FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS AND RELIGION

This section will discuss how ‘…sports and religion [go] together like “peanut butter and jelly”’ [Baker, 2007] in Friday Night Lights. The Town of Dillon is obsessed with football. Some characters even eat, sleep and breathe football. Alongside of this obsession is religion. Most characters in the town are shown going to church on Sunday mornings. Throughout Friday Night Lights, a Sunday church service will often contain football touches. I will be discussing how sports and religion go hand in hand in this small town in Texas and also how they have been together since the beginning of religion and sports. 

 

 

 

 

Lots of religions relate sports back to religion. Examples of this are the following: Central American Mayans and Aztees made courts next to their temples, Native Americans related sports to religion, moral and metaphysical meaning where found in physical competition for early Africans and Europeans and lastly lacrosse itself came from a religious source, the creator believed the stick looked like the small cross the Catholic bishops carried in religious rituals. These are a few examples throughout history. The first, however, where sport was originally organized on a religious basis was in Ancient Greece [Baker, 2007]. The ancient Greek’s competed in sports for a specific God [Hoven, 2012]. 

 

Christians themselves originally accepted Greek sports. “The Apostle Paul frequently cited them as illustrations of the spiritual race to be run and the incorruptible prize to be won by Christians.” However, they didn’t feel the same about Roman sport. Roman sport was often used to humiliate Christians for choosing the set of beliefs they follow. [Baker, 2007]

 

Throughout history this idea seemed to change. Protestants believed that people should practice more useful sports. Football is one that was often discussed because of the aggression of the game. One of the first attacks came from the Christian Advocate. The editor Frank L. Reid believed that football was bringing out a negative side of men, the animalistic side of man. He even says that it brings out the “blood-curdling game of the [Roman] Colossuem.” In 1897, a group of Virginia Baptist and another group in Mississippi tried to prohibit football due to the aggression of the sport itself.  In the 1980’s football was the “Great Abomination” to many Southern Methodists and Baptists. The idea of football being an evil sport eventually changed. Other sports did have resistances as well but after the 1960s in America sports changed to something as Baker states “reprieve from gender, racial and political negotiations a throwback to earlier, simple days.” When America went to the Olympics, religion and patriotic came together and created this American credo “Faith in the Nation, faith in God and faith in sports. ” (Baker, 2007)

 

Another example of this is at Yale University religion and football coexisted nicely together. They had their best football season when Yale had their YMCA members. The YMCA is a group with a large Christian following. Sometimes the connection between sport and religion leads people to say that Jesus would have been a great athlete. (Higgs, 1995)

 

 

 

Often when an athlete scores a touchdown they will point towards the sky/the heavens. (Hoven, 2012). Prayer is often seen throughout the game on the side lines to pray for a win or to thank god for the win. Religion and sports contain elements like myth and ritual, both give rewards to faith and patience. Baker states that the two mirror each other. (Baker, 2007)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is often shown in Friday Night Lights. Peter Berg, the developer, said himself that he wanted to incorporate ideas of faith and being and how through the Bible belt, religion plays an important role in high school sports. Here are a few quotes given by him: "I went to dozens of football games," he said. "And you cannot go to football games in Texas and not be impressed with the fact that religion is an indivisible component of that. It's not always as direct as The Lord's Prayer. It could be a moment of silence, in which coaches tell their players to reach into whatever aspect of faith they believe in. However it manifests itself, it's something that's distinctly a part of that culture."’ And ‘"We try to present it without any specific prejudice for or against any religion. It's just something that I've observed. It's a very religious culture, and that's just the way it is."’ [Strachan, A.] In Friday Night Lights you will often see the team pray before a game and after the game to ask God for guidance through the game or thank God for the win. This can be shown by watching the video in the link below:

 

 

In the episodes “Pilot” and “The Son” you see the team pray for a fellow teammate. In the “Pilot” you see them pray for Jason Street who got injured during the football game. In “The Son” you see them pray for Matt Sarsen and his family because of his recent father’s passing. Both of these things show the community that sports can create and how they are related to religion. The characters in this small town are often connected to God in various ways. Examples of these:

 

"Tim Riggins: Let’s touch God this time boys. Let's touch God." (S1,E1)

            This is from the “Pilot”. Tim is talking about how the game on Friday night should touch God.

