By Brad Locke
November 5, 2004

(AgapePress) - Wanna start a fiery debate? A verbal throwdown? A rousing row? A good old brouhaha? Then start talking about politics, religion or ... sports.

Seriously. All three topics can stir our passions, and many of us hold staunch beliefs in each area. You're a Republican/Baptist/Braves fan, or a Democrat/Muslim/Knicks fan, or a Libertarian/Mormon/Notre Dame fan (ha ha). A person's identity is often shaped by his political, religious and/or sporting allegiances. That's because our beliefs are best articulated through those channels.

Sports may seem out of place here, seeing as how it's not nearly as important an entity as politics and religion. Yet I believe that our true attitudes and values in the latter pair often are revealed by our behavior and emphases in morally weighted sporting affairs.

Take the Barry Bonds situation. It's hard to ignore the overwhelming evidence that he's juiced, but plenty in the media and fandom are doing it anyway. How does that speak to their political and religious preferences? It probably means that they choose sentiment over reality, tolerance over discipline, acquiescence over moral steadfastness. They vote the party line no matter how crooked it may have become, they concern themselves with personal gain instead of the greater good, and they lack basic courage when challenged in their beliefs. Fans who blindly support a wicked athlete come across as complicit, unthinking androids.

This is not a broad indictment of Barry Bonds fans, but I think it holds true for the people who are consistent in their convictions, or lack thereof. All areas of life overlap. A person's religious leanings typically influence his political affiliation (or vice versa), and the confluence of those interests is often found in that person's sports value system. This only applies, of course, to sports fans. I'll let someone else tackle comic book collectors and Japanese anime aficionados.

If you're rolling your eyes at my reasoning, let's take a moment to compare the striking similarities -- good and bad -- between politics, religion and sports.

All are characterized by posturing, be it the pre-election, pulpit or pre-game sort. Hyperbole marks the rhetoric. All three are populated by die-hards, those who have been loyal to their particular party or church or team their whole lives. All are dominated by men. All are prone to gridlock and division. When it comes to major issues, there is a paucity of action. People like keeping score. Honors are often given based on popularity, not accomplishment. They have seasons (elections, Christmas, etc.). The media vainly try to script the outcomes of consequential events. Speaking of the media, all three have given rise to bombastic radio personalities (Michael Savage, Jim Rome, et al.). Their elite members have boring first names (George Bush, James Dobson, Michael Jordan).

OK, those were mostly bad similarities. The good similarities: they all help a person establish a place in society; each can inspire impassioned, thoughtful debate, once you get past the hyperbole; all can be vehicles for positive social change when people decide to give a real effort to pursue truth; all have produced great men, some with semi-poetic last names (Eisenhower, Spurgeon, Nagurski).

Despite these similarities, we try to convince ourselves that politics, religion and sports reside separately in our hearts. We live in a culture of compartmentalization. We're told that religion should be kept private and not influence our politicians' legislative actions. We fool ourselves into thinking that sports are mere distraction and that our personality and beliefs are left outside the stadium. It's been said that if you really want to gauge a man's character, play a round of golf with him. Sports brings out those deep, often buried emotions and passions that dwell within us all. I know from personal experience. Nowhere is there more evidence of my short temper than on a playing field, or of my disdain for alleged incompetence than when watching ESPN (you can take that to mean referees or SportsCenter anchors; your choice).

The thing about politics and religion is it's easy to hide behind tradition and consensus. In sports, tradition and consensus won't translate into wins or healthy athletic development and appreciation. Excellence and success in sports require myriad qualities, like patience, discipline, sacrifice, humility and perseverance. In fact, I assert that sports is a good place for a person to test his beliefs, either as a participant or observer. It gives people a tangible education in how the aforementioned qualities can lead to positive results.

Or, they could just stick to politics and religion and become part of the Great American Brouhaha.