Is Religion a Sport? by Hannah Hafso

Are Sports a Religion? Or a Religious Outlet?

The definition of religion is ambiguous and continually evolving, it is a term that not all scholars can agree upon. This allows for physical activity, in particular sports, to be argued as a religion itself. To distinguish what constitutes as a religion is based on one’s perception and individual interpretation of its description. Charles Prebish, known among academics as the one of the founding fathers of religion, describes it as “the experience of ultimate reality that radically changes the individual” (Prebish 68). According to Prebish’s definition, sports can legitimately be categorized as a religion, for they provide an arena for individuals to experience altered states of consciousness that can dramatically impact the athletes. Sports and religion have been compared extensively on the basis on shared characteristics, such as: stadiums and churches, congregations and fans, even flags and holy symbols. Although these similarities support the concept that sports have been able to imitate the characteristics of religion, it is important to analyze the spiritual and emotional qualities that these two entities have in common. Mystical experiences, where one transcends time and space, have been a prominent feature for many religions. These moments are often described as an encounter with a higher power or Supreme Being. Similarly, thousands of athletes have given testimony to similar occurrences often referred to as “flow” experiences (Higdon 66). The ability for physical activity to evoke such spiritual experiences probes one to question whether sports are in fact separate from religion, or merely an alternative outlet to reach God.

DEFINITION OF RELIGION:

To put mankind’s beliefs and values into a set of confines is a near impossible task, which is why there is presently no single unanimously established definition of religion. This has not prevented scholars and academics from publishing what they feel characterize the term. In the same regard, “there is no universally accepted definition of sportspersonship” (Weinberg and Gould 526). Both terms have been described in numerous and diverse contexts, enabling sports to genuinely qualify as a religion. French sociologist, Emile Durkhiem, believes religion is a “unified system of beliefs and practices relative to sacred thing” (Reich). One could argue that the obligatory rules and valued sportspersonship associated with games would fall into her description. Sportspersonship, according to Shields and Bredemeier, involves ambition for victory that is controlled by commitment to the play spirit, that allows ethical standards to overrule when the two may conflict (15). That is, one’s sportspersonship has to do with their values and actions’ concerning what is ethical and moral in sport. In contrast, Clifford Geertz’s understanding of religion is that it is a “system of symbols which establish powerful moods and motivations in men, by formulating conceptions of a general order of existence” (Reich). Sporting teams and games have many symbols, from flags, mascots, logos etc., all of which are used by fans to reflect their commitment to a specific team. Furthermore, author of The Invisible Religion, Thomas Luckman definition of religion “to be what humans do when they are being fully human” (Luckman 12) allows for numerous interpretations of what activities this includes. It is evident that there is a range of what religion is alleged to be, and many of the acknowledged definitions allow for sport to easily fall within there classifications.

PEAK EXPERIENCE:

Through personal revelations and impacting moments that individual’s may contribute their faith to. Abraham Maslow describes these events as peak experiences, where one temporarily undergoes an altered state of consciousness leaving them in awe and intimately connected to a supreme being (Guiley 438). In Christianity, transcendence and altered states of consciousness are often referred to as being “slain in the spirit” or receiving “gifts” from the Holy Spirit (Sweasey 22). The undeniable physical experience becomes the testament for faith in a Higher Power. Various methods, such as: meditation, chanting, fasting and prayer have traditionally been accepted as religious activity resulting in “peak experiences”. These events confront individuals with the unknown, and those who are religious usually attribute the force to God or a Supreme Being. Mystical experiences are characterized by feelings of awe and ecstasy, a supernatural quality, overwhelming nature and uncontrollable (Higgs and Braswell 190). Peak experiences are personal events that have the ability to confirm one’s faith or convert them into a believer.

MYSTIC EXPERIENCES IN SPORT:

Sinking the winning goal as the buzzer blares or flying through the air to defend the net, there are moments in sports that words fail to adequately articulate the passion, desire and intensity. Acts which demonstrates extreme strength and grace, the athlete appears as if they are “super human”. Science informs one that during physical activity individuals secrete large quantities of endorphins, adrenaline and serotonin; hormones that make allow one to feel happy and at times invincible. Though hormones may play apart many believe that some moments in sport are due to a much higher source, one that cannot be identified in the laboratory.

Mystical moments, refereed to as peak experiences for the religious can occur outside of the church, but often go by different names. It is not pedestrian knowledge that “sport has enormous power to sweep us beyond the ordinary sense of self, to evoke capacities that generally have been regarded as mystical, occult, or religious” (Murphy and White 5). In the sporting community these experiences are caused when athletes are in the flow state (Weinberg et al. 144). Csikszentmihalyi, the founder of this concept, has found the prominent features of the experience are: a heightened sense of control and awareness, transiency, transformation of time and numinous feelings, such as bliss, euphoria and awe. His work includes thousands of testimonies from athletes who have been in the flow state. Patsy Neal’s recollection of the WNBA finals clearly exhibits sports spiritual nature, “call it a state of grace, or an act of God. It is there and the impossible becomes possible... The athlete goes beyond herself; she transcends the natural. She touches a piece of heaven and becomes the recipient of power from an unknown source” (Higdon 68). The publication of spiritual phenomena in sports provide evidence that athletics can grant the same type of mystical experience that are revered in traditional religions (Higgs and Braswell 189). Personal recollections of flow state experiences help to support the argument that sports are an outlet for spiritual connection.

