March 31, 2003
Separation of church and sport...

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In-vo-ca-tion (n).
1. The act or an instance of invoking, especially an appeal to a higher power for assistance.

2. A prayer or other formula used in invoking, as at the opening of a religious service.

It's no secret. I'm a closet NASCAR fan. No, I'm not a redneck. I don't listen to country music and I don't drink beer that comes from a can. Have I've sufficiently smashed the stereotype?

Being a fan of racing, I've noticed something odd and even pleasing. Before each race, there is the usual pomp and circumstance that precedes most sporting events - player (driver) introductions, followed by the National Anthem. But NASCAR adds something I've never seen in any other sport. An invocation. I'm not talking about some politically correct prayer to a general concept of God that offends no one. I'm talking about a Christian blessing prayed in the name of Jesus Christ each and every week before every race.

It's subtle, yet says a lot and I think it's cool.

Posted by todd at March 31, 2003 10:39 AM
Comments

I don’t watch as much NASCAR as I used to (raised as I was by a father who used to race modified stock cars), so I have to confess that the pre-race invocation has escaped my notice.

On the one hand, you have to think it’s only a matter of time before someone raises a stink about it and launches a sportwide controversy about whether or not it should be allowed.

On the other, it should be noted that, while the popularity of NASCAR in this country has grown to soccer-in-Europe proportions, it is still a sport dominated by good ol’ boys from North and South Carolina, the very ones who invented it some 50 years ago in the greasy garages and backwoods dirt tracks of the Deep South. Because I live in California (which is about as far as you can get from the Carolinas, both geographically and ideologically), I have no problem believing that the South still has more actual God-fearin’, churchgoin’ folks per capita than any other region in the U.S.A. It makes sense, then, that they could sneak in an invocation before the race without alienating the majority of their fan base.

That said, I can’t think of any sport in which prayer in any context is more appropriate than in auto racing. It isn’t the in-your-face lip service of an overpaid wide receiver who just scored a touchdown or a boxer thanking the Almighty for giving him the strength to pummel his opponent senseless in the ring. It’s a fervent petition to God that, if 40 men and women get behind the wheel of a race car that day, all 40 of them climb out of the cockpit under their own power at the end of the race.

If there are truly no atheists in foxholes, I can’t imagine that there are many atheists who travel at 180 m.p.h. That they and the people who cheer them on have no political, religious or personal objection to offering that prayer up to Jesus Christ is a rare and remarkable thing indeed.

Posted by: Shepcat on March 31, 2003 01:10 PM
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