
Contents
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Chapter Summary Chapter Summary
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Introduction Introduction
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Sport and Religion in Ancient Rome: The Ritual of the October Equus Sport and Religion in Ancient Rome: The Ritual of the October Equus
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Sport and Religio-spiritual Experience: Sailing, Surfing, and Running Sport and Religio-spiritual Experience: Sailing, Surfing, and Running
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Sports Stars and Religious Faith: Eric Liddell, Olympic Champion and Christian ‘Martyr’ Sports Stars and Religious Faith: Eric Liddell, Olympic Champion and Christian ‘Martyr’
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Devotion to Football Teams: The Tartan Army as a Religious Phenomenon Devotion to Football Teams: The Tartan Army as a Religious Phenomenon
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Sport as Religion: Iglesia Maradoniana Sport as Religion: Iglesia Maradoniana
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Conclusion Conclusion
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Glossary Glossary
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References References
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Further Reading Further Reading
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31 Sports
Get accessCarole M. Cusack is Associate Professor in Studies in Religion at the University of Sydney. She trained as a medievalist and her doctorate was published as Conversion Among the Germanic Peoples (Cassell, 1998). Since the late 1990s, she has taught in contemporary religious trends, publishing on pilgrimage and tourism, modern Pagan religions, new religious movements, the interface between religion and politics, and religion and popular culture. She is the author of The Essence of Buddhism (Lansdowne, 2001), Invented Religions: Imagination, Fiction and Faith (Ashgate, 2010), and The Sacred Tree: Ancient and Medieval Manifestations (Cambridge Scholars, 2011). With Christopher Hartney (University of Sydney) she is editor of the Journal of Religious History (Wiley) and with Liselotte Frisk (Dalarna University) she is editor of the International Journal for the Study of New Religions (Equinox).
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Published:06 June 2017
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Abstract
Sport and religion are closely interrelated phenomena and this chapter details five significant intersections between sport and religion. First, in premodern polytheistic societies, ritualized sports were often part of devotional activities directed to the gods. Second, physical exertion may act as a trigger for altered states of consciousness in both sporting and religious contexts, which is why trials of sporting prowess merit consideration as religious acts or spiritual experiences. Third, sporting champions frequently profess faith and credit their success to divine intervention. Fourth, fan devotion to sporting stars and teams may resemble religious devotion. Finally, in the context of the secular West, sports may function as a substitute for religion, or as a ‘secular religion,’ for certain people in the contemporary, deregulated spiritual marketplace. This chapter provides evidence of all five of these relations between religion and sport, and ranges across historical eras and cultures.
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