Religion in Sports

People may watch sports because it gives them a sense of community or sense of belonging within their fan base.  You celebrate with them, you mourn with them and within this community you share similar traditions.  In terms of tradition, everyone knows the same chants, can sing the same songs, and wear the same colors.  For example, at a Boston Red Sox game everyone knows “Sweet Caroline” and every Notre Dame fan can sing their fight song at the end of every win.  This sense of tradition also helps breed superstition in which fans feel they can directly impact their team’s performance by the things they do, such as wearing the same pair of socks or sitting in the same seat every week.  The character in Bull Durham plays into this sense of community because she feels that by sleeping with players, she can directly influence their performance and this also may help play into her sense of community because she feels personally connected with the teams success. 

So whether it’s wearing the same socks, or sleeping with the players, superstition is a large part of sports.  Its not only fans, but the players as well, Michael Jordan wore his North Carolina Basketball shorts underneath his Chicago Bulls shorts every game (and apparently it worked out pretty well for him).  Fans’ superstition also expands into marketing campaigns, and companies appeal to the fans’ consumerist interests.  Campaigns such as “Be Like Mike” or “Bo Knows” capitalize on fans’ obsessions of sports icons, and attempt to sell products with player’s names on it.  Fans buy these products under the false illusions that the t-shirt or shoes they wear will somehow improve their performance and they will play like their favorite superstar.               

Jordan, Jesus, and Ritual

        Different religions have inspired faith in fanatics and have used rituals to express devotion for hundreds of years; we've found that sports' institutions have offered individuals the same.
Laderman discusses the immortality that arises from a hero. In Christianity, fanatics are often inspired and motivated by Jesus to do and be good. Laderman points out the "immortality...and iconic status" (61) of Michael Jordan even when his basketball career has come to a close. Critics might argue against the immortality of Jesus' spirit, but no could deny the power of his being that lives on in countless Christians. In this same way, Jordan doesn't "fade from the public eye," he "remains an irresistible figure in American and global cultures," where "millions consume, and are consumed by, his unique spirit." (61)
          Another similarity between sports and religion are the rituals involved. There are many rituals performed by both the players and the spectators. For instance, in Bull Durham, Annie Savoy says “there's never been a ballplayer slept with me who didn't have the best year of his career.” Sleeping with Annie is a ritual performed by many baseball players because they believed that it influenced their playing skills. In reality, the two seem uncorrelated, but that is the beauty of a ritual. Rituals in religion are often irrational, but people believe that they will have an impact, just like the baseball players in the movie. 

            

         

The fanatics that religion and sports attract invoke similar idolizing of heroes in different religions, and rituals offer players meaningful practices in the same way rituals function in common religions.

Relevant Christian Rock Rituals

How have Christian churches responded to the pervasive ritualistic culture of rock concerts?


Rituals provide places of safety in which individuals can access and play with the sacred. Although normally associated with baptisms, Bot Mitzvas, and funerals, rituals can also take the form of concerts and raves. In many ways, concerts have served more ritualistic purposes than church services of late, by providing "the possibility for fulfillment and transcendence individually and with others" that many churches have lacked (Laderman, 39).


The few churches, like Hillsong, that have adapted their ritualistic processes to meet the current culture have been critiqued as having thin theological practices and being opaque in their beliefs. Hillsong itself provides a Christian rock concert vibe, and “In sensory stimulation, Hillsong’s productions rival any other contemporary form of entertainment" (Paulson). It is this ritual change that has not only drawn tens of thousands of people to its churches around the world, but has enabled Hillsong to share other Christian rituals with thousands of people who have never heard of God. In this way, Hillsong’s ritualistic concert services have become a “prosperity movement for the millennials” that have converted rock fans, hipsters, and celebrities, like Justin Bieber, alike into Hillsong groupies and have brought relevance back to Christian rituals (Paulsong). This freedom and love that Hillsong provides in its concerts has opened the world of Christianity back up to people seeking the "sacred source of religious life" in music that has been devoid of so many Christian churches of late (Laderman, 24).





Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/10/us/hillsong-megachurch-with-a-beat-lures-a-young-flock.html?_r=0

Music AS Ritual

Music AS Ritual

      In chapter 5 of Sacred Ritual, Livingstone writes, "Rituals are found in every human community and are a primary means of social communication and cohesion... Rituals range from simple gestures, like bowing or shaking hands, to elaborate ceremonial dramas." There is no debate that music is a concrete source of ritual across many religions. For example, most Jewish, Christian, and Muslim practices involve some sort of musical recitation that occurs on daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly bases. In accordance with Livingstone's statement that rituals bring cohesion and communities together, for these religions, participants come together to "perform" these religious musical recitations, creating a larger sense of community among them. However, can musical rituals exist outside of religious practices, or do they then become just simple routines? It is important to note the fundamental difference between routines and rituals. Routines occur in an unchanging time and place, week after week at the same time going through the same motions one's accustomed to. Rituals, on the other hand, are generally an out-of-body experience that take one out of their routine, bringing meaning the boring repetitiveness of one's routine life. So, in what ways can a non-religious musical activity classify as a ritual?

     An example that comes to mind is the widespread theme of athletes, both professional and nonprofessional, listening to music in solitude for extended periods of times before games (interestingly enough often referred to as a part of pre-game rituals). While one might argue that this is simply a routine, something that athletes simply just consistently do before games, it is important to acknowledge the reason these athletes partake in this ritual. Athletes use their music and this solitary time to calm themselves and take their minds off of everything else going on in their life other than the game they're about to participate in. By the definition of ritual, this rapid change of mindset brought on by music takes athletes out of their everyday lives and into a zone that they sustain for the remainder of the contest.

