Chapter 31: Sports

Abstract

This chapter details five significant intersections between sport and religion:
1. the historical connection, as pre-modern societies often viewed sports feats as ritual or worship directed to the gods;
2. how physical exertion may act as a trigger for altered states of consciousness, explaining why trials of sporting prowess merit consideration as religious acts or spiritual experiences;
3. that in the modern world, famous sportsmen and women frequently profess religious faith, and credit their success to divine intervention;
4. fan devotion to sporting stars and teams can resemble religious devotion; and
5. sports may function as a substitute for religion, or as a ‘secular religion’, for certain people in the contemporary, deregulated spiritual marketplace.

Full text

Sports!
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Carole!M.!Cusack!
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Chapter+Summary+
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This!chapter!details!five!significant!intersections!between!sport!and!religion:!
1.!the!historical!connection,!as!pre=modern!societies!often!viewed!sports!feats!as!
ritual!or!worship!directed!to!the!gods;!!
2.!how!physical!exertion!may!act!as!a!trigger!for!altered!states!of!consciousness,!
explaining!why!trials!of!sporting!prowess!merit!consideration!as!religious!acts!or!
spiritual!experiences;!!
3.!that!in!the!modern!world,!famous!sportsmen!and!women!frequently!profess!
religious!faith,!and!credit!their!success!to!divine!intervention;!!
4.!fan!devotion!to!sporting!stars!and!teams!can!resemble!religious!devotion;!and!
5.!sports!may!function!as!a!substitute!for!religion,!or!as!a!‘secular!religion’,!for!
certain!people!in!the!contemporary,!deregulated!spiritual!marketplace.!!
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Introduction++
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Both!‘Sport’!and!‘religion’!are!complex!phenomena!and!the!focus!of!contested!
definitional!debates.!Herein!‘sport’!refers!to!physical!activities!that!have!rules,!an!
element!of!competition,!and!extrinsic!measures!of!excellence,!reflecting!the!
etymology!of!athlete!“from!the!Greek!word!athlos!(‘contest’)!and!athlon!(‘prize’)”!
(Guttmann!1978,!5).!The!discipline!of!‘sport!studies’!dates!to!the!late!1960s.!Soon!
after,!African=American!sociologist!Harry!Edwards!identified!parallels!between!
sport!and!religion.!He!noted!that!sport!had!saints!(deceased!champions!who!
embodied!the!sport’s!code!in!their!playing!lives),!patriarchs!(coaches,!managers,!
and!administrators!who!run!sports!clubs!etc.),!gods!(‘stars’!worshipped!by!fans),!
high!councils!(organizations!that!interpret!the!rules!of!competition),!scribes!
(journalists!and!historians),!shrines!(museums,!halls!of!fame,!and!trophy!rooms),!
churches!or!temples!(playing!fields!and!stadia),!sacred!symbols!(club!logos!and!
memorabilia),!and!what!he!called!“seekers!of!the!kingdom”!(devoted!fans)!
(Edwards!1973,!261).!These!striking!parallels!might!be!mere!resemblances;!one!
way!to!uncover!deeper!connections!between!religion!and!sport!is!through!use!of!
the!sociological!categories!of!‘sacred’!and!‘profane’!(see!below).!
!
In!1978!sports!historian!Allen!Guttman!delineated!the!ways!that!modernity!had!
transformed!sports!from!‘ritual’!to!‘record’.!Modern!sport!is!characterised!by:!
being!secular!and!distinct!from!religion;!competition!being!open!to!all,!and!not!
only!those!from!a!particular!social!class;!professional!athletes!and!specialized!
roles!within!sports;!rationalization!through!rules!and!training!regimes;!
bureaucratization!of!competitions,!interpretation!of!rules!and!so!on;!an!emphasis!
on!quantification!and!the!measurement!of!performance;!and!finally,!the!keeping!
of!records!(Guttmann!1978,!16–55).!!
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These!changes!parallel!those!concerning!religion(s)!in!the!modern!post=
Enlightenment!West,!in!which!religion!has!become!institutionalised!and!
rationalized,!and!“there!are!no![longer]!mysterious!incalculable!forces!that!come!

