Religion and Sport in North America: Critical Essays for the Twenty-First Century - Paperback

by Jeffrey Scholes (Editor), Randall Balmer (Editor)

From athletes praising God to pastors using sport metaphors in the pulpit, the association between sport and religion in North America is often considered incidental. Yet religion and sport have been tightly intertwined for millennia and continue to inform, shape, and critique one another. Moreover, sport, rather than being a solely secular activity, is one of the most important sites for debates over gender, race, capitalism, the media, and civil religion.

Traditionally, scholarly writings on religion and sport have focused on the question of whether sport is a religion, using historical, philosophical, theological, and sociological insights to argue this matter. While these efforts sought to answer an important question, contemporary issues related to sports were neglected, such as globalization, commercialization, feminism, masculinity, critical race theory, and the ethics of doping. This volume contains lively, up-to-date essays from leading figures in the field to fill this scholarly gap. It treats religion as an indispensable prism through which to view sports, and vice versa.

This book is ideal for students approaching the topic of religion and sport. It will also be of interest to scholars studying sociology of religion, sociology of sport, religion and race, religion and gender, religion and politics, and sport in general.

Author Biography

Jeffrey Scholes is Associate Professor and Chair in the Department of Philosophy and Director of the Center for Religious Diversity and Public Life at the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs, USA.

Randall Balmer is John Phillips Chair in Religion at Dartmouth College, USA.