In the Culture War Over Sports, Faith Endures
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In the Culture War Over Sports, Faith Endures
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Even as the culture war rages, there will always be those who bravely stand for Christian principles.
From RealClearInvestigations. When the University of Oklahoma softball team showed up for the College World Series last week, reporters expected to hear pride and camaraderie from a squad on the way to winning its third consecutive national championship.
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But several star Sooners players startled the press and went viral online by declaring that their joy in Christianity trumped their considerable athletic accomplishments.
“The only way that you can have a joy that doesn’t fade away is from the Lord,” team captain Grace Lyons said. …
The comments of Lyons and her teammates, reflecting religiosity common among many athletes, suggest that media-amplified culture-war flareups in sports — epitomized last week by the Los Angeles Dodgers honoring drag-queen nun impersonators — may overlook a story of abiding faith hiding in plain sight. It’s one in which taking a knee is not necessarily a form of racial protest — and its quiet power could complicate progressive agendas for national pastimes that serve as bellwethers of social change or, conversely, enduring tradition.
Last week it became clearer what social justice advocates are up against in sport. Thousands protested outside Dodger Stadium over Friday’s pregame event feting the Catholic-mocking Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. …
In this atmosphere, conservative religious conviction in sport seems a sleeping giant. …
Today, baseball’s heavy hitters commonly point and look skyward to a higher power at the end of their home-run trots; Aaron Judge’s American League record 62 four-baggers last year can be viewed as instances of public worship witnessed by millions, even if not everyone looks at them that way. In pro football, Patrick Mahomes prays onfield, but that gets less attention than did the racially charged knee-taking of fellow quarterback Colin Kaepernick. Elsewhere, it is common for stars from basketball to boxing to thank Jesus Christ first in victorious post-competition remarks.
Such expressions by athletes today, however, do not always align with messages sent by their image-minded corporate masters.
The National Hockey League faced a kerfuffle last season when some players declined to skate in the “pride”-themed rainbow jerseys the league wanted them to wear. And, more recently, two professional baseball pitchers have found themselves out of Major League jobs for expressing their Christian belief that God frowns on homosexuality.
The Dodgers furor played out over more than a week and saw the team’s ace pitcher, Clayton Kershaw, object to the Sisters performance, which became part of the “Pride Night” the franchise has had for a decade. Kershaw was not alone, as relief pitcher Blake Treinen also spoke against the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, saying the group “openly mocks Jesus Christ, the cornerstone of my faith.” …
Trying to appease both sides, the Dodgers said they would once again host a “Christian Faith and Family Day” on June 30, an event the team last held in 2019. While Kershaw applauded the decision, at no point did the Dodgers apologize to Christian protesters, and Brian Burch, president of the national Catholic advocacy group CatholicVote, issued a statement saying, “It’s hard to interpret this announcement as anything other than a public-relations stunt intended to blunt the widespread national backlash that is only growing stronger.”
He added that “creating a ‘faith and family’ event does not balance the decision to honor a perverted, fake ‘nun’ group that exists to mock the Catholic religion. In many ways, it emphasizes the contrast, and makes our case even stronger.” …
None of these public declarations of faith by players are new wrinkles in the athletic world. In his 2009 book, “Onward Christian Athletes,” Tom Krattenmaker observed groups like the Fellowship of Christian Athletes or Athletes in Action had spent years nurturing their proselytizing networks among coaches, players and schools.
Krattenmaker said he is not sure how active those groups are today. …
But Krattenmaker said he is not surprised by clashes between jocks embracing Jesus and organizations chasing rainbows.
“There can be incredible tension between what teams want to do and some parts of their fan base,” Krattenmaker said. …
What seems clear is sports may never eliminate some religious athletes’ transcendent focus, as the Oklahoma softball team showed. …
How are you praying over sports and the culture in America? Share this article to encourage others to pray.
(Excerpt from RealClearInvestigations. Photo Credit: Getty Images)
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Thank God for the players and fans that are living their faith and speaking out God’s truth that needs so much to be heard and received. May many more people rise up and know Jesus as Savior and Lord through these precious believers and may these believers grow stronger and closer to Jesus every day as they pray and live God’s will !! Amen. 🙏Not a duplicate.
Thank God for the players and fans that are living their faith and speaking out God’s truth that needs so much to be heard and received. May many more people rise up and know Jesus as Savior and Lord through these precious believers and may these believers grow stronger and closer to Jesus every day as they pray and live God’s will !! Amen. 🙏
Thank God for the players and fans that are living their faith and speaking out God’s truth that needs so much to be heard and received. May many more people rise up and know Jesus as Savior and Lord through these precious believers and may these believers grow stronger and closer to Jesus every day as they pray and live God’s will !! Amen. 🙏
I am so Blessed as I read the prayers given by out National Chaplains. Their brave stand for the WORD of GOD, for our US Constitution, Bill of Rights, For our Executive, Legislative and Judicial branches of our GOD INSPIRED Governing System. We must with them, Humbly seek our ALMIGHTY CREATOR for HIS KINGDOM and COMPASSION to RULE on this Earth and in this Country. IN JESUS’S NAME…AMEN.!
From the Island of Guam, a U.S. territory out here in the Western Pacific: Thank you, Lord God Almighty for helping us place sports, recreation and hobbies into the proper perspective in our society at this time! I believe we in America have placed professional sports above God and families, and the recent incident of the Los Angeles Dodgers pride event have brough this sinful culture to looking at itself. What are we doing with our responsibility in handing off to the next generation? May God have mercy on us.