Line between religion and sports still cloudy
Although many people may consider sports to be a religion, Charles Prebish, Redd Chair of religious studies and the director of the religious studies program at USU, begs to differ.
Nearly every team holds chapel services the week of a game, he said, and many teams pray together before competing. However, these acts alone do not qualify sport as a religion, he said. In order for sport to be a religion it must cause a person to experience “the ultimate reality” and change a person’s life in a positive way, he said at a lecture on Oct. 8. Much of his lecture was based on his book “Religion and Sport: The Meaning of Sacred and Profane” and his 1984 article “Heavenly Father; Divine Goalie: Sport and Religion.”
“Today in college campuses the relationship between religion and sport is still cloudy,” he said.
Drawing on his past as an athlete, Prebish said he considers himself to be a “life-long jock.” After playing baseball in high school and officiating wrestling matches, he began running marathons with his wife. After writing an article for The New York Times about the relationship between religion and sport, he dug deeper into research about religion and sports, he said, the column serving as a catalyst for his involvement in this topic.
His first publication about the topic after The New York Times column was the 1984 article. In it, he said he gives the background of how sports became such a huge part of American society. He mentioned several organizations that were formed in order to promote sports and religion, he said, including Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Athletes in Actions and Pro Athlete Outreach all sought to incorporate God with sports.
When he first started presenting this information, he said he thought there would be a huge backlash of negativity. However, he said he found that more and more athletes started to seek him out and share their experiences of their “ultimate reality” in the sports world. The topic was dropped after lecturing in various locations until he was asked to give Wednesday’s lecture on it, he said. Prebish said even though his data is old and a little outdated by now, the arguments still hold and he still stands by them.
Prebish transferred from Pennsylvania State University after being recruited by USU to expand the religious studies program, something he says he is “zealously” doing.
–emily.flinders@aggiemail.usu.edu