into!play,!but!rather!that!one!can,!in!principle,!master!all!things!by!calculation!…!
the!world!is!disenchanted”!(Weber!2001![1948],!139).!It!is!the!secular!context!in!
which!the!Christian!narrative!has!lost!power!that!enables!previously!‘profane’!
phenomena!such!as!sports!to!become!‘sacred’.!In!a!society!lacking!a!unifying!
religious,!civil,!or!cultural!metanarrative,!individuals!are!free!to!accord!absolute!
significance!to!a!range!of!human!cultural!products,!including!sports,!rock!music,!
television!and!film,!art,!family,!and!politics.!Thus,!as!acts!of!meaning=creation!
people!elevate!personal!concerns!to!ultimate!concerns.!The!social!determination!
of!sacred!and!profane,!applied!to!popular!culture,!results!in!religious!concerns!
being!treated!as!trivial,!routine!and/or!mundane!(profane),!whereas!the!
minutiae!of!sport!are!attributed!ultimate!value!(sacred).!!
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Sport+and+Religion+in+Ancient+Rome:+The+Ritual+of+the+October+Equus+
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Sport!and!religion!have!deep!historical!connections.!Classical!Greece!and!Rome!
were!cultures!in!which!physical!exertions!were!understood,!in!certain!contexts,!
to!be!acts!of!worship!to!the!gods.!The!best=known!instance!is!the!four=yearly!
games!in!honour!of!Zeus!Olympios,!held!near!Elis!in!the!Peloponnese,!and!the!
introduction!of!which!is!dated!to!776!BCE!by!Hippias!(Cusack!2010,!920).!The!
Olympian!gods!were!capable!of!great!feats,!and!mythology!chronicles!contests!
such!as!the!musical!duel!between!Apollo!and!the!satyr!Marsyas!and!Athena’s!
weaving!competition!with!the!human!Arachne,!who!after!losing!to!the!goddess!
was!turned!into!a!spider.!The!Roman!pantheon!was!largely!imported!from!
Greece,!and!the!!ritual!analyzsed!here!is!the!sacrifice!of!the!‘October!Equus’!to!the!
war!god!Mars,!which!followed!a!chariot!race!on!the!Campus!Martius!between!
champions!of!two!neighbourhoods!of!ancient!Rome,!the!Subura!and!the!Sacra!
Via,!held!on!15!October!(the!Ides).!Charioteers!competed!for!the!head!of!the!
right=hand!horse!from!the!victorious!pair,!and!it!was!displayed!publicly!in!the!
winning!district.!!
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The!meaning!underlying!this!annual!event!is!unclear.!The!festival’s!name!has!not!
survived,!despite!it!being!mentioned!by!Plutarch,!Polybius,!and!several!other!
ancient!authors,!and!the!presiding!priest!is!similarly!unknown.!Modern!scholars!
have!suggested!three!interpretations!of!the!October!Equus:!first,!the!horse,!a!
military!animal,!is!an!appropriate!offering!to!Mars;!second,!the!ritual!preserves!
an!Indo=European!tradition!best!exemplified!by!the!Vedic!Aśvamedhá1(horse!
sacrifice);!and!third,!that!“the!horse!is!the!personification!of!the!Corn!Spirit!…!
who!is!ritually!killed!at!each!harvest”!(Pascal!1981,!264).!The!status!of!the!horse!
as!a!sacrificial!victim!was!high,!and!explanations!linking!the!October!Equus!to!the!
Indian!Aśvamedhá!stress!the!Aśvamedhá’s!closeness!to!the!Purushamedhá!
(human!sacrifice),!arguing!that!the!two!rituals!stand!in!an!analogous!relation!to!
each!other.!After!the!race,!the!horse!was!killed!with!a!spear,!and!then!
dismembered.!The!severed!head!was!taken!by!the!victorious!charioteer!and!
prominently!displayed,!either!on!the!wall!of!the!Regia,!a!shrine!in!the!Forum!
Romanum,!or!on!the!Mamilian!Tower!in!the!Subura.!!
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The!other!important!part!of!the!horse!was!the!tail,!which!was!cut!off!and!taken!to!
the!Regia,!where!the!blood!was!sprinkled!on!the!hearth!(Pascal!1981,!268).!An!
agricultural!interpretation!of!the!rite!is!supported!by!the!horse’s!head!being!

