Atheism in the NBA

[Eja117]

What if some dude like Birdman all covered head to toes in tats says something like "Hey man, I've been working hard and you gotta believe in yourself!"

Does that count?

Was that to me? I'm not sure if you were talking about my comment or a previous one.

No not really. It was kinda just thinking out loud. I think there's a lot of self worship across society. Johnny Manzeil. Now there is a guy who strikes me as "Do what feels good" as his motto. Sorta Godless.

[Yoki_IsTheName]

It should not matter whatever an NBA player's belief is, or lack thereof.

Also, if it creates a locker room disturbance, than that's more of a problem of who's forcing which beliefs more than the beliefs themselves. So if players and staff respect each others beliefs, there is nothing to worry about.

[rocknrollforyoursoul]

What if some dude like Birdman all covered head to toes in tats says something like "Hey man, I've been working hard and you gotta believe in yourself!"

Does that count?

Was that to me? I'm not sure if you were talking about my comment or a previous one.

No not really. It was kinda just thinking out loud. I think there's a lot of self worship across society. Johnny Manzeil. Now there is a guy who strikes me as "Do what feels good" as his motto. Sorta Godless.

Or, as you said in the previous sentence, worshipping "self" as god. Paganism is alive and well.

[DefenseWinsChamps]

What if some dude like Birdman all covered head to toes in tats says something like "Hey man, I've been working hard and you gotta believe in yourself!"

Does that count?

Was that to me? I'm not sure if you were talking about my comment or a previous one.

No not really. It was kinda just thinking out loud. I think there's a lot of self worship across society. Johnny Manzeil. Now there is a guy who strikes me as "Do what feels good" as his motto. Sorta Godless.

Gotchya. Makes sense. Agreed.

[Celtics18]

Good read.  Arian Foster seems like an interesting guy.  I've always been surprised that there aren't more openly non-religious pro athletes.

[trickybilly]

It should not matter whatever an NBA player's belief is, or lack thereof.

Also, if it creates a locker room disturbance, than that's more of a problem of who's forcing which beliefs more than the beliefs themselves. So if players and staff respect each others beliefs, there is nothing to worry about.

Yeah, no argument here, but the point is more that Christianity assumes that Godless people go to hell, or even if you subscribe to the 'new' Christianity you are still just missing something.

Like I'm saying religion logically creates locker room disturbances, just by its very nature. I mean obviously it doesn't because, well, rich people don't really get into useless arguments, but it should.

Not everyone is as awesome as Evan Turner.

http://www.christianpost.com/news/nba-guard-evan-turner-compares-himself-to-jesus-christ-131441/

[guava_wrench]

Basketball doesn't have the religion problem that football has, which is just another reason why basketball is so much better than football.

[littleteapot]

Say what you want about Jesus, but he doesn't have more turnovers than made 3s this year.

[Eja117]

I don't recall anyone complaining when Phil Jackson was handing out books on Bhuddism.

If Pete Carroll took all his players to do yoga or something and someone was like "Heck no." people would say the guy wasn't a team player. 

My understanding is that the team that crams religion down your throat is probably BYU.

Does anyone know if Arian Foster does Christmas? If he does he's sorta a fair weather atheist, right? Does he celebrate St Valentines Day? Does he honor Irish Catholics by getting really drunk on St Patrick's Day?   Does he celebrate MLK Day?

[guava_wrench]

What if some dude like Birdman all covered head to toes in tats says something like "Hey man, I've been working hard and you gotta believe in yourself!"

Does that count?

Was that to me? I'm not sure if you were talking about my comment or a previous one.

No not really. It was kinda just thinking out loud. I think there's a lot of self worship across society. Johnny Manzeil. Now there is a guy who strikes me as "Do what feels good" as his motto. Sorta Godless.

Huh? What are you talking about? "Self-worship" is a nonsensical idea. Manzeil isn't worshipping himself. He is just a narcissist who likes to party.

Heard of Dwight Howard? Incredibly impressed with himself, but he has also always been super Christian.

God is irrelevant to a discussion of people's personalities. Believers are just as likely to be narcissists.

None of that matters anyway. Just let people do their job when they arrive at the arena. Doesn't matter what their religion is, what their politics are, or whether they are narcissists so long as it isn't breaking labor laws and isn't hurting the team.

[Eja117]

What if some dude like Birdman all covered head to toes in tats says something like "Hey man, I've been working hard and you gotta believe in yourself!"

Does that count?

Was that to me? I'm not sure if you were talking about my comment or a previous one.

No not really. It was kinda just thinking out loud. I think there's a lot of self worship across society. Johnny Manzeil. Now there is a guy who strikes me as "Do what feels good" as his motto. Sorta Godless.

