Last week I was given a news article that I found very
interesting due to the subject of our upcoming production The Faith Line.
With
organized religion in decline in the U.S., what is filling the void? Asked Michael
Serazio. The Baltimore Ravens. The Red Sox. The Miami Heat. And so on. Even in
our increasingly secular country, people still crave the sense of tribal
belonging and mass transcendence that they once found in churches and temples.
And “if you look hard at sports, you can’t help but see the contours of
religion.” Today, the cathedrals are called Wrigley Field, Madison Square
Garden, and the Superdome; there, fans with allegiances that often date to
their forefathers fill the pews, don the revered team’s sacred vestments, and
melt into a collective identity. At the game, at bars, or in living rooms, we
experience ecstatic exaltation when “we” triumph, and collectively mourn our
losses. We even imbue relics like players’ jerseys, autographs, and Curt
Schilling’s bloody sock with iconic significance. Through sports, we fill in
the empty places in our lives. We identify with something larger than
ourselves. The salvation our devotion provides may not be everlasting-but it sure
looks like religion to me.
Michael Serazio
TheAtlantic.com
Comments
Post a Comment