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Some transdisciplinary considerations
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Challenging the secular bias in the sociology of sport
Scratching the surface of Christian approaches to sociology
Tom Gibbons
Introduction
In an essay published in the Sociology of Sport Journal (one of the leading journals in the sub-discipline of the sociology of sport), Shilling and Mellor (2014: 350) argue that the topic of âreligionâ has been âmarginalizedâ in sociological analysis of sport over the last two decades. Part of their argument is that âstudies focused purely on the secular dimensions of sport can be unhelpfully narrowâ (ibid.: 352). The aim of the present chapter is to begin to address this void by identifying Christian approaches to sociology that are yet to be drawn upon by sociologists of sport (see also Parker and Watson, 2016).
While studies exist on the relationship between sport and various âfaithsâ or âreligionsâ, the interface between sport and Christianity is the fastest growing area of research within this field (see Watson and Parker, 2014). However, this area of scholarship appears to be dominated by sports theologians, philosophers, psychologists and historians and, at present, lacks examples of theoretically informed and/or empirically based sociological work.1 While some scholars have attempted to adopt a more sociological standpoint on research into sport and Christianity,2 there appears to be little, if any, serious reflection on Christian approaches to sociology within this literature or indeed within the sociology of sport per se (see for instance Horne, 2015). So far no purposeful attempts have been made to specifically discuss the connection between Christian approaches to sociology and the sociology of sport. In this exploratory chapter, I begin to address what appears to be a lacuna in the literature surrounding sports and Christianity in order to: (i) challenge the secular bias that has saturated the sociology of sport to date, (ii) initiate debate between Christian and non-Christian scholars, and (iii) stimulate further discussion on the potential connections between Christian approaches to sociology and the sociology of sport.
To this end, the chapter is divided into three sections. In the first, the paradox regarding the growth of Christianity (especially over the last century) and the claims made by advocates of the secularisation thesis are briefly discussed. In the second, further evidence is provided from Shilling and Mellor (2014) concerning the secular bias in the sociology of sport. The cause of this is attributed to the fact that the sociology of sport mirrors its parent discipline (sociology). In the third section of the chapter, the historical work of Brewer (2007) regarding the distinction between âreligious sociologyâ and âthe sociology of religionâ is drawn upon and three main areas of what might be considered âChristian approaches to sociologyâ are outlined with a view to encouraging sociologists of sport to explore these resources for themselves. The intention here is not to make definitive links between Christian approaches to sociology and the sociological study of sport but to open the door to a set of perspectives that so far remain largely unexplored by those undertaking sociological analyses of sport.
The growth of Christianity in a secular age
The term âsecularisationâ refers to a process whereby identifications with âreligiousâ values and institutions decline and are replaced by âirreligiousâ values and âsecularâ institutions in a particular society. This occurred in Western societies following the seventeenth-century âEnlightenment periodâ or âscientific revolutionâ that resulted in what are known as the âmodernising revolutionsâ of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, including the American and French political revolutions and the British Industrial Revolution. In response to what became known as the âmodernisationâ of Western societies, the âsecularisation thesisâ â that the decline of religiosity would be one of the outcomes of the progressive modernisation of society â was conceived by classical social theorists such as Karl Marx, Max Weber, Ămile Durkheim and others from the latter part of the nineteenth century onwards. According to one of its contemporary adherents, Bryan Wilson (1998), the core concerns of the secularisation thesis include âreligionâ losing claims to âauthorityâ and therefore the legitimate production of âknowledgeâ in all aspects of social life (Han, 2015).
The subsequent dominance of the secularisation thesis in Western societies meant that for much of the twentieth century âreligion ⌠tended to be restricted to the private sphereâ (Brewer, 2007: 9). According to Berger (1999) we began to witness the âdesecularisationâ of the world in the late twentieth century and there has been (and continues to be) a global resurgence in religious adherents. Yet Christianity has been expanding on a global scale beyond Europe since at least 1500 and at a particularly rapid rate since 1900 (OâDonnell, 2009). Indeed, Threlfall-Holmes (2012: 129) states that Christianity has grown significantly, âfrom around 500 million adherents in 1900 to around two billion in 2000, nearly a third of the worldâs populationâ. She goes on to state:
Such growth has confounded the belief, increasingly frequently expressed over the course of the twentieth century until its final decade, that secularism was rapidly spreading and that Christianity, and indeed religion in general, was an outdated mindset that would soon be eclipsed or eradicated.
(Ibid.)
For example, despite secular claims that the Christian church in Britain is in decline, the contributions to Goodhewâs (2012) edited text Church Growth in Britain: 1980 to the Present highlight clear signs of vitality and growth across various denominations since the 1980s. Current statistics indicate that the growth of the Protestant church is limited to Pentecostal/ charismatic churches and/or those congregations emerging from immigrant populations in Britain (Davie, 2015; Gibbons, 2016). Another example is the rapid growth of the Pentecostal church that began in 1906 following the Azusa Street revival in Los Angeles. Jennings (2015: 62) argues that such expansion:
constitutes Christianityâs most compelling response to secularisation theory. Here we have, beginning in the 20th century, a religious movement that grew from zero to half a billion â all in the midst of an era when religion was supposed to be in decline.
