Reading Time: 5 minutes The religious right’s legislative strategy of the moment is to restrict abortion and gender transition because some people might later regret them. But why don’t they apply that same logic to other major life decisions?
Sports
Posted inPsychology
Madness and fairness in March (and beyond)
Reading Time: 3 minutes Humans loath unfairness. It’s baked into our DNA. That’s just one of the many reasons the NCAA basketball tournaments every March don the moniker “Madness.” The famous psychology experiment The Ultimatum Game captures this perfectly. Player A is given a sum of money and must propose a way to divide it between themselves and Player […]
Posted inPolitics
Soccer star Neymar and the politics of grievance
Reading Time: 4 minutes Diving (or flopping) in soccer is a form of lying—of using one’s actions to falsely declare, “I just got brutally fouled” in pursuit of an unmerited reward, paid for by an innocent opponent.
Faking a foul in soccer and supporting a political liar may seem disconnected. But their intersection in Neymar is no coincidence.
Posted inEthics and Morality
Soccer unveils the white card, and I’m conflicted
Reading Time: 4 minutes I wanted to like it. I really did. But I just can’t.
Soccer’s first white card was given during a game in Portugal’s professional league this past weekend. To compliment—or, maybe, counterbalance—soccer’s punitive yellow and red cards, the white card aims to reward good behavior and “improve ethical values in sport.”
I’ve taught Ethics for 23 years, and I use sport to illustrate key concepts. And for me, the white card draws a red card.
Posted inThe Secular
Is secular life bereft when tragedy strikes? Not for a minute
Reading Time: 4 minutes In the week since NFL player Damar Hamlin’s near death on the field, prayer has had a big moment: players bowing their heads and circling to pray before games, ubiquitous signs and social media posts bearing messages like “Pray for Damar,” TV commentators speaking of prayer—and in at least one case actually praying during coverage—with […]
Posted inFilm/TV
An ESPN analyst’s gratuitous on-air prayers won’t help Damar Hamlin
Reading Time: 5 minutes In the days since Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin collapsed during a football game and had to be taken to a hospital in Cincinnati, some people have used his near-fatal injury as a vessel to spread their particular flavor of Christianity via prayers, distracting from more pressing issues and denying credit from the medical personnel […]
Posted inReligious News
Qatar’s last-minute beer ban raises deeper concerns about the World Cup
Reading Time: 4 minutes Just 48 hours before the start of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, the conservative Muslim country of Qatar reversed its position on allowing alcoholic beer in official stadiums. While such beverages may be sold at other fan destinations after 7pm, only Bud Zero may now be purchased within or around the stadium itself, unless you […]
Posted inReligious News
Essendon CEO quits after backlash due to his Christian bigotry
Reading Time: 4 minutes Andrew Thorburn resigned as CEO of the Essendon football team in Australia less than 24 hours after taking on the new job due to widespread backlash over his other job: chairing a Christian church that promotes anti-LGBTQ, anti-abortion views. Those bigoted ideas stood in stark contrast to the more progressive values of the football club, […]
Posted inCulture
The reality of fantasy sports
Reading Time: 6 minutes Since ESPN offered the first internet-based fantasy baseball in 1995, Fantasy Sports—and, especially, Fantasy Football—have become ubiquitous. Advertisements encourage viewers to log on now to win hundreds of thousands of dollars playing. In 2016, it was estimated almost 60 million people played fantasy sports in the U.S. and Canada, with the industry bringing in $7.2 billion. As […]
Posted inBooks
Should I stay or should I go? The excruciating dilemma facing supporters of a beloved soccer team
Reading Time: 5 minutes When is it OK to continue your ardent engagement with a fandom you love despite emerging controversy around the creator of the particular cultural production? When does the misconduct of an author or director, or a sports team’s management, reach the point where you have to say goodbye? Such is the dilemma for those of […]