     

Religion, Rituals & Music: Quite an Af"fair"

You may have heard of a musical routine, but have you ever heard of a music ritual? Both seem to mean a similar thing. When something is routine, you do it over and over again. Rituals, as one author puts it, are found in every human community; the word rite derives from a Greek word meaning “a thing done” to achieve a specific end (Livingstone 98.) Yet how can a music be something so liberating, and also be a ritual, when you follow certain guidelines?

Although it may not be as clear-cut as that, (liberating vs. guidelines), there’s an interplay here between liberty and constraint, ritual and improvisation, inherent in musical performances. 

It’s almost undeniable that music is a powerful thing. David Laderman writes that for many people, the physical and visual/sensory stimulations found in the music scene create a “sacred mix that has the power to transform identity, offer revelations, and provide liberation.” Bodily movement and proximity to others are found at music festivals, and religious gatherings. Is circling around the Kaaba in Mecca completely different than circling in a mosh pit at a metal concert? Yes, they do have many differences. But they both use certain patterns of movement to achieve an out-of-the-ordinary sensation, and a sense of community.

Many have said they have a “spiritual experience” at  concert – but what do they mean by that? If we look at religious ritual, which can be defined as “an agreed-on and formalized pattern of ceremonial movements and verbal expressions carried out in a sacred context” (Livingstone 98), then we can see that the “sacred” is a key part in this experience. What is the sacred? Deriving from Greek, it means to something set apart, away from the mundane. And when do you ordinarily “sing and dance and groove with others ” in public, other than at a music event (Laderman 32)? Or other than at church or a religious space? There is a specialness and sacredness in the newness, proximity to others, and routine that music and strictly religious rituals facilitate.

Where did I see this ritual the most? At the New York Sate Fair. It seems like an unexpected place to find the sacred: I doubt many see the divine among corndog and fried Oreo stands. But music and rituals were everywhere. I turned one corner, and there’s a Iroquois Village. I sat and watched people from numerous different tribes sing, play traditional drums, and dance the Shadow Dance. This was different than the carnival ride; it was sacred. I could tell this was a mix of music and ritual: I knew when to sit and applaud, and they knew when to dance, turn, even in improvisation. It was without a doubt that this music had a large tie to their heritage, while creating a sense of liberation from their everyday lives and community.

As I continued walking along the signs for ice cream and a barn full of prized sheep, I also saw another example of how religion influences the style of music. I heard a powerful Gospel band preaching and praising the Lord, and hands were raised, Amens were said, heads nodded along.

But after the sun slipped over the horizon, I made way for my religious ritual. I entered a closed off area: a space set apart and scared from the rest. We all huddled and faced the front, knew when to sit for the ballads, and stood up and jumped for the techno hits. I thought of the women shouting for Jesus at the Gospel concert earlier, and I and hundreds of people shouted our praise for Young the Giant. I wore a creamy fringe top and a flower in my hair: a costume out of the ordinary for me, but strangely liberating. I could be a part of a community of flower children, seeing a free concert and rebelling against consumeristic people in their 40s – we were enclosed in our special arena of good harmonies and smiling faces.

One Associated Press story said that the experience of (crunk) music is “reminiscent of a religious experience” (Laderman 38). I’d argue that it’s a deeply ingrained religious experience rather than just a lingering feeling. Music involves a type of spontaneity because you never quite know what the set list is, or who will be standing in your row, but you’re bound to belong, and know when to sway and sing along. I saw at the State Fair that  some musical rituals are easier to spot than other, but I think religious rituals are aspects of many “life-changing” and liberating musical performances.   

Moshing as Ritual

   One of the defining features of a live punk show is a form of dancing called moshing. Audience members form a circle to push and slam into each other, their aggressive dancing encouraged and potentiated by their favorite punk bands' music. While critics of moshing see it as nothing more than violence, mosh pits actually have strong religious and ritualistic components. Livingstone defines religious rituals as “an agreed-on and formalized pattern of ceremonial movements and verbal expressions carried out in a sacred context.” Mosh pits provide a sacred space for fans to deeply connect with each other and the music. They also provide a space for religious behavior, where secular concerns and the demands of ‘polite’ society melt away.  

There are ritualized components to moshing: the unspoken rules regarding acceptable and unacceptable behavior, the specific time and place it happens, and the reliance on the music. But the mosh pit also allows participants the freedom to e

ngage with the music that is meaningful to them in whatever way they choose. Much like catching the spirit in a Baptist Church, mosh pits are a place of spiritual awakening, a “sacred time and place that is marked by the convergence of music, ritual, and religious experience” (Laderman). Moshing is a complex religious ritual based around music that invigorates and revitalizes participants to face the challenges of their everyday lives.

What Does It Take To Have An "Authentic" Religion?

What does it take to have an "authentic" religion? In Kumare, Vikram Ghandi tries to explore this question by creating a "fake" religion to see whether people would actually follow it or not. To much of his surprise, the experiment worked as Kumare got at least 14 followers as the movie progressed. In the end, Kumare's teachings and practices were so powerful that even after the truth came out, ten people still stayed loyal to him.

So how did Kumare's "fake" religion become "authentic"? First of all, Ghandi created a series of myths (about his identity and origins), rituals ("the blue light"), and symbols (the staff) that formed the basis of his teachings. Originally "fake" and meaningless, these elements become "authentic" and meaningful as the practice of Kumare's teachings evolves into a transcending experience for the followers. The teachings are "fake" at first but turn to be "authentic" because they answer the people's needs and guide them through their lives. By becoming an experience rather than an experiment, Kumare's religion becomes "authentic" as well since it represents a way of life rather than a simple routine. Therefore, a religion is authentic as long as it is a guiding experience, based on certain myths, rituals and symbols, that creates a meaningful environment for its followers.