As is the case for other disciplines within the social sciences (including, for example, anthropology, history and psychology), even a cursory glance at the mainstream sociology literature outside of sport reveals a strong secular bias and this is something that is readily recognised by scholars within the sociology of religion (see, for example, Brewer, 2007; Fraser and Campolo, 1992; Perkins, 1987; Turner, 2014). Turner (2014: 774â775) states that there has been a ârevival of the sociology of religion in the late 20th and early 21st centuryâ which is âassociated with growing recognition of the importance of religion in public lifeâ. Moreover, the âpost-secularisation thesisâ of the well-known contemporary social theorist JĂźrgen Habermas (2006 cited in Turner, 2014: 773) argues that âsecular and religious citizens have a duty to engage in dialogue within the public sphere in the interests of a liberal consensusâ (Turner, 2014: 771â772) â a point that helps to underpin my own rationale for exposing the secular bias inherent within the sub-discipline of the sociology of sport.
The secular bias within the sociology of sport
In the introductory chapter of their edited text With God on Their Side: Sport in the Service of Religion, Magdalinksi and Chandler (2002: 1) claim that sport and âreligionâ possess âdisparate philosophical foundationsâ.
Although this proposition sounds justifiable in relation to the hypercommodified global sports industry of the twenty-first century, such a view ignores the history behind the genesis of those modern sports which owe much to the âmuscular Christianâ values imbued in them via the Victorian English public schools and which were subsequently propagated throughout the British Empire and beyond by Christian athletic missionaries (see, for example, Mangan, 1984, 1986). According to Watson and Parker (2012: 28), these values (or virtues) include: âteamwork, altruism, strength, self-control, justice, loyalty, wisdom, self-sacrifice, equality, courage, generosity, joy, honesty, tenacity, hard work, solidarity, peace, love (Philia, friendship love) and community spiritâ. Thus, it can be argued that Christian values â rather than those of any other faith â are at the very core of some of todayâs global sports (see also Parker and Weir, 2012; Watson et al., 2005).
During the twentieth century sports began to gradually lose these values and sociologists of sport have written about this from a variety of theoretical perspectives. In his âhistorical-sociologicalâ study based largely upon Weberâs rationalisation thesis and Calvinist Protestantism, Overman (2011) demonstrates how American elite sport became riddled with ethical and moral problems over the course of the twentieth century as a consequence of its increasing professionalisation, commodification and commercialisation. The Marxist scholar Jean-Marie Brohm (1979) referred to modern sport as âa prison of measured timeâ arguing that in the contemporary age athleteâs bodies are treated as machines designed to produce entertainment and profit for others rather than fun and pleasure for themselves. Moreover, Lasch (1979) famously referred to âthe degradation of sportâ in relation to the loss of the âsacred dimension of playâ in the pursuit of winning (as well as other aspects); and Walsh and Giulianotti (2007) have more recently referred to the ethical and moral problems in contemporary sport as âthe sporting mammonâ.3 In turn, Watson and Parker (2012: 28â29) list a number of research topics that have been pursued by sports sociologists, psychologists and philosophers around the ethical and moral problems that have become entrenched in sport as a consequence of its business focus. Examples of these topics include: the abuse of athletes, officials and others involved in sport; violence both on and off the field of play involving athletes, fans and others; political/national divisions; sectarianism; cheating; playing through pain and injury; overtraining; burnout; financial greed and corruption; use of performance enhancing drugs/ doping, and others.
It has been argued that these problems are strongly related to the dissolution of Christian ethics in modern-day sport and have fuelled wider discussion (see, for example, Dixon and Gibbons, 2015). Nevertheless, Shilling and Mellor (2014: 350) state that although âanalyses of sport and religion, and various aspects of their relationships, exist ⌠these tend to occupy a discrete corner in sports studiesâ. Horne (2015) has produced a comprehensive bibliography listing core readings across the entire area of the sociology of sport and nowhere is the topic of âreligionâ given prominence, other than indirectly in relation to classic studies of sectarianism in Northern Ireland (Sugden and Bairner, 1993) and Scotland (Murray, 1984). In this sense it is fair to say that sociological analyses of sport and âreligionâ do exist but they remain on the fringes of wider debate. Shilling and Mellor (2014: 350) state that: âSociological studies of sport have, during the last two decades, established their subject matter as central to a wide range of social and cultural, disciplinary and interdisciplinary, concerns.â However, they go on to recognise that: âOne area marginalized in most of these studies ⌠is religionâ (ibid.). Furthermore, these authors posit that âsociologists who focus on sportâs secular impact often view religious adherence as a remnant of traditional practices. More frequently, they ignore religion altogetherâ (ibid.: 351). Shilling and Mellor go on to argue that âanalysing sport purely as a secular phenomenon, and marginalizing its religious significance, is potentially antagonistic to a broader attempt to grasp its societal importanceâ (ibid.: 351). Shilling and Mellor (ibid.: 352) develop what they describe as âa novel theoretical account of sportâs centrality to social life, attentive to its secular, religious and sacred aspectsâ by using what are widely considered to be two of the âfounding fathersâ of sociology, Ămile Durkheim and Max Weber. The former argued that âre...
