Prayer in sports --- should it be allowed or banned? There are people on both side of the issue; however, I am 100% for prayer in sports. Last time I checked, America was founded on the belief of God and the freedom of religion. Our great Nation is “One Nation Under God” (http://tinyurl.com/bxk4qrr) not “One Nation Under Nothing"!
In East Brunswick, N.J., Coach Borden is defending himself in a courtroom over praying with his football team before games. Coach Wolf, a coach at Brick Township High School, supports Borden’s stance on prayer by exclaiming “When you pray, you pray that nobody gets hurt on either team. You pray that God looks after all the boys playing in the game. If that's wrong, I don't understand why." (http://tinyurl.com/acct9a9). Based on my research regarding the issue of prayer in sports, the majority of people that were offended by prayer were the people in the stands not the players.
Gary Bergel wrote an article on the 1962 law which banned prayer in schools and stated that since that time there has been a moral decline in youth, family, and education (http://tinyurl.com/386wfmt). Yet, a 2008 Gallup poll revealed that 94% of Americans believe in God or the existence of a universal spirit (http://tinyurl.com/bb7o5kd).
Should a nation founded on God really change everything that it was founded on and stands for simply to make a vocal minority happy? Is prayer hurting anyone? No one is holding a gun to anyone’s head making them pray. Coaches and players pray more than anything out of superstition. Has our great nation really come to this? If prayer is not allowed in schools and athletics then we might as well be a country that doesn’t allow the freedom of religion. Banning of prayer is the persecution of God-fearing American people.
I would have to agree with prayer in sports. Since I started playing football in junior high, the team I have been on has prayed before and after the game. If there happens to be a player who does not want to pray, they simply just sit there quietly while the others pray. One season our team had a Muslim and two Budhist. These players had no problem with the Christian prayer, just as the Christian players had no issue with their prayers. In fact in one game, which was 3pm start, during halftime the Muslim prayer needed to pray. The coaches and players respected this and there was no issue. religion is about strong belief and tolerance. It's not anything to be afraid of.
ReplyDeleteI agree, if teams aren't allowed to pray then we shouldn't be allowed to be "One Nation Under God". It eliminates what our country stands for and the belief that “God” or some higher spirit does exist. Being an athlete if we didn’t pray before a game and ask that every player remains safe, that no one gets hurt, and to help us to play like we know we can there was no way that we would even think about having a good game. Like you said most coaches and players want to pray because they feel that without prayer nothing will go right. If a basketball team went out and had 20 turnovers, a bad shooting night, did horrible on defensive boards and low shooting percentage it wouldn’t be because we stayed up all night, or because we didn’t go hard, it’s because we didn’t pray. If a team member doesn’t want to pray then they can exercise that right and not be a part of prayer. But the decision shouldn’t be made because of a small minority or to make the people in the stands feel better. Praying is a part of the game that allows the team to bond, you take this away it starts to break apart the team.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting topic! I agree with you though, prayer should be allowed in sports and schools all over the nation. It is ridiculous to me the extent people will go to just ruin something someone or a team is doing. Parents who don't believe in God complain about their children being exposed to "non-sense" like praying before games to God and asking for Him to watch over them and provide them safety. Well, in my opinion, they can go to another country or take their kid off of my team. This nation was founded on the belief of "One Nation Under God". If they dont like it, they dont have to do it!
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