An old saying in warfare states, “there are no atheists on the battlefield.” Everyone prays to something or someone when the choice between life and death looms large. The same could also be said of sports fans in the fourth quarter. Most fans, even if only subconsciously, will find themselves pleading to some higher power when the issue of victory or defeat is at hand.
Well, according to a new survey, God still listens to the prayers of fans when it comes to the Super Bowl. But, fewer fans believe he actually cares.
According to the Sporting News, “Around 25 percent of Americans believe God will play an active role in Sunday’s game between the Falcons and Patriots, according to new data from the nonprofit Public Religion Research Institute. The institute polled more than 1,000 Americans last month and found that a quarter of them believe the Almighty definitely plays favorites when it comes to sporting events. Further, 49 percent believe God rewards players of faith with good health and success on the field.”
While those numbers clearly show a lot of fans believe God has a rooting interest, the number of fans who believe in divine direction on Super Sunday has slowly come down over the last few years. In 2013, 27 percent of fans believed God chose sides, last year the number fell to 26 percent, and this year it comes in at 25.
Hopefully, that downward trend merely represents number fluctuation from one year to the next, and not that a growing number of fans are losing faith or questioning whether God plays any kind of active role in the world. Though after watching how Roger Goodell, the NFL’s Obama, has permitted leftwing activists to take over the league, who could fault them for questioning whether or not God has turned his back on the NFL?
Follow Dylan Gwinn on Twitter: @themightygwinn
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