Sports and Christianity

The lecture on sports and christianity gave light to a daunting reality of the dangers that sports can include. The connection that sports and Christianity share is that they have the same function because share many of the same characteristics, such as large gatherings with a common goal. Many people believe in their team in a way similar to their belief in God. People put a lot of faith and belief in the players of the game, because they believe that the players can bring them a higher level of achievement by winning. As we discussed in Lecture, this kind of worship can be seen in American school football teams like Notre Dame and Pennsylvania State.

This kind of faith in sports can also be seen in the television series Friday Night Lights, which we briefly discussed in class. This show takes place in Dillon Texas where the entire takes pride in the high school football team, the panthers. Young children look up to the panthers, many people donate thousands of dollars to fund the football program, and almost the entire town attends the Friday night games. However, this show takes a darker tone when the star quarterback becomes paralyzed during the first game of the season. This type of injury not only affected his football career (that the show indicates would have been his future), but also affects his entire life. We also see the other effects of his injuries, such as financial hardships for his family, friction between his family and the rest of the town after they file a law suit against the coach, and personal issues with accepting the fact that one moment has shaped the rest of this young man`s life, as he can never walk again.

Jason Street from Friday Night Lights 

            Football is obviously a very dangerous sport and injuries are not unexpected, but the severity of the particular injury depicted in Friday Night Lights shows how damaging these injuries can be. After hearing the lecture and looking back on the tv series, I began to question why people take sports so seriously knowing all the risks involved. Even knowing the benefits that a team can give to young people (team work, responsibility ect.) the though that these injuries occur is almost enough to re consider the advantages that sports can have.