A CHEAT SHEET GUIDE. Religious views on SPORT AND LEISURE

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Lillian McGee
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A CHEAT SHEET GUIDE Religious views on SPORT AND LEISURE SPORT General attitudes towards sport. Most Christians enjoy sport much like everyone else.

They may also be unhappy when members of the congregation prefer to stay home and watch or play sport instead of going to Church.

The benefits of sport Your body is a temple of the holy spirit Your body is a gift from God and sport improves concentration and stamina; preventing stress and depression; improved physical skills e.

1 A CHEAT SHEET GUIDE Religious views on SPORT AND LEISURE SPORT General attitudes towards sport. Most Christians enjoy sport much like everyone else. Some more devout Christians may not be happy if sport takes over from the worship of God. However, many Christians are unhappy if people pay more attention to sports stars than to religion. They may also be unhappy when members of the congregation prefer to stay home and watch or play sport instead of going to Church. Some Christians and Muslims see dedication in sport as a way to thank God for the talents and abilities they have been given. The benefits of sport Your body is a temple of the holy spirit Your body is a gift from God and sport improves concentration and stamina; preventing stress and depression; improved physical skills e.g. flexibility and coordination. This is showing respect on honouring the body God gave them. Morality in sport Fair competition Do that which is honest Christians involved in sport should always try to compete as fairly as possible. They should not lie or cheat in order to gain an unfair advantage. Generally Christians try to live morally good lives as God will judge them if they act selfishly or unfairly to others. Drugs Your body is a temple of the holy spirit even if you are helped to win performance enhancing drugs are still affecting your body that God gave you and therefore immoral for Christians. Not only that but performance enhancing drugs giving you an unfair advantage and therefore creating unfair competition. Money & Pay For the love on money is the root of all evil. There is nothing wrong with being paid well as a sports person. However money should not be the sole motivation for achieving in sport. Many Christians may argue that many professional sportsmen like footballers get paid far too much compared to Doctors and Soldiers. They feel that this may encourage corruption in sport and for young people to aspire to a selfish lifestyle rather than worshipping God or focussing on having a good life.

2 Sponsorship Sponsorship Positives: It enables sports people to have the best training & equipment. Allows lower ticket prices. Gives more time to train because athletes don t have to have a job. Some Negatives: For the love of money is the root of all evil Makes sport into a business rather than something people do for fun. Often the team with the most sponsorship wins simply because they have the most money for example in Formula One. Encourages winning at all costs and it ceases to be fair competition. Some Christians think this money could be better used to help the poor or fund the NHS. Muslim views on sport: Strict Muslims believe in Modesty. For men, the area between the knees and the belly button must be covered (difficult in sports such as swimming and sumo). For women, their clothes must not reveal the shape of their bodies (difficult in most sports), as it can tempt men. Also mixed sports, or men and women training together, is not allowed in Islam. However, some Muslims are not so strict. For example, an Algerian woman won the 1500m gold while wearing running shorts (despite some threats) in Sport versus religion Do not create false idols Some Christian will have a problem if people see sport as the most important thing as it is creating false idols of both the players and the team itself. Many Christians are sports fans but they still believe that their religious beliefs come first. Sport on holy days Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy. Because of this some religious believers disagree with sport taking place on holy days. Dan Walker was offered contracts with youth teams but turned them down as they played matches on Sundays. He became a football commentator but struck a deal with BBC bosses so that he would not have to work on the Sabbath. I was convinced that it was the right thing to honour God and follow his commandments, he said in Observing the Lord s Day is a great privilege and brings with it loads of blessings. Sports people Do not worship false idols because of this commandment Christians should only worship God and only admire sports people. Some devout Christians do not watch sport as they believe that sports people today are idolised too much. They also believe many sports people set a poor example for young people to follow. Equality in sport You are all made in the image of God This teaching shows that Christians believe God made men and women different but equal. Jesus also taught Love your neighbour therefore, there should be no discrimination. However Gender: Men are usually paid more (e.g. golf) sometimes a lot more (e.g. football) than women. Amateur athletes do not get paid and have to train in their own time. Even if they take their sport seriously e.g. Olympic rowers. Whereas professionals like footballers often get huge salaries. Disability: Although the Paralympics shows that the gap is getting narrower and that disabled people can become role models and stars. It is still considered less important than the regular Olympics.