RUNNERS HIGH:

A vast array of physical activities have been shown to evoke a transcendent experience, running in particular has become notorious for its spiritual nature. Running has exhibited the ability to produce a unique flow state, coined as the “runner’s high”. When asked to describe the experience, runners say it is a positive psychological state where ones feel euphoria, relaxed and that their movements are effortless (Weinberg et al. 394). From one particular runner, the occurance was an event where “the only sensation was the rhythm and the beat, all perfectly natural, all and everything part of everything else... it was magic. I cried tears of joy and sorrow, joy for being alive and sorrow for being unable to give this experience to anyone” (Spino 222). Researchers have found this experience to occur among 78% of runners, with 49% claiming that the event was “spiritual in nature” (Lilliefors). These examples establish the concept that running can be an authentic channel for one to have a spiritual experience. The “runners high” demonstrates that when one is at their limits for physical exertion and cognitive functioning, the doors to “infinite realms of perception and being” are opened (Weinberg et al. 395).In both theology and in sports, it is said that “the spirit moveth and maketh anew; thus to be “born again” means not a retreat into contemplative life but a call to action, perhaps even a run” (Higgs and Braswell 183). Despite the evidence that indicates sports as a legitimate form of religion or religious experiences, there are still those who strongly oppose this concept.

COUNTER ARGUMENT:

If sports are to constitute as a religion, where will the boundary be drawn between the holy and secular? Those who disagree with sport as a religion argue that “when nearly everything becomes a religion what happens to religion itself and the idea of sacred” (Higgs and Braswell 161). The argument against sports as an authentic religion lies on the fact that it would blur the boundary between all human endeavours and religion more than it presently is. Higgs and Braswell “play devil’s advocate by arguing that the psychic experiences recorded by most athletes are really no more “uncanny” than the phenomenon of coincidence and certainly not of holy order” (198). Additionally, it is suggested that peak experiences in traditional religions differ from athletes in the flow state due to the purposes of the event. Transcendence during physical activity is for the purpose of ultimacy, “as in transformation of the world through unceasing devotion to a cause”, while religious individuals seek intimacy, “a deeper knowledge of a personal God through private meditation” (Higgs and Braswell 188). Religion is subjective, in that the beliefs, values and role vary depending on the individual. For this reason, many athletes may not attribute their success or performance during a “flow state” to a higher power or as a spiritual moment. This bias not only influences the athlete but also the researcher, for “personal perspective on religion may affect how one interprets the religious experiences reported by others” (Higdon 65). For these reasons, sport in some individual’s opinion does not qualify as a religion or have the ability to produce spiritual experiences.

PERSPECTIVE:

For those who enter and exit their house of worship the same individual, there beliefs become a source of identity. When one’s spiritual values are their identity they influence their daily life. This is considered “lived religion” “described as religion that is negotiated, adjusted, and tweaked into a form that can be 'lived', on the ground, as opposed to in books” (Hall). Thus as a believer and a sports enthusiast, one can experience mystical experiences and may attribute them to God. Indicating that sports may have all of the equivalents of religion, but it may not be justified as being a religion itself. That being said, for some fans and individuals highly involved in the sports community it may fulfill the role that religion has traditionally played. It is more appropriate to view sports as a ritual rather than a religion, doing the same actions in the same setting and atmosphere. To some these rituals may be sacred and spiritual, but these perspectives can lead to reifying sports to the degree in which the evidence supports the hypothesis. Despite this, scholars have found that “athletes describe self-transcendent experiences using ‘religious and spiritual metaphors’ that seem to point to a supernatural origin” (Watson 95). It becomes a matter of perspective; one can commonly support their argument when they are only focusing on agreeing evidence. Sports are a vehicle for experiencing the mystical dimensions on life (Watson 95), although they are not a religion themselves.

CONCLUSION:

Both religion and sport have had the ability to influence many aspects of ones life. They have been compared to such a degree that some may argue that sports is a form of religion. Due to the lack of a single universally accepted definition of religion, the distinguishing characteristics of the term vary according to the source. For this reason, sport successfully fulfills the requirements of several published definitions. Not all may accept that sport is a religion itself, but there are thousands of individuals who will give testament of having a spiritual event while participant in physical activity. Maslow’s peak experience, a moment where one has an altered state of consciousness and finds themselves confronted with the Holy One, parallels Csikszentmihalyi’s flow state in athletes. The striking similarity of the experience by those playing sport and those in a church force one to question how one can be distinguished from the other. Athletes and religious individuals both have had moments where time and space are transcendent, where they are in a state of awe and wonder and movements are effortless. The latter group will most likely attribute these events to an encounter with God, but it does not indicate that athletes have not had the same encounter. Instead of viewing sports and religion as two separate entities, it is more appropriate that sports can be an outlet for religious experience. One cannot limit the Almighty by setting constraints on what, when and how he will reach people, for who knows, maybe God wants to play ball too.

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