sports

Women’s Liberation Front Attempts to Liberate Women's Sports from Gender Equality

Hannah Silver — Fri, 11 Apr 2025 02:28:21 EDT

This article first appeared in the Winter/Spring 2025 issue of our sibling publication, The Public Eye—a quarterly magazine for analysis and commentary on the US and Global Right. In June 2024, a group of anti-trans feminists crisscrossed the U.S. with…

Novak Djokovic, Extraordinary Tennis Player, Ordinary Orthodox Anti-Vaxxer

Katherine Kelaidis — Wed, 19 Jan 2022 05:26:13 EST

The Serbian tennis champion Novak Djokovic has become a perfectly likely hero in the international movement against Covid-19 vaccinations after his battle with Australian officials ahead of the Australian Open. The all-time great was successfully deported this week after Australia’s…

#TakeAKnee: Race and Religious Violence at the Heart of Trump Attacks on Kaepernick/NFL

Benjamin E. Zeller — Mon, 25 Sep 2017 03:44:36 EDT

Thinking about the place of violence in American civil religion helps solve a perplexing theme in the debate over professional athletes’ protests.

How Protesting Black Bodies are Imagined as a Threat to National Pride

Joseph Winters — Thu, 22 Sep 2016 10:17:25 EDT

Last night, Seattle Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman declined to take questions during a press conference, opting instead to give a plainspoken but powerful speech on the police killings of black men and the damage it does to black communities, especially…

Why Kaepernick's Refusal to Stand Is an Act of Religious Dissent

Benjamin E. Zeller — Wed, 31 Aug 2016 07:41:58 EDT

The American flag represents the nation state as a sacred entity—it serves as symbol for the nation’s self-worship.

Indonesia Hears Islamist Arguments For LGBT Criminalization; Zambian Churches Oppose Condom Distribution in Prisons; Lithuanian Conservative Manifesto Calls LGBTs Enemies of Freedom; Global LGBT Recap

Peter Montgomery — Fri, 26 Aug 2016 08:04:26 EDT

Wikileaks came under fire for releasing documents that included personally sensitive information, including the name of a man arrested for homosexuality in Saudi Arabia, where homosexuality is still a capital offense. In the International Journal of Human Rights, Po-Han Lee…

LGBT Victories at Olympics, Struggles in Brazil; Catholic Bishops Organizing Anti-Marriage Equality Protests in Mexico; Global LGBT Recap

Peter Montgomery — Fri, 19 Aug 2016 08:00:19 EDT

Rio Olympics: Great games for LGBT athletes, tough times for LGBT Brazilians Outsports.com tracked the success of LGBT athletes at the Olympics in Rio, as well as more than a dozen who narrowly missed making the medal podium. Italian Rachele…

Belize Overturns Sodomy Law Defended by Religious Right, Ugandan Officials Will Continue to Suppress Gay Groups, And More on the Global LGBT Recap

Peter Montgomery — Fri, 12 Aug 2016 06:00:34 EDT

The Rio Olympics, described by Associated Press as “decidedly gay-friendly,” feature a record number of openly LGBT athletes, including Brazil’s gold-medal-winning Rafaela Silva. Among LGBT firsts are a married lesbian couple who are teammates on the British women’s Rugby team…

When Muhammad Ali Met Billy Graham

Paul Harvey — Mon, 06 Jun 2016 11:47:45 EDT

How far we’ve come.

Christianity's Concussion Crisis: Where Football and Faith Collide

Sean O'Neil — Thu, 24 Dec 2015 06:00:39 EST

A Nigerian-born Catholic has crashed the American wedding of faith and football by refusing to hold his peace. Bennet Omalu—who is played by Will Smith in the movie Concussion—believes that providence was at work in the series of serendipitous events…

Perhaps Islam isn't the Only Reason Donald Trump Didn't Recall Muhammad Ali

Sean O'Neil — Thu, 10 Dec 2015 04:16:22 EST

After Barack Obama pointed out in a televised address on the San Bernardino shootings that Muslim Americans occupy many familiar social roles including “sports heroes,” Donald Trump offered an incredulous tweet: https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/673741357190615040?ref_src=t…^tfw Most American sports fans, even casual ones, know…

The Question is: What Kind of Football Does God Fancy?