 

"Child: Mr.Street: Does God love football?

Jason Street: I think everybody loves football." (S1,E1)

 

"Coach Eric Taylor: Right here, right, God has placed you to do what you do best. Go all the way." (S3,E4)

 

"Mrs.Williams: When a door closes God opens a window, he don't never fumble the ball, baby, he always gets the touchdown. That's God's plan." (S2,E15)

 

How does Christianity and football relate?

Lots of people argue that Christian values can be learnt when on the field. Sports can teach us things about ourselves in both the positive and the negative light. It can teach us characteristics that we need to improve on and it can also reveal characteristics we did not know we had. Wise states ²Sports…can work like a test for Christian character. Do we quit to easily? Are we resistant to discipline? Are we too individualistic?… athletic competition often reveals the truth about our inner lives.² (Wise, 2008).  Ethical questions are another thing that relates Christianity and sports. Examples of this are when do we cross the line of cheating in sports. Is drug enhancing ethical? (Hoven, 2012) Sports can also teach us that teams help develop real friendships, which is helpful to a Christian life. It can also be said that sports stories can be used in sermons. (Wise, 2008)

            

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I will show how the above statements connect to Friday Night Lights. The first point I am going to address is the Christian values. Many characters reveal Christian values throughout the show.  I will explain three Christian values and how they fit into Friday Night Lights. The first Christian value is "Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.” This Christian value can be shown with Luke and Vince. Luke and Vince come from different sides of the tracks. When they first join the Dillon Lions they do not get along. In one episode Vince steals Luke’s wallet and because of this they get into a huge fight and end up in jail. Coach comes and picks them up and he tells them that they need to put their past behind them and work together as a team. This Christian value is shown through what Coach says to the boys. As you can see sports can help with forgiving people who have crossed you.

 

The second Christian value is "If a man strikes you on one cheek, turn the other cheek". This one is shown in a strange way. In Season 4, the Lions and the Panthers must face off. Coach Taylor tells the Lions to not respond to any rivalry stuff. Hence, he was telling them to “turn the other cheek”. This however does not work and they go to the Panthers field and place millions of toothpicks on their field. When Coach Eric finds out about this prank, he punishes them by making them do jingle jammies (an exercise) which Landry has to keep a field goal (something he is not good at). This reveals to the team and the audience that “if a man strikes you on the cheek, turn the other cheek.” This is also shown shortly after this is the same episode when the Dillon Panthers destroy their field (not following the value) and then loses against the Lions. 

 

Other values we can take from sports are characteristics that we need to improve on or good qualities that are revealed to us. Generally these characteristics are often brought out by their actions or the conversations they have with Coach. Coach will often punish the team members by benching them during the game if they are acting in an individualist way or are revealing negative qualities. This happens to J.D., Vince and Smash. The first person I will be discussing is Matt Saracen. 

 

Matthew gains a lot from joining the football team. Matt doesn’t believe in himself multiple times throughout the series. Matt is the second quarterback however he gets put in the first game when Jason Street gets injured. Throughout the series he learns to be a man. He learns that if he believes in himself he can do anything. When Matt starts as quarterback for the Panthers, he does not believe he can do it. Coach tells him he believes in him and he then succeeds. Matt grew up mostly with his grandmother because his mother left when he was a kid and his father is in the army. Matt grew up with a lot of doubt and loneliness. Through the team he develops his sense of self, he develops great friendships and a father figure in Coach Taylor. Football for Matt is not a career goal but it provides him with a lot more than he expected.  

 

 

Football for J.D. Macoy reveals his character

flaws unlike Matt. Whenever J.D. does not get his way

he becomes angry and starts to kick and scream, like

a baby. In various games he loses control and becomes

very upset. This is how sport reveals characteristics that

you need to improve on. Whenever J.D. acts like this Coach

Taylor removes him for the game. This shows how Friday

Night Lights is putting emphasis on his negative traits in

comparison to Matt characters. J.D. is an alternate

quarterback to Matt and and through this dynamic

Matt’s positive qualities and J.D.’s negative qualities

are revealed.

