Get Religion is a national and global journalism site focusing on how the mainstream press covers religion news in politics, entertainment, business and sports.
This pair of stories has been around for a long time, stashed away in my thick GetReligion guilt file (which needs its own logo or something). I haven’t written about these two stories because I have not been able to figure out what I want to say. Logical enough?
Now I KNOW how much GetReligion readers care about the often strange role that religious faith plays in American sports, including at the highest levels — such as the National Football League.
Long ago, in my Rocky Mountain News days, the Denver Broncos made a couple of trips to the Super Bowl. As you would imagine, newsrooms in Denver rolled out the heavy artillery to cover these events.
If you care about sports at all, you probably know that there was a rather interesting NBA game the other night in Cleveland, when the Miami Heat came to town.
Last month Southern Baptist Seminary President Albert Mohler reviewed The Subtle Body: The Story of Yoga in America. While he gave the book a favorable review, he used the review as an opportunity to discuss how Christianity and Hinduism differ and why that’s important. Peter Smith at the Louisville Courier-Journal highlighted Mohler’s review and it created a bit of a firestorm. The Associated Press even ran a story, which I dinged for failing to quote any Hindus on the matter, much less Hindus who agree with Mohler that yoga is a Hindu practice.
If you’re a college football fan, you’re familiar with Cam Newton: He’s the star Auburn quarterback who — for now– leads most Heisman polls. This afternoon, his unbeaten, second-ranked Tigers face the No. 11 Alabama Crimson Tide in an Iron Bowl with national title ramifications.
Sports rivalries are nothing new, but when you add religion to the mix, that can create some extra drama. A Sports Illustrated feature describes the anguish Kyle Whittingham felt between coaching football at his alma mater Brigham Young University or–where he ended up–with the University of Utah.
I came across this tweet a few days ago: Seminary doesn’t prepare you to baptize guys this big: http://bit.ly/cYsGNy
