High-profile expressions of faith by athletes have become routine in pro sports. A new book by religion writer Tom Krattenmaker explores them and asks whether it’s a good thing. “Some love it, some really resent it. The comedians have a field day with it,” said Krattenmaker, author of Onward Christian Athletes. Krattenmaker says athletes are reaching a sporting public with increasingly pluralistic religious convictions, or no religion at all.
But Tennessee Titans All-Pro center Kevin Mawae said his Christianity is part of who he is, and he can’t separate it from his life as an athlete or anywhere else. “The fact that some people are jaded toward religion or faith shouldn’t stop a player from expressing his faith in public,” Mawae said.
The influence of Christianity in locker rooms can be traced to people such as baseball pioneer Branch Rickey, co-founder of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, and the establishment of Baseball Chapel for players who got mobbed at local churches on Sundays. Athletes in Action places about half of the NFL’s chaplains. Krattenmaker said evangelical ministries have a near monopoly in pro clubhouses because they seized the chance, then won the teams’ trust by not exploiting their access.
Other faith groups simply haven’t done the work, he said. “The conservative Christians got their upper hand in the sports world the old fashioned way,” Krattenmaker said. “They earned it.”
Oh, for the same in our high school sports. Michael