The Gap Between God And Sports

Constitution's First Amendment requirement that the District neither establish religion in the schools nor prohibit students’ free exercise of religion according to pertinent interpretation and application of those constitutional provisions by the courts. Any religious characters need to conform to policy 8800” (Markesan District School, 2013). “Decisions of the United States Supreme Court have made it clear that it is not the province of a public school to advance or inhibit religious beliefs or practices” (Markesan District School, 2015). Under the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution, this remains the “inviolate province of the individual and the church of his/her choice. The rights of any minority, no matter how small, must be protected. District staff members shall not use prayer, religious readings, or religious symbols as a devotional exercise or in an act of worship or celebration” (20 U.S.C. 4071 et seq.) (Markesan District School, 2015). Having examined the Markesan District School First Amendment related to this topic the next step is to conclude my research on this topic.

The First Amendment is designed to protect all citizens by giving them the right to express themselves in different ways. In doing so, we still have to be careful on how we do it. Students have the right to express themselves as long as it does not cause any disruption. In my school district, we abides by the First Amendment by not forbidding all mention of religion in the school system (Pamlico County Board of Education, 2015). The only part that is prohibited is the advancement or inhibition of religion (Pamlico County Board of Education, 2015). My school district feels that there’s nothing unconstitutional about using religious subjects or materials as long as it is in compliance to the neutrality of the education program (Pamlico County Board of Education, 2015).

Historically, legal issues regarding the grading of assignments containing religious material have come to similar decisions. In Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District (1969), a group of students decided to express their views about Vietnam by wearing black armbands to school. Although the district attempted to punish them for this, the Supreme Court ruled that the students were expressing a form of “symbolic speech” and were protected by the First Amendment, as long as it did not disrupt normal school functions. Similarly, expressing views of religion in school is protected if it does not disturb the educational process. According to Haynes and Oliver (2007), students have the right to express religious beliefs “in homework, artwork, and other written and oral assignments free from discrimination based on the religious content of their submissions” (p. 65). An educator must

Under the Establishment Clause, “The government may not promote or affiliate itself with any religious doctrine or organization and the government may not discriminate among persons on the basis of their religious beliefs.” County of Allegheny v. American Civil Liberties Union Greater Pittsburg Chapter, 492 U.S 573, 109 S.Ct. 3086, 106. L.Ed.2d 472 (1989). The Endorsement test applies to cases that involve government officials and religious beliefs at school-sponsored events. Id at 592. This could be seen if officials promote or favor religion. Id. Courts have found that if prayer being delivered at public school events, organized and supervised by school officials, regardless of the event being outside the classroom and after hours, the government is endorsing religion. Lee, 505 U.S at 604. Additionally, if the government merely pressures participates to attend a religious activity, such as an opening prayer, the government is indirectly endorsing religion. Id (Holding that school officials endorsed religion when students attended “football games” in which opening prayers were given). On the other hand, to avoid favoring religion, public officials must either embrace any religious faith or embrace none at all. Id at 609. State officials favor religion if these officials recognize one religious belief, but they do not acknowledge a dissimilar one. County of Allegheny, 492 U.S at 616. (Holding that the government did not endorse religion by recognizing two different beliefs). Thus, the Endorsement Test is satisfied if either the school board promotes religious activities or if the board’s punishment of Mr. Pitstick is in favor of a religious

In the R.A.V v. City of St. Paul case, a white teenager was arrested for burning a cross in the lawn of the only black family in the neighborhood. According to the state, this was in violation of a 1989 city ordinance making it a crime to place on public or public property a burning cross, swastika, or other symbol likely to arouse "anger, alarm, or resentment in others on the basis of race, color, creed, religion, and gender." In this case, a higher court decided that R.A.V’s first amendments were violated because the state was punishing expression. The ordinance didn’t simply make burning a cross illegal, but instead made the expression associated with this act illegal, which the court considered a violation of freedom of speech under the First Amendment.

The right to freedom of expression of ones religion is at stake in this case. Mrs. Williams has a right to express her religion freely. However, based upon the Establishment Clause which prohibits any law “respecting the establishment of religion”, she does not have the right to force others to conform to her way of thinking. At the same time, students and community members have a right to express their religion, too. They also have a right not to have another person’s religion forced on them. So there is only one individual right at stake here, but it is not possible to respect this right of behalf of all the claimants. While the majority of the community, the school board, and some students will feel that it is Mrs. Williams’ right to keep the bulletin board posted, some community members, students, and ACLU feel it is their right not to keep it posted.

