"Serious sport has nothing to do with fair play…it is war minus the shooting."
The emergence of born-again sport
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Brian W W Aitken, Studies in Religion, 1989 , Volume 18, Issue 4
The emergence of born-again sport, Brian W W Aitken, Studies in Religion, 1989 , Volume 18, Issue 4https://doi.org/10.1177/000842988901800401
The article looks at the emergence of a “symbiotic link between evangelical Christianity and high level sport in North America”. While noting that Frank Deford had coined the phrase “Sportianity”, Aitken prefers “born-again sport”.
The article begins with an account of FCA and AIA. FCA ‘s purpose is stated as “to confront athletes and coaches and through them the youth of the nation with the challenge and adventure of following Christ”. It is stated that most members are white male.
It is stated that all 51 professional baseball and football teams have prayer groups and hold Sunday services. FCA gives most of the leadership to these pro teams. [I don't think that is correct as PAO, Baseball Chapel etc are the ministries I would associate with ministry in pro sports]. AIA Is stated to be more diverse with women and black athletes involved. The purpose of AIA is “to use the ready-made platform of sports to share the adventure and excitement of following Christ”.
The article then moves on to a “critical assessment of born-again sports organisations”. The belief systems of the two organisations is said to involve “an acceptance of Old Testament morality, conservative politics and belief in the traditional family”. The author states that he attended a number of events and took a headcount and found the figures considerably lower than those claimed by the organisation. He also said that the majority of Christian athletes come from a conservative evangelical background so that the organisations tend to re convert the converted.
The article states that FCA, AIA and all evangelical churches approach sport with a utilitarian mentality, as a good vehicle for getting a message across. Parallels with Catholic universities and Wes Neal’s total release performance are mentioned. Neal is quoted as saying that Jesus could have turned back from his mission but he didn't because he was a winner. There's another quote from Deford “Jesus has been transformed, emerging anew as a holler guy, a hustler, a give it 100 percenter”. The article says that for Christian Football players the greatest conundrum is how much violence is acceptable.
Aitken makes an observation that pastoral concern is a low priority, despite the high stress that athletes experience. He further states that he found evidence of a “deep seated belief that faith heals all ills - that once a player is converted to evangelical Christianity, all the problems that emerge in the stressful world of professional sport will disappear. However what is most obvious to me is it neither FCA nor AIA gives pastoral work a high priority their major concern is witnessing and conversion." Another interesting judgment is “FCA and AIA have their roots in American evangelical Christianity but tend to glorify the American way of life and its emphasis on success, hard work, conspicuous consumption, loyalty to authority, the nuclear family and right wing politics”.
In one section, the author asks what are the consequences of combining sport and religion - for sport and for religion. “Born-again athletes do not view sport as having any value in itself. Sport is an instrument to be used for evangelization”. Deford is quoted saying things that Tom Krattenmaker expressed well in his book: concern that no one speaks out against dirty play, evils of recruiting, racism, sexism etc. The solution proposed by the two ministries is to get the players saved!
After describing examples of black or white magic, voodoo, team witch doctors etc, the author concludes “in practice most born-again athletes use prayer to influence God to help their team win or to help them perform well”.
The author states that he asked a number of born-again athletes if they experienced any high when they played…any sense of God's presence during the game?” and that he received a negative answer from every athlete. [My own experience of talking to athletes is that many feel that using their talents in a sporting context is part of their worship].
In the final section, the author evaluates the views of Robert J Higgs, Michael Noak and Charles Prebisch on the nature of sport in relation to religion.
Despite being 35 years old, the paper contains some excellent analysis and useful insights.