Huh? What are you talking about? "Self-worship" is a nonsensical idea. Manzeil isn't worshipping himself. He is just a narcissist who likes to party.

Heard of Dwight Howard? Incredibly impressed with himself, but he has also always been super Christian.

God is irrelevant to a discussion of people's personalities. Believers are just as likely to be narcissists.

None of that matters anyway. Just let people do their job when they arrive at the arena. Doesn't matter what their religion is, what their politics are, or whether they are narcissists so long as it isn't breaking labor laws and isn't hurting the team.

No no no no. DH may think he's the best player in the league. Muhammed Ali made it a point to tell everyone he was the greatest boxer of all time and pretty. But neither of them necessarily thought they are the greatest creation in the universe and that nothing is above them. There's a difference. You can be proud and happy with your accomplishments and still be a believer and God fearing.  I don't get that vibe from Manzeil at all. I never met the guy. I could be wrong.

[jpotter33]

Say what you want about Jesus, but he doesn't have more turnovers than made 3s this year.

Haha TP

[Eja117]

Say what you want about Jesus, but he doesn't have more turnovers than made 3s this year.

render unto Cesar what is Cesar's.

[guava_wrench]

I don't recall anyone complaining when Phil Jackson was handing out books on Bhuddism.

If Pete Carroll took all his players to do yoga or something and someone was like "Heck no." people would say the guy wasn't a team player. 

My understanding is that the team that crams religion down your throat is probably BYU.

Does anyone know if Arian Foster does Christmas? If he does he's sorta a fair weather atheist, right? Does he celebrate St Valentines Day? Does he honor Irish Catholics by getting really drunk on St Patrick's Day?   Does he celebrate MLK Day?

BYU has a lot of Mormons, so they don't really have to cram anything.

Lots of people do secular Yoga. Lot of people practice mediation that has no religious content. These are practices that have empirically been shown to have benefit. The also do not challenge anyone's already held worldviews, unless you choose to do those practices with people who like to inject religion. In fact, quite few Atheists also consider themselves a form of Buddhist with no real contradiction due to the nature of Buddhist philosophy (or Zen Buddhism, which I assume is Jackson's thing).

Holidays are irrelevant. Why would being an atheist stop someone from celebrating holidays with other people? I could ask why Christians celebrate a holiday on Dec 25, a day chosen due to being during Saturnalia. They can celebrate whenever they want if that is what they enjoy. The fact that Dec 25 isn't very compatible with the stories in the Bible doesn't really matter. People are free to enjoy the traditions they want. Why should Foster be anti-Christmas just because he doesn't believe in any gods? Christmas has become part of secular culture, even in some Muslim countries.

If we are talking football though, religion is a regular problem and players not in the establishment religion are put in a lot of awkward situations in HS and even in some colleges. Not really an issue in basketball.

[Eja117]

I don't recall anyone complaining when Phil Jackson was handing out books on Bhuddism.

If Pete Carroll took all his players to do yoga or something and someone was like "Heck no." people would say the guy wasn't a team player. 

My understanding is that the team that crams religion down your throat is probably BYU.

Does anyone know if Arian Foster does Christmas? If he does he's sorta a fair weather atheist, right? Does he celebrate St Valentines Day? Does he honor Irish Catholics by getting really drunk on St Patrick's Day?   Does he celebrate MLK Day?

BYU has a lot of Mormons, so they don't really have to cram anything.

Lots of people do secular Yoga. Lot of people practice mediation that has no religious content. These are practices that have empirically been shown to have benefit. The also do not challenge anyone's already held worldviews, unless you choose to do those practices with people who like to inject religion. In fact, quite few Atheists also consider themselves a form of Buddhist with no real contradiction due to the nature of Buddhist philosophy (or Zen Buddhism, which I assume is Jackson's thing).

Holidays are irrelevant. Why would being an atheist stop someone from celebrating holidays with other people? I could ask why Christians celebrate a holiday on Dec 25, a day chosen due to being during Saturnalia. They can celebrate whenever they want if that is what they enjoy. The fact that Dec 25 isn't very compatible with the stories in the Bible doesn't really matter. People are free to enjoy the traditions they want. Why should Foster be anti-Christmas just because he doesn't believe in any gods? Christmas has become part of secular culture, even in some Muslim countries.

If we are talking football though, religion is a regular problem and players not in the establishment religion are put in a lot of awkward situations in HS and even in some colleges. Not really an issue in basketball.

Pretty sure not every player at BYU is Mormon.

Yoga is a Hindu thing. There isn't secular yoga any more than secular church. You don't have to believe in Hinduism to do yoga any more than you have to believe in God to be in a church.

I mean if you want to say Christmas is secular now that would only be because of cultural appropriation/Edited for profanity.  Please do not do it again.ization.