I rarely write about religion from a personal perspective because I am not a religious person. I have no definitive belief in God, although I do believe there is some higher power. What role that being plays in our every day life I’m not certain, but I’m pretty sure it’s not as much or as often as many people believe it is. I refer to God as him just because I see him as a man and like Bobby Brown said, it’s my prerogative. A big reason I have never written about my feelings on God is because they are mine and mine alone and I wouldn’t expect someone to adopt them or agree with them. In light of what is happening with the Boston Red Sox and that as of this moment they sit 27 outs away from their first World Series title in over 80 years I feel I need to address the connection between God and Sports.
With all the thanks and praises you hear him receive you’d think God was the most successful coach of all time. I don’t believe that because for all the athletes on the winning side who thank god and said they prayed for victory there is an equal number of those who lost and prayed just as much. I honestly don’t believe that God cares about the individual outcome of one play, one game or even one season. If he is truly as powerful and prescient as we make him out to be wouldn’t he be concerned with more pressing matters? In fact, let’s take that one step further.
God does not in fact solve any problems but instead he plants the seeds of the problem and then waits for us to solve it on our own. Asking how God could allow someone like Hitler to rise to such power and commit such atrocities, or in regards to the titular topic, how he could let the Sox and their fans suffer through so many decades of heartache is completely missing the point.
The evil perpetuated by Hitler was eventually defeated on the efforts of man, coming together in a collective effort to defeat the Axis forces. God had no hand in that. He didn’t storm the beach at Normandy, he didn’t stand strong during the Battle of the Bulge, real men did. Those men may claim that God was what gave them the faith to survive, and it is not my place to call the liars, to each their own. I just don’t believe God had anything to do with it and by giving all the credit to him we diminish the accomplishments of those who actually accomplished something.
All of which brings me to the Boston Red Sox. No World Series title since 1918. Multiple losses Game 7’s of a World Series, one in 1986 that defies all sports logic and that had it happened in a movie rather than real life would be accused of lacking a basis in reality. Many will claim they are suffering from the Curse of the Bambino. I don’t believe in curses per say, but if I did, I would think the curse they are under stems from their resistance to integrating the team and passing on the potential signing of both Jackie Robinson and Willie Mays when they had the chance. If you are to believe in mystical things like curses, at least base it in real life events rather than ghosts of dead white ballplayers.
The 2004 version of the Red Sox have a 3-0 series lead and have destiny knocking on their door. All the years of heartache and frustration, both within the franchise and more so with the fans can come to a screeching, euphoric halt with one more victory. Should the Sox win no doubt there will be calls that “their prayers have been answered” and “God was finally on their side.” All of which is patently untrue. If anything should they win it will prove that God roots for no one in the world of sports. What he does is applaud the triumph of human spirit, the ability for man to persevere where others have failed time and time again. He admires the loyalty of a collective fan base that through good times and bad have not abandoned their team. Pay attention to the words I’m using, applauds and admires, not roots or cheers.
If God did root or cheer for a team, then that means whichever team won the championship that year was God’s favorite team, which makes him a fair weather fan. Now I know I said I don’t know much about the man, but one thing I can tell you is that he doesn’t front run, only flakes do that, and he is no flake. Plus, that would mean that God is huge Yankees fan, which is just too horrible a concept to imagine. But take that principle on a larger scale, if those who are successful are on God’s side that would mean that for a time Hitler was a favorite of God, at least for a few years. The same applies to the Japanese in their attack on Pearl Harbor. Strictly from a tactical standpoint, the attack was a complete success and using the logic that God roots for the winners then that means God was rooting for the Japanese on that day. Does that make any sense? Well it depends who you ask. Again, we find ourselves in the quandary of trying figuring out whose side God is on? The answer is that he is on no one’s side. He does not root, he does not cheer, he observes and admires, but he never takes an active role.
Such talk may seem blasphemous for anyone who is a believer in the Bible or the Torah or the Koran but that is too bad. I don’t want to go off on a wild tangent but how is it that way back in biblical times God was constantly talking with humans, providing them with mystical powers such as parting the Red Sea yet over the past two thousand years nothing like that has happened? When you can explain that to me, I will be willing to listen, but thus far I have yet to hear any compelling arguments. And no, that is not an actual invitation for people to send me sermons on the subject, it is merely a figure of speech, so don’t starting writing just yet.
All of which I am discussing has at its center a very basic message. Should the Red Sox win the World Series it will be based on their own merits not some higher power. After so many decades of frustration to even insinuate such a proposition is an insult to the players and management who have worked long and hard to win this title. It is an insult to the fans that stuck with the team through all the hard times. Should the Red Sox win, it will because of actual people being reward for their actual efforts. Hold your praise for the almighty and offer your congratulations to the people to the people who deserve it. Believe me, God doesn’t care either way, after all, he’s God, I highly doubt he cares especially since I’ve always thought of him as more a basketball fan anyway. How else do you explain Michael Jordan?
