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How Can Religion And Sports Be Seen As A Religious Experience?

743 Words3 Pages

Religion and sports are similar in a lot of ways and even intersect in certain terms. Sports has been often described as a religious type of experience. This can most clearly be seen through the replication of rituals. (Kelleher, 2002). In this essay, I am going to analyze a high-school basketball, and argue how it could be potentially seen as a religious experience.
Firstly, even though they both share similar characteristics, they are not entirely similar and have different conditions to be true. Unlike religion, which does not need any empirical evidence for someone to believe, sports can be measured through data and statistics (Scholes and Sassower, 2013, p. 29). Even though critics might argue that belief is not as fundamental to sports …show more content…

For humans to connect to the divine, they use symbols such as the cross, or the bible. It is difficult for people to connect to abstract ideas of religiosity, however, these symbols serve as crucial elements (Birrell, 1981, p. 357). As the cross is a reminder of Jesus’s sacrifice on the cross, I have seen players call on the trinity before the beginning of the game, or as players point to the sky after winning their game. These symbols provide a temporary link between humans and the divine. According to its practitioners, these symbols carry the power of the divine, and a win in a basketball game might be seen as a form of divine intervention (Cheska, 1978, p. …show more content…

There have been multiple instances publicly of athletes being compared to divine figures. Famously, Lebron James was called “King James” due to fans' belief that he could save the cavaliers. Or Conor Mcdavid being nicknamed “Mcjesus”. Also, in less public cases, star players in basketball games being subbed in, due to them losing. This “Saviour” complex that has plagued athletes, does not necessarily indicate the death of religion, but a replacement of the vessel in which they are promoted (Birrell, 1981, p. 374). As secularism has taken root in the day-to-day lives of people, traditional acts of religiosity have to be replaced by alternative forms. Even though people still hold the same social values, they simply replaced the vehicle in which they are

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