In 1995, Doe v. Duncanville Independent School District centered around a female student-athlete and her unwillingness to participate in prayer activity. She claimed her refusal to engage in team sponsored worship subjected her to ridicule from teammates, peers, and spectators. The Supreme Court ruled that the school district had failed the Lemon Test by endorsing religion through employee-led prayer, which is a direct violation of the Establishment Clause (Lee, 2005). As a result, “school officials, administrators, and employees were prohibited from initiating, leading, sponsoring, or promoting prayer at athletic events, or using the public address system for similar purposes” (Willett, 2014). This may not have been the popular decision, but

In Chapter 10 of Religion and Popular Culture in America, Joseph L. Price attempts to show sports as an example of popular culture as religion, because of its ability to shape the engagement of their fans and the fan’s environments. Although the majority of fans do not see sports as coming close to being a religion, Price gives several compelling reasons as to why sports are religion.

In our society sports are a very important social construction. As sports continue to grow, they are becoming more integrated into the major spheres of social life. Sports have become an entity, due to the fact that they not only create entertainment and jobs; sports have become a huge platform for various causes. Sports are extremely important to our society and have very powerful influences. Though experiences vary from person to person, most people have some sort of experience with sports. I personally have experienced sports more from the spectator and participant stance, and have been impacted from each perspective a great deal. Compared to sophomore safety, Jamal Adams my sports experience has been very different from impact and perspective.

In their effort to compete with other programs, coaches push the boundaries of recruiting. This is a huge problem in college sports that desperately needs fixing. For this problem, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) has set strictly enforced rules for behavior like this. It is a very complex, broad set of rules. The purpose of these rules is simple. These rules are meant to encourage fair recruiting and too discourage offering incentives to collegiate athletes.

Down Here written by Rick Bragg describes the characteristics of the Southern culture and discusses why football is a religion in the South. Our climate and culture make us a natural for loving and dominating college football. Legends who are successful, such as Bear Bryant, Steve Spurrier, and Nick Saban, spring up and live into perpetuity. They are revered just as much as Christians honor and love Billy Graham. Examples from this story will illustrate how Southerners deem football to be a religion because of their history and culture.

Christiananity is under attack in the small town of Middleton,Wisconsin. This time a by the local school board because a group of mothers have been offering a "Jesus Lunch" to students who are permitted by the school to take a 30 minute off campus lunch break. Although, I am not a religous individual I do respect others rights to share their message as long as it isnt pushed upon people or persuaded in a public education facility. This clearly isnt the case in this incident as the "Jesus Lunches" are taking place in a park which is leased by the school district. The school district claims that during school hours they reserve the right to enforce school policies. In a letter to the parents addressing the issue school officials stated, We

In modern day America sports are a very important part of our culture, because we are constantly watching sports and participating in sports. In any sport we watch mythology is present. The very act itself of playing the sport is reflective of old roman times when gladiators would kill for the crowds entertainment although today instead of killing its by hitting a home run or scoring a goal. “At their best, sports are about the extraordinary capacities of the human spirit.”(Wolter). These athletes can become extremely popular to the point were they are viewed as superhuman just like in myths, and there is a reason because the best athletes in their respective sport do what no average person could do. “The most legendary performances speak of almost super-human feats: the sub 4 minute mile, Michael Jordan’s flu stricken playoff

Center High School had set guidelines for the students that defines “appropriate student attire”. The purpose of these guidelines is to prevent disruptions in the learning environments, and to minimize different distractions. The real questions are: Has Center High School violated Wanda’s first amendment rights to freely express her religion? Does Center High School have the Constitutional right to interdict Wanda from freely expressing her religious beliefs? Does Center High school prohibit Wanda to wear her pentagram symbol of religion, violate the rights we are given in the first amendment to have religious freedom? No one else was banned from wearing their religious symbols, so why should Wanda be? From the school banning her religious symbols, wouldn’t that be prohibiting one religion from another? By denying her right to wear it, they are inhibiting her free practice of exercising her religious rights. Instead of denying her freedom of expression, the school should protect her as a student. By making the school safer, they could: provide more security, which would make the halls of the school more

Collegiate football is not only a very lucrative and rapidly growing “business” but it also has a “tremendous impact on our culture, influencing the values of millions of participants and spectators”. Because of this, it is vey important to ensure that the NCAA ensure that all teams not only follow the rules and interpretations of the game, but also hold themselves to a higher standard with an established code of ethics. These days, there are concerns about moral