Religion and sports don't mix

It’s generally agreed that if you want to keep things polite in any social gathering, the two things you shouldn’t bring up in conversation are religion and politics. Generally.

Many people would agree those subjects don’t belong in sports either. As examples, one need look no further than the furor created over the practice of taking a knee — by athletes during the national anthem in protest of what they see as human injustice and athletes such as former NFL quarterback Tim Tebow, who used to publicly give thanks to The Almighty by taking a knee after scoring.

The Washington Interscholastic Activities Association waded into the religion arena recently by amending a rule regarding participation in post season play. The WIAA’s change to Rule 22.2.5 allowed for an exemption for an athlete in post season play if that was for a religious observance.

Specifically, the rule reads that “By entering participants in postseason competition, each member certifies that, barring injury, illness, religious observance or unforeseen events, the team or individuals representing the school will participate in every level of competition through the completion of the state championship.”

It’s a fair rule, in my book. There is more at stake in the post season than the regular season, and teams taking part should be able to know which players they can count on to participate and which players the need to replace or make adjustments for their absence.

The continuing conflict in this, which is the subject of a lawsuit against the WIAA, is from parents who want the association to change the schedule of post season play so their children can participate without losing their ability to practice their religious observance. The issue revolves around competition on Friday and Saturday.

These are traditionally big days for competition, with semifinals and finals usually taking place. But it’s also the traditional Sabbath, which starts at sundown Friday and ends at sundown Saturday. Several denominations, among them Seventh Day Adventists, observe the traditional Sabbath and its practices, which involves no work and dedicated worship.

The litigants in the suit want the WIAA to not schedule post season competition during this time so they can practice their faith. That would mean sliding games into other time slots, most likely earlier in the week.

I admire individuals who are devoted to their faith in such a manner. There are many people of all faiths who practice their faith when it’s convenient, and in the case of my professed faith, Christianity, that often means only on Sundays during church, promptly forgetting and discarding what we learned from the pulpit upon getting up from the pews and going forth into the world.

It’s not easy to actually practice one’s faith. It means sacrifice.

Making a sacrifice means making a decision, a decision to choose one course of action over another and accept the consequences for that choice. In asking or demanding the WIAA change its post season schedule to accommodate religious observances, those engaging in the observances are really saying — whether they admit this or not — that they do not wish to sacrifice competition participation for religion. Or rather, they don’t want their children to have to make such a sacrifice, which isn’t a good teaching moment, in my opinion.

That may be harsh, and I’m sorry if it offends people. But there have been times in the past when I have had to sacrifice my time for something that I would have been more accommodating to my schedule if it had taken place on another day, or even another time.

It may not be religious, but work-related requirements often carry more ramifications than religious practices. I make the choice, and I live with the consequences.

That’s life. And religion, if it teaches us anything, should teach us how to best live life so that we can live with others.

And often, that means making a sacrifice.

John McCallum can be reached at [email protected].