Sports, Religion, and David Brooks
David Brooks in "The Jeremy Lin Problem," his column this past Friday--yes, I'm about 72 hours behind in my reading:
[Jeremy Lin is] a Harvard grad in the N.B.A., an Asian-American man in professional sports. But we shouldn’t neglect the biggest anomaly. He’s a religious person in professional sports.
The ethos of sports, David argues, is "in tension" with the ethos of religion.
The moral universe of modern sport is oriented around victory and supremacy. The sports hero tries to perform great deeds in order to win glory and fame. It doesn’t really matter whether he has good intentions. His job is to beat his opponents and avoid the oblivion that goes with defeat....
Ascent in the sports universe is a straight shot. You set your goal, and you climb toward greatness. But ascent in the religious universe often proceeds by a series of inversions: You have to be willing to lose yourself in order to find yourself; to gain everything you have to be willing to give up everything; the last shall be first; it’s not about you.
For many religious teachers, humility is the primary virtue. You achieve loftiness of spirit by performing the most menial services....You achieve your identity through self-effacement. You achieve strength by acknowledging your weaknesses.
Sports and religion, in permanent conflict.
This doesn't strike me as quite right, but, I have to confess, it doesn't strike me altogether mistaken, either.
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Mar '11
Re: Sports, Religion, and David Brooks
As an uncoordinated sinner the only conflict I see is between me and sports and religion.
Jun '10
Re: Sports, Religion, and David Brooks
Sport is a distraction. It's main value is to channel male aggression into something entertaining rather than destructive. It's for this reason that we don't need to subsidize women's sports in the name of equality. I'll take my moral instruction from clergy, thank you very much, and a basketball court or gridiron makes for a rather poor pulpit. There are times when a man just needs to scratch and grunt in the company of friends. And pizza, and beer. Large garbage, hold the fish!
Edited on February 20, 2012 at 5:05amNov '11
Re: Sports, Religion, and David Brooks
had some good years in 95 and 96. For an ancient Born Again Christian, anyway.
Nov '11
Re: Sports, Religion, and David Brooks
This challenges the whole human way of viewing the universe. To apply it uniquely to sports is to miss the broader biblical point.
Aug '10
Re: Sports, Religion, and David Brooks
Peter Robinson
The ethos of sports, David argues, is "in tension" with the ethos of religion.
Midge is hardly your team player. But (mainly through painful experience) I've learned a bit about what it takes to give a great performance, whether in athletics or elsewhere:
Success in performance "often proceeds by a series of inversions: You have to be willing to lose yourself in order to find yourself... it’s not about you."
You achieve great performance by performing the most menial tasks (drills). You achieve your identity through self-effacement (not being too proud to practice), and your strength by acknowledging your weaknesses (and finding ways to compensate for them).
There. Fixed the tension for him.
May '10
Re: Sports, Religion, and David Brooks
That's absolutely true. My first post on this ran 250 words. That was sacrificed but I wanted to point out primarily that this is hardly new or original.
Jan '11
Re: Sports, Religion, and David Brooks
Peter Robinson
Regarding point #1, what effort in life isn't oriented around victory and supremacy? I emphasize effort for obvious reasons; there are those that come by losing naturally.
Regarding point #2, I read that as in order to win, one must first - and last - lose. If that's indeed true, then extrapolated to the mission of religious leaders, it suggests that they're trying to make their point the hard way. I see it as an annulment of the God given ability to use the power of mind and body to overcome and conquer adversity, and to achieve well being for self and family . I find it difficult to imagine doing that with passive resignation to humility and doubt.
But, then, I'm not a religious person.
Nov '10
Re: Sports, Religion, and David Brooks
I am getting very tired of my fellow-conservatives continually trashing David Brooks. He is, in fact, one of us. Yes, he works for the NYTimes. Yes, he fancies himself a right-leaning centrist. But he is also a very bright guy, who has done a magnificent job of un-demonizing conservative ideas for all sorts of reflexively liberal people who read the NYTimes. Writing a regular column is not easy. This particular piece was not well thought-out, and his subject is of no importance, one way or the other. Let it go... I understand very well the instinct to lash out, punish, and belittle those who appear to "stray from the reservation," as it were. But And sometimes such punishment is well-deserved. I am thinking here about people like Gary Wills, who went over to the Dark Side in a big way. But David is NOT Gary Wills. He has NOT gone over to the Dark Side. As far as I can tell, he is substantially the same person who used to write for NR. He was ALWAYS a right-leaning centrist. That is why the Times hired him. Please, pick on somebody more worthy of contempt.
Jun '11
Re: Sports, Religion, and David Brooks
Uh, will anyone mention that he just had 28 and 14?
I know that the knock is that they haven't seen his game before (because he played for a no name school......athletically speaking, that is) and they may figure his game out and shut him down well before the play-offs begin but.... he may be that sort of off-balance clever athletic as h#$%ll smart dude who keeps showing up at the court.
Think Ernie Digregorio.
But wait, sorry, Jeremy's story is about a guy named Brooks.
Dec '10
Re: Sports, Religion, and David Brooks
Amen! Our sports culture cannot have enough Tebow's & Lin's.
Dec '10
Re: Sports, Religion, and David Brooks
Methinks David Brooks needs to watch Chariots of Fire.
Apr '11
Re: Sports, Religion, and David Brooks
Indeed.
Dec '10
Re: Sports, Religion, and David Brooks
I would feel better if he drank from the Loving Cup.
Gooble gobble! Gooble gobble! We accept him! We accept him! One of us! One of us!
Dec '10
Re: Sports, Religion, and David Brooks
Peter,
No article could demonstrate the shallowness of this pseudo-conservative Brooks. Sports is like any other human activity. Faith can play a major role. It all depends on the quality of the people involved.
Remind me never to take anything Brooks says seriously again.
Regards,
Jim
Re: Sports, Religion, and David Brooks
Peter, I imagine that you're aware of this already, but Mr. Lin went to Paly High. You were practically neighbors.
Nov '10
Re: Sports, Religion, and David Brooks
Every conservative that I know (and I know some very important and prominent conservatives) has ideological "soft spots"-- areas where they are willing to bend or compromise their conservative principles a bit. As far as I can tell, David has fewer "soft spots" than a lot of people who call themselves "conservative."
We are all imperfect. I am astonished and disappointed that here on Ricochet somebody like David Brooks can be called a "doofus." That is, in my humble opinion, disgraceful. Has anybody on Ricochet called Mitt Romney-- who is far to the left of David Brooks-- a doofus?
David has been on the front lines for decades now. He has fought the good fight with grace, courage, and wonderfully understated humor. He is a remarkably good writer and he has incisively articulated the conservative perspective on all sorts of issues. He makes me think deeply about all sorts of things. And I am grateful to him for sharpening my thinking about many issues.
Shouldn't we be directing our fire at our real enemies, rather than one of our own?
Jul '11
Re: Sports, Religion, and David Brooks
Well Raconteur, who do think he'll vote for. I'll give him a pass if he trashes Obama pre election and endorses the R.
Oct '10
Re: Sports, Religion, and David Brooks
Don't forget the wonderful film, Chariots of Fire.
Dec '11
Re: Sports, Religion, and David Brooks
No, because Mitt Romney has never, ever claimed:
You achieve your identity through self-effacement. You achieve strength by acknowledging your weaknesses.
Jun '10
Re: Sports, Religion, and David Brooks
Folks, you're over-thinking this WAY too much. It's just the media falling all over themselves to talk about the latest and greatest buzz. Most likely, everyone is instructed to throw "Jeremy Lin" into every possible story they can muster. This is just David Brooks' contribution to the hysteria.