...At first glance, sport and religion appear to have little in common, apart from being perennial human activities. Religion is transcendent, concerned with the divine, and involves sacred things. Sport is immanent, concerned with the human, and involves profane things. However, a deeper examination reveals that there are at least five ways in which sport and religion are deeply interrelated: first, it can be demonstrated that, in pre-modern societies, ritualized sport was very often part of worship of the gods; second, altered states of consciousness attained during sport have frequently been compared to religious or mystical experiences; third, some modern sporting champions have professed religious faith and attributed their success to divine power; fourth, the devotion of fans to sporting teams and individual “stars” resembles religions fervor; fifth and final, in the modern West, sport has become a functional equivalent of religion for some people. These connections between religion and sport are undeniable, but not uncontroversial. Scholars and critics who have attempted to articulate them and offer explanations for them have encountered pitfalls. Adherents of traditional religions such as Judaism and Christianity have vigorously objected to the equation of sport with religion and of sporting “peak experiences” with religious experiences or mysticism. Christian commentators have questioned how compatible the modern sporting ethos of bodily perfection and fierce competition...
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...Sports are a form of entertainment that nowadays occupy a big part in the everyday life of many people. They often gather together to play, discuss, watch and enjoy some kind of sport. Sports became a tool and an excuse for social gathering and events where friends and strangers cheer and fight united to show their support for a team or individual. With the birth of new religions and religious movements in the last century, a new dilemma raised: can a sport be a religion? In my opinion, I do not think sport can enter in the category of religion; however, I can see why other people may think otherwise and perhaps in the future, actually become something more. In order to be able to answer the question proposed above, there is the need...
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...of that time, time came where physical exercises were approved (Christensen & Levinson, 2003). Gymnastics and Palestra were fully welcomed by Clemens of Alexandria. Men were permitted to wrestle with naked bodies and play with the ball. The principle of cultural continuity – people are willing to adopt a new religion to the extent that it retains cultural continuity with conventional religions that they are already in. For instance, as Christianity...
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...Sports as well as other aspects of entertainment in America growing extremely popular and having begun to exceed and take the place of religious views as well as time for worship. Many people choose to label sports as one of their top priorities, over countless additional important aspects such as, school, church, family, etc. As professional sports have grown in America, they have gained great popularity and good reputation due to the competitive games which take place, showcasing teams thriving at that specific time. Today’s society has strayed away from religious aspects and morals shifting to a more secular way of life by showcasing professional sports on religious holidays and on the “Sabbath” the holy day and day of rest, Sunday. Sports are clearly attracting strong adherents as religion continues shedding them away. As sports in American are growing popular religion is on the opposite trajectory and is losing influence in the country. Just fifty years ago, three in every 10 Americans considered themselves sports fans. In 2012, the same data was...
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...Sociology of Sport Due date: Teacher: Introduction Sociology is the study of human behavior and social interactions within particular contents. Sports sociology examines sports as a part of cultural and social life, and adds a different dimension and perspective to the study of sports and exercise. More specifically, sports sociology examines the relationship between sports and society and seeks answers to many issues and questions regarding sports and culture. Sports are a pervasive part of culture and are considered to be social constructions within society created by groups of individuals and based on values, interests, needs, and resources. Sport forms are created by groups of individuals. Each culture creates and uses sports for its own purposes; therefore, sports take different forms from culture to culture. It is only since 1970 that sports sociology has gained significant attention as a serious area of study. This is in part owing to the increasing major role sports play in our lives and the intellectual traditions in both physical education and sociology. In 1978, the North American Society for the Sociology of Sport was organized as a professional association; and its scholarly outlet for research, the Sociology of Sport Journal, was established in 1984. The International Committee for Sociology of Sport is acknowledged within the International Sociological Association, and both groups co-sponsor the International Review for the Sociology of Sport. Another scholarly...
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...Traditional and Contemporary Religions: Religious Features of Weightlifting Introduction Religion has evolved from a belief of a spiritual being. Many aspects of life and activities can be considered a religion depending on the context. Several sports, such as baseball and football, have been analyzed and identified as a religion. However, no research has yet to determine whether weightlifting can correspond as a religion. Through peer reviewed sources, fitness articles, a self case study and qualitative research, it is possible to identify the religiousness of weightlifting. Key Definitions of Religion Gautheir (2004) examined the factors that make a contemporary religion using raving as the subject. Raving focuses on meaning, intensity and community, with the usage of psychedelics a sense of collective euphoria is associated with the sacred experiences ravers feel making it like a religion (Gautheir, 2004). Blazer (2012) correlates sports and religion, stating that sports are considered a religion when the definitions are of: communities, creed, code and cultuses. Similarly, Woodhead (2011) offers a comprehensive definition of religion by breaking it down to five categories: culture, identity, relationship, practice and power. Both sports and religion have concerns, social systems, traditions, symbols and gather communities together (Stuhlsatz, 1994). Blazer's (2012) explanation of communities: as groups of people either formally...
