Title

In defense of religion-sport separation in coaching

Authors

Lou Matz, University of the PacificFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Title

Journal of the Philosophy of Sport (JPS)

Department

Philosophy

ISSN

0094-8705

Volume

50

Issue

1

DOI

10.1080/00948705.2023.2176860

First Page

100

Last Page

115

Publication Date

2-15-2023

Abstract

Can a coach rightfully integrate a religious orientation in their coaching in a public institution? In its recent Kennedy v Bremerton School District (2022) decision, the U.S. Supreme Court defended the educational value of players’ exposure to diverse expressive activities as a part of learning how to live in a pluralistic society. I contend that religion-sport separation is the most philosophically defensible position, based primarily on the problems with supernatural theism in religions like Christianity. Nonetheless, there is a form of religion-sport integration that is theoretically possible within my critique of theism which could strengthen the inner morality of sport. I describe the two necessary conditions of this potential religion-sport integration but conclude that the problems with defining the ‘religious’ might ultimately strengthen my defense of religion-sport separation.

Comments

Published version of the article can be viewed on the journal website here: https://doi.org/10.1080/00948705.2023.2176860

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License

Recommended Citation

Matz, L. (2023). In defense of religion-sport separation in coaching. Journal of the Philosophy of Sport (JPS), 50(1), 100–115. DOI: 10.1080/00948705.2023.2176860
https://scholarlycommons.pacific.edu/cop-facarticles/865