adorned!with!grains!and!loaves,!and!also!by!a!plausible!suggestion!that!the!‘tail’!
(Latin!cauda)!is!actually!the!horse’s!penis.!It!was!suggested!that!the!“tail!trophy!
is!an!attenuated!phallic!trophy”!(Devereux!1970,!300),!due!to!the!tail!being!
unlikely!to!yield!sufficient!blood!to!cover!the!hearth!of!the!Regia.!As!Mars!was!
the!chief!god!worshipped!in!the!Regia!and!the!chariot!race!took!place!on!the!
Campus!Martius!(‘field!of!Mars’),!there!is!some!support!for!the!horse!as!an!
appropriate!military!animal!to!sacrifice!to!Mars,!despite!the!rather!minor!role!
played!by!the!Roman!cavalry.!In!conclusion,!the!October!Equus!is!a!religious!rite!
that!involved!a!sporting!competition,!the!chariot!race,!which!also!featured!as!an!
event!in!the!ancient!Olympics,!as!an!act!of!devotion!to!Mars.!! ! !!!
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Sport+and+Religio?Spiritual+Experience:+Sailing,+Surfing,+and+Running+
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William!James’!The1Varieties1of1Religious1Experience!(1902)!sparked!an!ongoing!
debate!about!religion,!mysticism,!and!religious!experience.!James!defined!
religion!as!“the!feelings,!acts,!and!experiences!of!individual!men![sic]!in!solitude,!
so!far!as!they!apprehend!themselves!to!stand!in!relation!to!whatever!they!may!
consider!the!divine”!(James!2008![1902],!31).!Shirl!J.!Hoffman!observed!that!such!
feelings!are!deemed!‘religious’!depending!on!the!experiencer’s!perspective,!that!
is,!if!s/he!says!they!are!religious.!He!asked!whether,!“there!really!is!something!
inherent!in!sporting!activities!capable!of!evoking!religious!experiences”,!and!if!
“the!human!experience!of!sport!per1se!induces!…!!states!that!meet!the!criteria!for!
religious!experience!or!is!the!experience!of!sport!merely!incidental!to!their!
occurrence?”!(Hoffman!1992,!70).!!
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Physical!and!mental!discipline!enables!sportsmen!and!women!to!have!‘peak’!
experiences!as!they!push!their!bodies!to!the!limit.!Richard!Hutch’s!study!of!solo!
yachting!as!spiritual!practice!accepts!James’s!‘individualist’!definition!of!religion:!
solo!yachtsmen!and!women!are!alone,!engaging!in!a!life!and!death!struggle!that!
may!be!an!aesthetically!pleasing!activity!but!equally!may!be!an!ordeal,!such!as!
they!have!never!before!experienced.!Hutch!pits!what!he!calls!‘moral!presence,’!an!
ethical!and!spiritual!quality,!against!‘technical!self=reliance,’!an!orientation!that!is!
human=centred!and!profane.!Moral!presence!manifests!in!athletes!when!faced!
with!loss!and!failure,!and!in!solo!yachtsmen!and!women!when!the!boat’s!
technology!breaks!down,!and!can!result!in!three!types!of!spiritual!experience,!
what!Hutch!terms!technical!finesse,!cosmic!quest,!and!personal!test!(Hutch!2005,!
13–17).!!
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Bron!Taylor’s!analysis!of!surfing!spirituality!reinforces!the!notion!that!individual!
spiritual!experiences!may!be!regarded!as!equivalent!to!religion!or!mysticism!in!
secular!modernity.!Taylor!asserts!that!“there!is!a!mysterious!magic!in!surfing!
that!can!only!be!apprehended!directly!through!the!experience;!that!surfing!
fosters!self=realization;!that!commercialization!of!the!practice!is!a!defiling!act!but!
that!even!such!acts!cannot!obviate!its!spiritual!power;![and]!that!surfing!can!lead!
to!a!life!characterized!by!compassion!toward!other!living!beings”!(Taylor!2010,!
104).!He!views!surfing!as!a!manifestation!of!‘dark!green!religion’,!and!provides!
examples!of!mythology,!holy!figures!including!Duke!Kahanamoku!(1890–1968)!a!
Hawai’ian!shamanic!figure!and!Olympic!champion,!and!points!to!the!spiritual!
connections!between!surfing,!the!counterculture,!and!environmentalism!(Taylor!

2010,!105–116).!Similar!religio=spiritual!claims!have!been!made!about!running:!
Jeffrey!P.!Fry!says!that,!“the!key!is!the!intention!of!the!runner!…!almost!any!
experience!can!take!on!a!religious!quality,!depending!on!how!one!approaches!it”!
(Fry!2007,!57–58).!This!reinforces!both!Hoffman!and!James,!cited!above,!
confirming!that!individuals!craft!their!spirituality!and!religious!orientation!from!
the!experiences!they!value—be!they!of!sport,!nature,!art,!or!other!cultural!
products—deeming!them!sacred!and!according!them!religio=spiritual!value.!
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This!is!1,500!of!a!total!4,000!words.!The!editors!of!the!publication!have!
requested!that!I!not!put!the!full!text!of!the!chapter!onto!Academia.edu!