Jeffrey Scholes — Fri, 25 Sep 2015 11:59:01 EDT

After leading his team to victory over the Seattle Seahawks last Sunday, Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers told reporters that God “was a Packers fan tonight”—a retort to Russell Wilson’s comment that God had “set up” the Seahawks’ win…

"Those Federer Moments": Sports, Sex, and the Gender of Grace

Franklin Strong — Mon, 31 Aug 2015 01:18:49 EDT

In “ Federer, Both Flesh and Not,” his essay about the 2006 Wimbledon Men’s final, David Foster Wallace suggests that one reason we watch sports is to experience a specific kind of beauty: The human beauty we’re talking about here…

Are Muslims as Dangerous as Nazis, as ESPN's Curt Schilling Tweeted?

Haroon Moghul — Fri, 28 Aug 2015 04:54:20 EDT

Earlier this week, ESPN commentator and world religions expert Curt Schilling got suspended for a missive that compared Muslims to Nazis. Unfavorably. Though Schilling had tried to delete the image, Monitor’s Arash Karami captured the tweet for posterity: https://twitter.com/thekarami/status/636212957567844352/photo/1?ref_src… As…

Why Jason Collins’ Faith is Ignored... And Tebow’s Isn’t

T.F. Charlton — Thu, 02 May 2013 07:37:04 EDT

The faith of Jason Collins, who recently came out as the first gay athlete in a major American sport, doesn’t ﬁt the model of culture war conﬂicts the media expects and the religious right demands of its spokespeople.

Faith and Football: What the Gospel Church Can Learn from the NFL

Douglas Harrison — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 12:00:47 EST

Who knew it would turn out that the NFL has a thing or two to teach the gospel church about love, acceptance, and the struggle to overcome in a world of injustice?

Ray Lewis Isn’t the Only One Bringing Religion to Super Bowl Sunday

Joanna Brooks — Fri, 01 Feb 2013 12:21:19 EST

Who does an interfaith NFL-spiritual-but-not-religious family root for? It’s complicated.

Mitt Romney: Wooden Pastor or Real Boy?

Mary Barker — Tue, 04 Sep 2012 11:04:17 EDT

How many men do you know, Mr. Oparowski asked, that would take the time out of their busy schedule to visit a boy like David? My answer is almost every single one (and women, too). Having been raised Mormon in the heart of Salt Lake City I recognize Mormonism’s tremendous organizational imprint on Mitt’s life; his experiences echo those of my parents and grandparents, cousins, neighbors, and even my own.

Gabby Douglas Thanks God... Why is This News?

Anthea Butler — Mon, 06 Aug 2012 11:32:00 EDT

If you don’t like it, change the channel.

Olympics Opening Ceremony as Satanic Ritual

Joseph Laycock — Fri, 03 Aug 2012 05:17:55 EDT

The bell of evil tolls for thee.

Olympic Committee Opposes Memorial for Israeli Athletes Killed in Munich

Jay Michaelson — Fri, 20 Jul 2012 04:48:32 EDT

Seriously.

Is Football a Pro-Life Sport?

Marian Ronan — Thu, 24 May 2012 05:46:25 EDT

The bishops might want to investigate…

Neal Pollack Has Written a Jewish Basketball Noir Novel

Neal Pollack — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 05:02:27 EDT

What happens when a culturally Jewish writer learns that Jews once ruled basketball.

Is Ken Starr 'Pulling a Clinton' on Jewish Studies Professor Marc Ellis?

Kiera Feldman — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 10:51:21 EST

According to Professor Marc Ellis, a critic of Israel and the American Jewish establishment, Baylor University’s new president Ken Starr is seeking to replace him with “a right-wing, Israel-loving Jew that would cement [Starr’s] reputation with the right wing…”

Does God Want Jeremy Lin to Win?

Jay Michaelson — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 03:27:32 EST

Two unlikely heroes, Tim Tebow and Jeremy Lin, have rocked the sports world. Lurking behind their stardom is a whole lot of bad theology.