Jesus Christ! The NFL and the culture war.

On a day when MSNBC referred to Florida governor Charlie Crist as ‘Charlie Christ’, it seemed appropriate to talk about the issue of religion in sports — specifically the NFL.

The NFL and Jesus have been in a surprising amount of headlines together in the past forty-eight hours, with the league perceived as anti-church, anti-gay and pro-church in at least three headlines.

“NFL Orders Church to Cancel Super Bowl Party”
The NFL has been flexing its muscle in a worrisome way lately, threatening legal action against some of the establishments that host large Super Bowl parties. One of the establishments that caught the league’s ire? Fall Creek Baptist Church in Indianapolis, the city that the AFC champion Colts reside in. Apparently, the NFL is trying to avoid having anyone cash in on its grand event without its permission; the league’s objection partly has to do with “the church’s plan to charge partygoers a fee to attend and that the church used the license-protected words ?Super Bowl? in its promotions.” Even after the church decided not to charge those attending and to drop the word “Super Bowl”, the league still objected, forcing the church to cancel the event.

Churches have not been the only target of the NFL?s wrath, but the headlines easily ignore that fact. The big, evil corporation pushing around a small, defenseless church angers many, especially considering that some bars (the symbol of ?drunken debauchery?) are being allowed to hold the same parties.

And the legality of a corporation that distributes its product on a free medium legislating how people are allowed to view said product can be debated at a later date.

?Colts Dungy Promotes Anti-Gay Agenda?
In a story that’s tangentially related to Christ and Christianity, Tony Dungy will be the guest of honor at banquet by the Indiana Family Institute, an anti-universal civil rights organization. The IFI is in favor of restricting the rights of homosexuals, and Dungy?s association with it allows for some to make the connection that he himself is against gay rights.

Homosexuality in the NFL is a fairly taboo issue. According to OutSports.com, only three NFL players are openly gay (none of them playing currently), and the NFL refused to have its game footage used in the film ?Brokeback Mountain? (to be fair, the league’s official reason had to do with language and not sexuality, and the league also refused to allow its game footage used in a video detailing the Christian connection of Dungy and Bears? coach Lovie Smith).

Dungy?s decision will likely win him many fans ? and many detractors as well. The real effect of his association with the IFI won?t be that he becomes entirely a hero or a pariah ? instead, the result will be that public opinion on him will be more split than it was before. Most still will respect Dungy, just some far more and some far less. The reason why Dungy will retain much of his stature as one of the most respected figures in the NFL might have to do with the media:

Now, as far as I know, Dungy has not made any public pronouncements on the subject, and certainly hasn’t pulled a Reggie White. But, headlining an event is itself an inescapably clear statement. … I suspect most sports media, if they cover this at all (and obviously some will agree with him), would draw a bright line between Dungy’s presumed beliefs on this issue and his character more generally. That, itself, is morally dubious.

More neutral than Dungy on the homosexuality issue is Super Bowl XLI opponent Lovie Smith, who is quoted as saying that:

“We don’t try to judge people’s lifestyles and things like that … We judge players based on one thing: Can they play football? If you can play football, you can get into the locker room.”

“Super Bowl coaches show Christian faith”
Coaches Tony Dungy and Lovie Smith have more in common than the fact that they are black, well respected and coaching in the Super Bowl. Both are highly religious Christians; Dungy has “a Bible study with the coaches every Tuesday morning, a Bible study with the players every Thursday night, and chapel services four hours before every game”, and Smith believes in traditional Chrstian values to the point that he referred to the Terrell Owens/Nicolette Sheridan Monday Night Football disaster in 2004 as pornographic.

The coaches’ Christian faith will win them many fans in a predominantly Christian country. The fact that, aside from Dungy’s IFI association, neither coach has voiced any truly controversial opinion also helps. This story is good PR for the league. So much so, apparently, that Dungy and Smith will be taking out a full page ad in USA Today, talking about their religious preference.

Certainly, some will be turned off by a full page ad for one religion — especially considering that the day a full page ad in support Islam is in a major U.S. newspaper would likely spawn Congressional hearings on the issue. However, that ‘some’ will be in the vast minority, which is good news for the league.

Overall
The NFL’s PR ranges from bad to mixed to good when it comes to these religion/culture issues. The league, like most corporations, likely would prefer not to have its name associated with any one particular religion — if any at all. However, in a world where religion is ubiquitous, it’s impossible for it not to have an influence on the personalities within and stories surrounding the league. As long as the NFL can avoid offending the majority of its fans, the league has no problem.