.

 

[colmcille1]

Well, to be technical, Peter did it as a profession.

But I feel sure that Jesus and the Disciples played games and ran around just for fun, from time to time.

Now there’s a thought, jmcrae!
You may have stumbled upon an entirely new comical thread viz what games would Jesus play?
God Bless,
Colmcille1.

 

[LilyM]

I meant that I agreed with this:
Seriously, questions such as this trouble me, because I feel for those who seem to find sin everywhere. Reminds me of that old monk in The Name of the Rose who thought laughter was sinful.****

I was getting from the OP that he was thinking that sports practice was inherently sinful…which utterly baffled me. However, reading your take on it, I can see another side to the debate.
I’m not much for sports myself, Mind, I see nothing wrong with sports generally, but when I see sports devotion taken beyond a simple game and professionals revered more than teachers, doctors, clergy, etc…yeah, that annoys me…

But the same applies to lots of other endeavours - we reward and recognise and lionise our musicians, actors, fashion designers, tv chefs, certain journalists, Oprah, well beyond their deserts and well out of proportion to any contribution they make to society.

But that’s worlds away from saying such pursuits are sinful in and of themselves. Are we to ban people from making a living out of acting, from being paid for making or performing or recording music, cooking professionally, pursuing careers in journalism?

 

[colmcille1]

But the same applies to lots of other endeavours - we reward and recognise and lionise our musicians, actors, fashion designers, tv chefs, certain journalists, Oprah, well beyond their deserts and well out of proportion to any contribution they make to society.

But that’s worlds away from saying such pursuits are sinful in and of themselves. Are we to ban people from making a living out of acting, from being paid for making or performing or recording music, cooking professionally, pursuing careers in journalism?

However, I think that sport is (if you’ll excuse the awkward phrase) a broad church. It’s scope of appeal is much wider than musicians, actors etc etc as it’s basic requirements are a level of fitness which almost all can attain. I do not wish to be patronising but sport is not predicated on an intellectual capability. True, hard work is rewarded but does it not become tainted when the ideals of sport (camaraderie, sportsmanship, friendship, understanding) are shown to be in stark contrast to the reality of a market-driven endeavour?

Therefore, given such a base-line requirement (physical fitness), the presense of sinful behaviour is all the more noticeable as it affects a bigger constituency of participants.

The pressure on top professional sportspeople is immense because winning is the end-all and be-all; not participation, not camaraderie, not sportsmanship. If this is what it’s like at the top end of sport, how can we expect the lower end (open to all) to be any different.This is not a good state of affairs.

God Bless,
Colmcille1.