Christian Values?

One of the biggest personal issues for me concerns the intersection of faith (mainly Christianity) and society. For me, sports not politics has always been the first realm that comes to mind when I consider this issue. This issue hits closest to home for me with high school basketball in the Miami Valley Conference, which has 3 religious schools among its 10 basketball-playing schools: Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy (CHCA), Cincinnati Christian School (CCS), and Summit Country Day School (SCD).

Tonight, I went out to a game at Cincinnati Christian. First of all, the school is very loose in calling itself Cincinnati Christian considering that you would have to be speeding to reach downtown in under 40 minutes from the school. Its only about 10 minutes from Hamilton, but there is already a Hamilton Christian, so I guess it would rather be Cincinnati Christian than Butler County Christian. Anyways, when one walks into the CCS gym, one may be altered to seeing slogans on both of the scoreboards. On the south scoreboard, the message read to the effect of play in the name of the spirit. In that case, there is no direct reference to God or Jesus, and playing a sport with a fervor is not something I have problem with.

However, the quote on the north scoreboard surprised me a bit. It reads, "Expect a miracle." I could not think of a worse slogan for a gym that is supposed to inspire a team. So are you suggesting that since God and Jesus are on your side that you will win a game against long odds? You should not need a miracle to win a sporting event (ok, maybe when they played North College Hill w/ OJ Mayo and Bill Walker, they did), but you should focus on the game itself. The irony is added by a banner that hangs below the scoreboard, which quotes the later part of Proverbs 14:23 "mere talk only leads to poverty." Right below the ultimate call to inaction, you see a direct call to action in something is more than words and prayer. Here lies one of the many paradoxes of Christianity in my opinion. I admit to understanding faiths that are not mine own imperfectly, so if anyone can explain this paradox, please do!!!

As the crowd rises for the playing for the national anthem (by their decent pep band, at least they have one), the minister leads the gym in prayer. I had no problem with the first 9-10 lines of the prayer which focused on having the Lord protect the players, coaches, and all of the people who work behind the scenes to make this sporting event possible. Even if one does not believe in any faith, there was nothing offensive or alienating in the prayer. In the last line, he slips in "and we thank the Lord for giving birth to our savior, Jesus Christ." I understand this statement is a basic tenet of christian faith, but is it really necessary at a basketball game between a secular school and a christian one? Well at least no one got hurt in the Stingers 63-52 triumph over the Cougars extending the Stingers road winning streak to 15 games (since 1.20.07). The Stingers face a huge test tomorrow night at D-1 Woodward, which should be an interesting change of pace from a rich, religious school to a black, ghetto school where we may need a cop escort off the court.

Getting back to my main topic, CCS is the middle of the three religious schools in the MVC. By far the worst is CHCA, which is sadly located about 3 minutes from my house. This school has a different Biblical quote written on its wall in gigantic font in John 3:16. That quote is by far the most prolific connection between the Bible and sports. From Florida Gators quaterback Tim Tebow's face to signs in every ballpark to the bottom of a paper cup from In-N-Out Burger (source: ), the verse has become part of mainstream American culture. While one can see this verse as empowering, does one really think that God is going to guarantee them victory? Many people, including myself at times, play to God for something to go right in a game, but do people really believe it does anything? Its like yelling at your TV at home. It makes you feel better and more connected to the event, and it may help your peace of mind, but does it affect the outcome of the game? If yes, then show me multiple examples...

CHCA just goes downhill from the plastering of John 3:16 and the accompanying eagle (their mascot) mural on the wall. Their student section is known for being among the nastiest and most obnoxious in the city. Some of their stunts have included chanting "Jew-Boy" every time former Stinger and personal friend Drew Kohn took a free throw (By the end, none of our students minded, because we were beating them so badly in recent years), and chanting "We got Jesus" in response to anything where they had been outwitted (which was almost everything considering the college lists between 7 Hills and CHCA). CHCA has also been the poster child for poor sport behavior from their girls basketball coach going on a curse-ridden tirade after a defeat two years ago (leading to an ejection) to mens' and womens' tennis coach Lynn McNally-Nabors not showing up for a certain match that she knew her team was going to lose. I could even more personal and provide more examples (include fake soccer injuries and the cockiest baseball team in Ohio), but one can understand my overall point that while CHCA preaches a Christian message of equity and fairness, their actions on the playing field are very far from these goals.

I have no problem with faith enforcing the positive aspects of the morals and values of a society. However, these schools tend to only show the worst sides of their respective religions in venues where religion is not necessary. There are many positive aspects of every religion, but these groups do not play up these universal values, but instead do not practice what they preach and in the meanwhile focus on the most polarizing aspects of the religion. Keep those thoughts in the church and let's play basketball!