 

Vince is a combination of both J.D. and Matt. Football for Vince reveals both the good qualities he has and the ones he needs to work on. Vince is a very stubborn character at first; he fights everything Coach Taylor wants him to do. He has to stop being individualistic and care for the team. Therefore football for Vince reveals these negative characteristics that he needs to work on. These are characteristics that he struggles with throughout the series. Football for Vince also reveals a lot of good characteristics. Vince learns how to work with others as a team. He learns discipline from Coach, something he had not had before. Before Vince joins the football team he was on his way to juvie. He never cared what his actions did, he constantly disobeyed rules. When Vince joins the East Dillon Lions he learns that he needs to follow rules and he realizes his actions have consequences. Vince also learns how to be a man. This is something that Coach Taylor discusses throughout the entire series. In the last episode of the series, Coach tells Vince “you may never know how proud I am of you” and Vince says “you changed my life Coach”. His life changes completely and it is because of two things: the coach and football. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another characteristic that can be addressed is something like “do we quit too easily?” This idea is faced in Season 4, when Coach forfeits the first lion game. This reveals a character flaw in Coach. He gave up on his team when they were ready to finish the game. Coach later apologizes to the team and states that he was wrong and he states “let’s finish this fight”. Through the game of football the Coach learns that sometimes he quits to easily and this is a character flaw that he needs to work on. 

 

Another characteristic that is often addressed in sport is, are we too individualistic? The fame behind the sport and these teenagers in this small town is huge. For some characters it gets to their heads. One main example of this is Brain “Smash” Williams. Smash is the running back for the Dillon Panthers. Smash always lets the fame go to his head. He often boasts about being the best. In season 1 Smash talks about how much he loves talking about himself. Here is the quote:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“I like myself, and I love football. I love it. I love the game. I love the crowds. I love the attention. I love being a star. I can’t help it. It’s a beautiful thing it’s just who I am, it’s how God made me. I like you a lot, Waverly. I mean more than I’ve ever liked any other girl. But if you don’t like me for me then I gotta live with it ‘cause I can’t be nobody but the Smash. Yes, I like talking about myself in the third person. Something tells me deep down inside you like it too.”

 

In Season 2, Smash tells people that Matt is the one that passes him the ball. This reveals that to Smash everyone else is inferior. This eventually leads to his downfall. Smash on more than one occasion gets inside of his own head and destroys the opportunities in front of him. Smash eventually loses his scholarship because of a broken foot. This shows how you should not be individualistic. When Smash becomes humbled, he gets a scholarship and goes on to play professional football. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another ethical question that can be addressed is: when do we cross the line of cheating in sports? This question is often debated in Friday Night Lights. Sometimes in sports the referees do not play fair and are swayed by one team. Is this cheating? Is it okay to use this as your advantage? Is it okay to make illegal hits on the other team because the referee is not calling their hits? These questions are often debated in real life sports and in Friday Night Lights. I think questioning this reveals a positive characteristic. It is showing that you are thinking about making a possible negative choice before you do it. 

 

Another similar ethical question is “is drug enhancing ethical?” This question is directly addressed in Friday Night Lights.  Smash Williams decides to take drugs in Season 1. He decides to take them to make him run faster and therefore would be more appealing to recruiters for universities. When Coach finds out about this he has a fit. He bands Smash from playing football for multiple games. For Coach Taylor drug enhancing is not ethical. This message clearly comes across in this show. I also think it is a very universal message. I think this ethical question, for most people, has a clear cut answer. One twist they do put on the drugs is Smash gets the money from his church. His church gives him the money for his S.A.T. prep, this itself shows a very Christian idea of community. Smash however uses it in a negative light and uses it for drug money. I think this makes using enhancing drugs even more unethical. 

 

All of the above information shows that religion and sport are very closely related. Sport and religion have been connected since the beginning and still continues today. Friday Night Lights is a good example of how religion and sport are connected. It reveals that sports can reveal religious values (especially Christian ones). Sport provides people with the capability of finding out their both positive and negative qualities as well as many ethical questions. Both of these things are very important in living a Christian life.