Religion In Sport

Do you also notice that more and more athletes are "thanking God" when they do well or win a sports competition? Quite a few of them think that God is on their side in the games, and they believe that they wouldn't do well without his/her (let's make God bisexual since he seems to play for both the girls and boys) manipulation. If it were true that God picks sides in football games, and it isn't, it would be cheating and the athlete and his or her team would be disqualified.

Yes! That's what I want to see one day. After the big game when the star is interviewed by TV for the God fearing fans and claims that "I want to thank the almighty Jesus for helping me win today", after that admission, I want to see the referee disqualify his team for having "outside help". Maybe that would stop the crazy, mindless attributions those athletes give to God and keep religion off the playing fields and in the (empty) churches where it belongs. As if God has time to choose a winner in a track and field event, when God can't even stop real life versions of sporting events, wars, from perpetrating injustice all over the world. I say to God (I doubt God takes my advice, but I talk a lot and am delusional that a Supreme Being has a minute to listen to a lunatic like me), forget about helping at the Australian Open this year and instead intervene in those crazy Muslim religious fanatic holy wars.

I think most of the athletes we see praising the lord for help in the game really believe that God plays on their side. And that may have a placebo effect on the player, making him focus better and play well. It's similar to the Islamic terrorists telling themselves that they don't mind blowing themselves up with their suicide bombs because Allah is on their side and wants them to do it. If you delude yourself enough to think God is defending your goal with you, you probably will block more of those goal attempts by the other soccer team.

The belief that God plays sports, manipulates the outcomes and picks winners only because they are his Godly believers and buddies seems unfair to the atheists who also play sports. But then, the atheists can thank Satan after they win. Yes, I would love to hear an interview with a guy who has just won the game and announced that, "Satan was on my side. With him all things are possible." Every time one of those God fearing sports stars gives the sign or the cross or prays before the game starts, the Satanist could pull ut his or her red cape and horns and star at the Godly athlete. That would shake him from his spiritual cheating.

Maybe sports should ban all religious references during games, as they do in our public schools where prayer in school is not allowed. So why not also ban prayer on the fields of play. Maybe then, those Godly athletes would take responsibility for the outcomes of their games and believe in their own human abilities as the cause and effect of game outcomes, rather than seeing themselves as a tool used by a creator. Until then, I am just going to root for some of the more enlightened sports teams out there. You know, like the Tampa Bay Devil Rays....