Football, Cults, Religion And War

Recently I was praised and chastised on Facebook for saying football is a cult religion. When looking at football it is clear to me that it shares aspects from the checklist of what cults generally look like.

It astonishes me at the way many friends of mine who are activists for peace and justice, have deep spiritual roots or in general are just goodhearted, loving and giving people seem to have a blind spot in regard to the “cult of violence” when it comes to football (or other contact sports) and gleefully engage in its rituals.

Also I am astounded by the fact that statistics show one hundred eighty-seven million Americans describe themselves as fans of the NFL. That’s 60% of the country’s population. Interesting that this statistic is also closely reflected in the ones on religion. “A global 2012 poll reports 59% of the world's population as "religious" and 36% as not religious, including 13% who are atheists.”

Football in our culture is the greatest spectacle of violence next to war. It is our version of the gladiatorial games of ancient Rome where death became a form of entertainment or the ritualistic sacrifices of ancient Aztecs. It fosters a tolerance for violence, greed, racism, and homophobia... Steve Almond articulated this well.

Football also shares many of the qualities of most religions. It isn't hard to extract the similarities of Footballism to most religions. A religion is an organized collection of beliefs, narratives (countless news print and web content devoted to it), symbols (logos), and sacred histories (halls of fame) where people may find moral and ethical metaphors. They have organized behaviors, clergy (NFL commissioners), holy places (stadiums), scriptures (play books) and special clothing while participating in the services. Devotees practice rituals, have sermons (pep rallies), commemoration or veneration (trophies) of its its deities (1,696 active players (priests) in the NFL), festivals/feasts (tailgate parties), meditation/prayer (The National Anthem), music/art/dance (cheerleaders), public service. They even have a Eucharist.. The common one being beer but within the clergy itself it is drugs. In may of 2014 More than 600 players filed a class-action complaint in U.S. District Court in San Francisco alleging the league illegally supplied them with painkillers to conceal injuries and mask pain. 

Football has its own mythology and origin stories. It shares a hierarchy like the catholic church consisting of its bishops, priests and deacons who exercise authority within the “church”. Currently Roger Goodell serves as the Pope. The mythos of football has taken over much of society reflecting the term coined by sociologist Leo Lowenthal "idols of consumption" as the swing in culture from "idols of production" to having our heroes being those people who are derived from purely entertainment sources.(Musicians, actors, sports personalities)

I understand, in part, why people join this cult. The huge football stadiums of the 21st century are the pagan temples of today. I see how people get “pleasure from feeling they belong to something bigger than themselves. They gain pleasure and satisfaction from the rituals, unified chanting and walk away afterwards with a feeling that life has been enhanced in some mysterious way.” (sic) We take active part in these ceremonies of hero worship, sing the hymns and generally get a feeling of being one with our fellow humans. Not a bad thing at all when viewed in isolation. These needs seem to be built into our DNA. This is in part what religions are designed for, to somehow service these needs as well as others. But taking on the larger view and shining light on it we can also see the shadow side of Footballism if one cares to look.

It disturbs me that with all the social/environmental/political issues around us we choose to spend so much of our money/time/energy on this cult. “The National Football League takes in more than $9.5 billion per year and is exempt from Federal taxes. As a nonprofit, it earns more than the Y, the Red Cross, Goodwill, the Salvation Army or Catholic Charities – yet it stands as one of the greatest profit-generating commercial advertising, entertainment and media enterprises ever created.” And they have plans to bring that number to $25 billion in the next 10 years. And just to touch base on another issue much has been said in regard to public universities. Many wonder about and question new stadiums being built while classrooms, libraries, and laboratories deteriorate, tuition going up and student debt skyrockets beyond comprehension. I could write a whole other blog post on this matter but not today.

Now back to the point of Footballism being a “cult of violence”. Football is a war game and players are trained to use force. Without this violence there would be no football. In soccer this is even more pronounced and some have called it “hooliganism “.  Europeans seem to see this connection much more than Americans do. The connections of war are unmistakable in their shared language and rituals. All of these connections of football, war and religion are not new and sharing all the links and stories could become an exhaustive effort. Although the shared language is noted some still think this comparison is wrong.

Moving along, even though the idea that violence against women increases after the Superbowl has been discredited, it isn't hard to see why many people continue to believe it. There are still studies that make this point and others on contact sports and violence against women in general.  A Facebook friend noted this and posted the National Domestic Violence Hotline number on her wall. (NOTE: my spell check told me Superbowl should be capitalized... hmmm... Another sign of the elevation of football toward divinity?) In regard to men, studies have been done on the hormonal levels of a men participating in sports and the effect on levels of violence and aggression. 

Which brings me to a small step into the muddy pool of the effect of this “cult of violence” that men do to themselves. “A study commissioned by the National Football League reports that Alzheimer’s disease or similar memory-related diseases appear to have been diagnosed in the league’s former players vastly more often than in the national population —including a rate of 19 times the normal rate for men ages 30 through 49.” This too is a subject of much examination.

So in conclusion I stand firm in my original comments that war is a dangerous cult and a religion. At it's heart this is a post about war and violence as an undesirable archaic institution that must be eliminated in our societies if we are to survive the challenges before us and move us into a new evolution as humans. I encourage people to teach our children the ways of peace, not glorify war or violence in its many manifestations. There are so many wonderful things happening in the world. People working to create a sustainable future for all aspects of our life on this planet, our fellow creatures and the planet itself. Would not the redirection of money, time and energy be better spent on these endeavors? We all have choices to make. I do my best to choose mine wisely. I'm not perfect but I actively seek out these alternative choices. Teach Peace. Seek peace.

Image captured from Heroes of the Storm gaming site.