Abstract
Utilizing a narrative approach, this article begins with an indicative account of how religion and sport are related in a particular context. This narrative is a prelude to a closer examination of the decline of religion in contemporary culture. Religion is conceptualized following Durkheim. Its decline, using sources such as Berger, Luckmann, and Stoltz, is simply explained by using powerful descriptors such as loss of ritualized practice, secular competition, and diminishing plausibility. A second narrative is offered as a departure point for the oft-discussed maxim that sport is the new religion. Rather than one being seen as a substitute for the other, both religion and sport at a societal level are impacted and imperiled by profound cultural changes. These changes are identified utilizing insights from Christian Smith, James D. Hunter, William T. Cavanaugh, and Zygmunt Bauman. These cultural changes lead, inter alia, to the incessant rise of consumerist and materialist ideologies. Participation and interest in sport are not an alternative to religion but an inadequate, transitory option. This idea leads to speculations on how the interplay between sport and religion can be used to fashion appropriate cultural responses. Options for religious communities center on a close examination of their mission and purpose and for discourse on sport to turn to a more integrated understanding of human development.
DOI
10.15365/joce.2902012026
CatholicEdJrnl