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...of Prayer in Sport: Implications for Sport Psychology Consulting Nick J. Watson & Daniel R. Czech 1) The purpose of this report is more towards enrichment of human understanding. Why the use of religion has become so popular in sports. To help the audience understand the importance of religion in sport. 2) The relationship between the author and the audience is one that is not formal. While the author is not persuading the audience to agree or disagree on the subject, he is allowing the audience to gain a understanding on the topic. 3) This report came up in the first place because of the popularity in the subject. The rise of religion in sports made this report relevant. 4) The author does a good job comparing facts and conclusions as they are very clearly stated. The author does a good job breaking down his topics into different sections and explaining his arguments through resources and statistics. 5) In my report there was a good use of usability. The headings and fonts were appropriate depending on the section and the structure of the report was organized to help the reader understand what lead to the writing of this report and another section for what will happen in the future. Some things to help usability in this report would be visuals of pictures or statistics or bullet points to help the reader obtain the most important facts to know about religion and sports. 6) The language in this report is non-formal. The author is talking about how religion can affect...
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...examples of the personal functions of sport such as feelings of belongingness and social identification, the socially acceptable outlet for hostile and aggressive feelings, and the role sport plays as a cultural element to bring meaning to life. Additional attention will be given to aspects of extra-sport character behavior and a determination of whether or not such behaviors support sport stereotypes and/or deviant characteristics. Through internet research, library study, and the use of periodical articles found in the ProQuest databases, I intend to apply the functionalist model of society to show that the fictional football team “The Miami Sharks” highlighted in the movie supports stability and equilibrium in the community of Miami based on common interests and convictions. The world of professional sports, especially professional football, is a world that most will only see on the television or through movies. “Any Given Sunday,” by Oliver Stone, is one such movie. It highlights a portion of a season for the fictional team The Miami Sharks with the interpersonal struggles on and off the field experienced by the characters related to the team. This paper explores the movie “Any Given Sunday” and attempts to discuss the movie in detail by focusing on the socially acceptable outlet for hostile and aggressive feelings, masculinity and gender roles, religion in sport, race in sports, character examples of the personal functions of sport such as feelings of belongingness...
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...GCSE RS REVISION QUESTIONS Religion and Relationships 01 Give two responsibilities that couples accept when they marry. (2 marks) Give two reasons why couples divorce (2 marks) Give two ways in which couples can commit to each other (2marks) 0 2 Explain the ways in which religious belief might influence the choice of a marriage partner. (4 marks) Explain the attitude of religious believers to problems in marriage and divorce (4marks) Explain the ways in which religious belief might influence the choice of an abortion (4 marks) 0 3 ‘Marriage vows are out of date.’ What do you think? Explain your opinion. (3 marks) ‘Marriage is old fashioned these days’ What do you think? Explain your opinion.(3 marks) ‘Divorce is always wrong’ What do you think? Explain your opinion. (3 marks) 0 4 Explain briefly religious teachings about the use of contraception within marriage. (3 marks) Explain briefly religious teachings about marriage and divorce (3 marks) Explain briefly religious teachings about marriage and parenting (3Marks) 0 5 ‘Couples should marry before they have children.’ Do you agree? Give reasons for your answer, showing that you have thought about more than one point of view. Refer to religious arguments in your answer. (6 marks) ‘There shouldn’t be an age of consent’ Do you agree? Give reasons for your answer, showing that you have thought about more than one point of view. Refer to religious arguments in your...
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...written task. Discrimination against women in sports. To my fellow sports fans: As we know, football is one of the most favourite sports in the world, because of the stamina and the skills required. It is an exciting sport to watch. Many people love the sport, but not everyone has the the privilege to play football due to their gender. Women also love the sport but they are often discriminated against in several ways like not letting them wear the Hijabs, not paying them well, not letting them be in higher position in leadership role in sports, not giving them much media coverage or sponsorship etc. I’m going to discuss more about these problems that need to be solved so that women can also have a chance of playing the sport they want as men do. Women from some Muslim countries are required to wear their hijab at all times as a respect to muslim religion. Recently, in the 2012 olympics which was held in the U.K , the Iranian women’s football team had been disqualified against Jordan before the match even started because they want to wear their Hijab while playing. The Iranian women’s football team were sent home the next day leaving the female players in tears. The rules and regulation by the FIFA board stated “We are committed to a diverse culture. There shall be no discrimination as a result of race, ethnicity, origin, skin colour, nationality, religion, age, gender, language, physical appearance, sexual orientation or political opinion, or engagement in any kind of...
