Baseball As Civil Religion
Alaa alghamdi
TRS 388
Midterm exam
PART I:
1.
Baseball is a game whose roots can be traced in America. According to Evans the game represented an intrinsic uniqueness that reflected the character of America itself. In America, to know baseball is to continue to aspire to the condition of freedom individually and as a people for baseball is grounded in a way distinct to their games. Simply, baseball accentuates American virtues as personal liberty and collective freedom. It is an embodiment of what scholars have defined as civil religion. The civil religion describes how Americans throughout the nation’s history have created a collective national identity through bestowing sacred meaning on a variety of secular symbols and rituals. The religion seeks to relate how God bestows …show more content…
on America’s unique place among family of nations. Understanding baseball as a manifestation of civil religion we see the game that was promoted for virtues related to both recreation and health.
Yet, it was also an egalitarian game whose prognosticators preached a gospel that everyone had a chance to play and excel through determination. Women and children could play for fun.
It was largely through Chadwick’s efforts that the sport was united around a common set of rules that set parameters straight for the rise of professional baseball in the 1860s. Chadwick became the first great evangelist who devoted writing to promote baseball as a merely pure American enterprise. (Gmelch, 2002) From the beginning of history baseball’s virtues were inextricably tied to American male. Rise of the sport in 1870s was centered on a belief that it was one that could be enjoyed by everyone. This was important to promote equality in gender. Needless to say, in the mythology of baseball civil religion baseball was trained young American boys virtues of hard work and perseverance. While the sport undoubtedly requires unique athletic skills, civil religion connected the origins of basketball to a sense of pastoral purity.(Gmelch,
2002)
References
Bayer, O. (2008). Martin Luther’s Theology: A contemporary interpretation.
Bellah, R.N. (1967). Civil religion in America. Journal of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 96 (1): 1-21.
Block, D., & Wiles, T. (2006). Baseball before we knew it a search for the roots of the game. University of Nebraska Press.
Dailey, T.F. (2002). Believing in baseball: the religious power of our national pastime. The Salesian Center for Faith and Culture.
Evans, C., & Herzog, W. (2002). The faith of fifty million. Louisville, Ky.: Westminster John Knox Press.
Hall, M. (1997). The big book of Sumo: History, Practice, Ritual, Fight. Stone Bridge Press.
Hoffman, S.J. (2010). Good Game: Christianity and the Culture of Sports. Baylor University Press.
Gerrish, R.A. (2004). The place of Calvin in Christian theology. Found in McKim, Donald K., The Cambridge Companion to John Calvin. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Jable, J.T. (1976). The English puritans-suppressors of sport and amusement? Canadian Journal of History of Sport & Physical Education, 7(1): 33-40.
Kelly, P. (2012). Catholic perspectives on sports. New York: Paulist Press.
Leach, E. (2013). The Structural Study of Myth and Totemism
Overman, S.J. (2011). The Protestant ethic and the spirit of sport: How Calvinism and Capitalism shaped America’s games. Macon, GA: Mercer University Press.
Class slides “Sports in Greece Paul and Cultural Continuity”
TRS 388
Midterm exam
PART I:
1.
Baseball is a game whose roots can be traced in America. According to Evans the game represented an intrinsic uniqueness that reflected the character of America itself. In America, to know baseball is to continue to aspire to the condition of freedom individually and as a people for baseball is grounded in a way distinct to their games. Simply, baseball accentuates American virtues as personal liberty and collective freedom. It is an embodiment of what scholars have defined as civil religion. The civil religion describes how Americans throughout the nation’s history have created a collective national identity through bestowing sacred meaning on a variety of secular symbols and rituals. The religion seeks to relate how God bestows …show more content…
on America’s unique place among family of nations. Understanding baseball as a manifestation of civil religion we see the game that was promoted for virtues related to both recreation and health.
Yet, it was also an egalitarian game whose prognosticators preached a gospel that everyone had a chance to play and excel through determination. Women and children could play for fun.
It was largely through Chadwick’s efforts that the sport was united around a common set of rules that set parameters straight for the rise of professional baseball in the 1860s. Chadwick became the first great evangelist who devoted writing to promote baseball as a merely pure American enterprise. (Gmelch, 2002) From the beginning of history baseball’s virtues were inextricably tied to American male. Rise of the sport in 1870s was centered on a belief that it was one that could be enjoyed by everyone. This was important to promote equality in gender. Needless to say, in the mythology of baseball civil religion baseball was trained young American boys virtues of hard work and perseverance. While the sport undoubtedly requires unique athletic skills, civil religion connected the origins of basketball to a sense of pastoral purity.(Gmelch,
2002)
References
Bayer, O. (2008). Martin Luther’s Theology: A contemporary interpretation.
Bellah, R.N. (1967). Civil religion in America. Journal of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 96 (1): 1-21.
Block, D., & Wiles, T. (2006). Baseball before we knew it a search for the roots of the game. University of Nebraska Press.
Dailey, T.F. (2002). Believing in baseball: the religious power of our national pastime. The Salesian Center for Faith and Culture.
Evans, C., & Herzog, W. (2002). The faith of fifty million. Louisville, Ky.: Westminster John Knox Press.
Hall, M. (1997). The big book of Sumo: History, Practice, Ritual, Fight. Stone Bridge Press.
Hoffman, S.J. (2010). Good Game: Christianity and the Culture of Sports. Baylor University Press.
Gerrish, R.A. (2004). The place of Calvin in Christian theology. Found in McKim, Donald K., The Cambridge Companion to John Calvin. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Jable, J.T. (1976). The English puritans-suppressors of sport and amusement? Canadian Journal of History of Sport & Physical Education, 7(1): 33-40.
Kelly, P. (2012). Catholic perspectives on sports. New York: Paulist Press.
Leach, E. (2013). The Structural Study of Myth and Totemism
Overman, S.J. (2011). The Protestant ethic and the spirit of sport: How Calvinism and Capitalism shaped America’s games. Macon, GA: Mercer University Press.
Class slides “Sports in Greece Paul and Cultural Continuity”