3 Some Christians would see these as an example of inequality that needs to be addressed if they are to support a particular sport. Many people see similarities between sport and religion RELIGIOUS WORSHIP Collective worship in a church e.g. saying Lord s prayer together. Hymns. Displaying images of Jesus. Pilgrimage to a religious place like Jerusalem. Wearing symbols such as a cross or Hijab. SUPPORTING A TEAM OR SPORT Chanting for your team. Singing at matches. Having a poster of a sports star. Pilgrimage to Wembley. Wearing football shirt / scarf. Christian organisations who work in sport Love the Lord God with all your heart and love your neighbour as yourself Because Christian believe in caring for others and doing God s work you may find Sports Chaplains. These are normally Christian priests who look after the spiritual needs of sports people and their families for example listening to the problems of individuals, praying for them and providing spiritual support. Go forth and create disciples of all nations. Christians believe in spreading God s message in all they do. Christians in Sport was set up in 1980 to help Christians to represent and share their faith in sport and to train future leaders. They give resources to help Christians to pray for safety of competitors in sport and success of sports people in local communities. They also help to support sport ministry, which is using sport to spread the word of God. Leisure Stress Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy To rest one day of the week is one of the Ten Commandments. Christians believe God rested on the seventh day & told humans to do the same, using the time to worship God. This can be done in different ways by praying to God and spending time with family which can reduce stress and shows respect to God. Or worshipping God by taking part in charities and youth groups or indulging in hobby using your God given talents and interests. Relaxation Your body is a temple of the holy spirit Christians believe that your body is special, as is the mind within. Taking time to relax and reduce stress can lessen the chance of both physical and mental illness, caring for the body God gave them. *Buddhist meditation is designed to free the mind of disturbing emotions, such as anger and jealousy. Buddhists often focus on the aim of enlightenment. However, many non-buddhists (including Mrs Parks) also use yoga and meditation to reduce stress and improve health. Value of leisure time Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy There is a value and need for leisure time; it is important for the body, mind and spirit, as well as an opportunity to worship God. The Bible tells how Jesus often left the crowds to spend time communicating with God. Leisure time may also be used to go on a pilgrimage (a physical, and perhaps spiritual, journey to a special place). Christians often visit holy sites in Israel such as Bethlehem and Jerusalem. The Bible also warns, in The Parable of the Rich Fool, what could happen if you do not allow yourself leisure time Jesus told this story with a moral A land owner put all his effort in life to making money. Not satisfied with what he had he demolished his barns and built bigger ones. When the last grain of corn was stored, he decided to take it easy. But God said that he was a fool because that

4 night he would die; he would have no time to enjoy his riches. The parable isn t saying that making money is wrong, but if it takes over your life completely, you become selfish and greedy. Misuse of leisure Do not lie Do not steal The love of money is the root of all evil Your body is a temple of the holy spirit Do not get drunk on wine Not all leisure time is used in a positive way. Some people use their leisure time to get involved in illegal activities such as theft or vandalism, as well as immoral activities such as gambling or binge drinking. Which the Bible teaches is wrong. Casinos, which are run to make a profit, provide a range of gambling opportunities both on and offline for example Bingo or Poker. All religions see gambling as selfish & greedy. It is often addictive & causes hardship, especially to families. Some Christians will not even run raffles, as it is seen as a form of gambling. Islam forbids gambling and Muslims should not even play the lottery. Binge drinking, including by teenagers, results in over one million acts of violence in the UK every year. All religions warn against the excessive use of alcohol because of damage to the body, it may lead to the ill-treatment of others and a loss of moral integrity. Some religions like Islam and Buddhism ban it altogether. THE MAIN 5 QUOTES FOR THIS TOPIC ARE: Your body is a temple of the holy spirit Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy The love of money is the root of all evil Do not worship false idols Love the Lord God with all your heart and love your neighbour as you love yourself If you know these 5 you can give a Christian response to any question on sport and leisure. REMEMBER YOU CAN USE THESE QUOTES IN MANY TOPICS AS WELL AS SPORT SUCH AS: RELATIONSHIPS, WORK, HUMAN RIGHTS, THE ENVIRONMENT, PREJUDICE, EARLY LIFE & WAR

5 This sheet covers the key headings from this topic. You need to be able to give a clear and concise Christian view on each of the headings. You should where possible support this with a quote from the Bible. You may use a quote more than once to support different topics. For each of the outside boxes draw and complete AT LEAST ONE but NO MORE THAN 3 boxes giving a Christian view on that issue. Make sure you have included a BIBLE QUOTE in a box or as a box on it s own. When you have finished choose a colour to represent each quote you have referred to. Use that colour to draw line s to show how one quote can be used in more than one topic. You could add a mental image to each key quote. General Views & the benefit of sport Drugs Fair competition Money and pay The morality of sport Sports people SPORT Sponsorship Equality Sport vs religion CHRISTIAN VIEWS ON SPORT AND LEISURE Holy days LEISURE Value of leisure Sport as religion Organisations who work in sport Stress Misuses of leisure Relaxation

Handout 2: The Ethical Use of PEDs

Handout 2: The Ethical Use of PEDs This handout makes use of "Ethics, Drugs, and Sport" by W. M. Brown. In this article, Brown argues that the argument from fairness and the argument from harm against