Football and Religion

Is football become fans religion?

When some time ago the Anglican Church officials filed a request to the government to prohibit providers of English football to no longer play the game on Easter Sunday or other religious holidays, all of a sudden understanding of football is a religion in Britain is like getting real meaning.

The emergence of a request from Anglican religious officials raises the question: do they really think football has really become its own religion? Not just that, but also lest think football has directly disturb the existence of the Anglican Church?.

The request was also accompanied by calls for British clubs, including football fans, recalling their Christian roots. Religious holidays are the time for people to re-reflect on religious values​​, back to church. Is not English clubs are mostly originated from the church community before football exploded into social and commercial activity?

Actually, when many people think of football as a religion, then this statement does not make football as religion. But rather to simply appoint rites-sociological behavior of football fans who did not different from  religious believers. 

Some of fans activity pointed to religious activity are : Obedience to go to the stadium or at least watch the live broadcast of the match,  make the charities although compensation is not the promise of heaven but may be T-shirts and season tickets, discussing all things about football events seems like reviewing and search diligently the holy book, and believe the appearance of Messiahs in the form of players and managers , and many more.And all we got, soccer has become the focus of routine life with all its impact, both material and social (as well as - perhaps excessively - spiritual).

Concerns of the Anglican church officials can actually be tolerated. Try to look at this English football schedule. When is the busiest in the annual calendar of English football? The answer was always around Christmas and Easter holidays.

Christmas and Easter holidays obvious -at first-  to allow people to concentrate on two events Religious celebrate the most important in the UK. Refresh yourself on the most fundamental value of Christ's presence in the world.

But we know it does not apply to English football community which incidentally also Anglicans. Two weeks of Christmas holidays by English football administrators intentionally set as a football schedule without interruption.

In two weeks Christmas, rather than people talking about the basic values ​​of Christianity but in fact measure whether the championship will be won, or off altogether. Christmas period instead of talking about the birth of Christ but about the birth of a chance to win the league or the threat of relegation.

Easter? Just the same. Total solid fixtures. People of football are not talking about the resurrection of Christ but about whether the club who seemed to have buried his dream to win the league or threatened in the relegation zone could rise again.

Church officials worried not only that the Religious holiday contaminated by football but football even start using religious analogies football-like Christmas-to interpret their competition calendar.

But are these concerns exaggerated? Who knows...