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...Charles Studd, Bud Schaeffer and Gil Dodds. Each of these men had different interpretations of muscular Christianity based off of their backgrounds. Mathisen compared each interpretation and created a timeline of contributions to the rise of modern day religious sport culture. Past to Present: The Influence of “Muscular Christianity” Muscular Christianity is a religious connection of Christianity to physical well-being. Many organizations today are influenced by this modern day form of Christianity. The YMCA an organization we are all familiar with is a prime example of combining religious values with healthy living. The YMCA’s mission incorporates values such as honesty, responsibility, and caring. They focus on youth development and physical health. Youth ministries are included in their programs for youth. The YMCA is an organization founded from the past contributions of the individuals Mathisen listed in his article. The organizations like this one have such positive effects on our youth. They provide safe and fun learning environments for academics and religous purposes. The purpose of Mathisen’s article was to explain how Gil Dodds was the most influential individual in the creation of the modern day sports...
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...Barstool is different than these other websites because of their feelings towards what they call “stealing their schtick.” For example, Clay Travis is a blogger and sports television personality that focusses on sports in the south. When Clay Travis began to use terms and inside jokes there were originated by Barstool, Dave Pourtnoy and the bloggers initiated what they called “internet warfare.” They asked all stoolies to attack Travis on all forms of social media. The barrage of social media attacks was not stopped until Clay Travis was...
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...‘Weapons Training’ and ‘Life cycle’ . Dawe has used language in many interesting ways to capture human experience and has successfully drawn the attention of the reader through this use of vivid imagery and realistic tone. He has used a variety of language techniques to help bring his poetry to life and as a result, has helped the reader feel involved in what is happening. This causes the reader to sympathise with the human experiences that Dawe is describing. The language techniques in Dawes poetry are very imaginative and creative . The purpose of ‘weapons training ’ is to show the dehumanisation of the training for war in the 1970s on the other hand in the poem ‘Life Cycle’ the purpose is to portray that VFL is more than sport, it is a religion to the persona. The tone of ‘Weapons Training’ is very aggressive and abusive whereas ‘Life Cycle’ is very proud of being a fan and follower of VFL and his team. In ‘Weapons Training’ Bruce Dawe has used language to capture human experience through the use of the rhetorical question used in line 4, ‘are you queer?’. The use of this rhetorical question sets the tone of this human experience/ poem, the tone of brutalisation, of turning a man into a machine, a machine with no feelings or emotions. Questioning a mans sexuality is a great insult to a man, as it portrays to the man that they are weak and un-manly. Insulting a man in this experience was training them to be immune to insults and to make them a lot stronger, mentally...
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...Country Analysis: Russia MBA Fall 2015 International Management in Sport and Entertainment Table of Contents Country Analysis: Russia 1 Introduction 1 Economic Environment 1 Political and Legal Environment 2 Culture 2 Conclusion 6 Country Analysis: Russia Introduction Russia is the world’s largest nation, covering 6,5 million square miles, with a population of 143 million people recorded in 2014. Russia borders European and Asian countries as well as the Pacific and Arctic oceans. In order to make a decision, concerning the market expansion of an organization into Russia, the economic environment as well as the political and legal environment will be analyzed with a focus on the cultural aspects. Economic Environment Russia is one of the BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa), which are projected to be the fastest growing emerging economies, with a combined GDP of $16 trillion. With a GDP of $2.6 trillion, Russia is a leading exporter of natural gas and oil and is the fifth largest economy in the world. Services are the largest sector of the economy and accounts for 58 percent of the GDP. The most important segments in services include wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles, motorcycles and personal and household goods. This represents 17 percent of total GDP; public administration, health and education (12 percent); real estate (9 percent) and transport storage and communications (7 percent). Industry contributes...
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...in its entirety, and how exactly certain traditional aspects have influenced societies within Australia. The purpose of this research was to not only discover how exactly Japanese culture is recognised within Australian society today; but also to identify how Australians have gravitated towards the culture in general, allowing for major aspects to become part of their everyday life. The start of this research began to look at past views of Japan in Australia (which covered the White Australia Policy, and attitudes during and after World War II), and contrasted this with Australians present day perspectives of Japan. The research then continued to look at traditional cultural aspects of Japan such as; Japanese dining and mannerisms, sport, religion and spirituality, and visual arts, and then continued to discuss exactly how these aspects have impacted and influenced Australia and its members of society. The findings of this research reached a conclusion that although Japan was once perceived extremely negative by Australians, its influence within the Australian wider community is not only undeniable, but immensely beneficial and constructive to society. Introduction The culture of Japan is a multi-layered and intricate system that has been developed and sustained for over thousands of years. The Japanese culture combines both ancient and contemporary aspects, allowing it to become one of the most prestigious and influential civilisations. Due to this, the Japanese culture...
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