If I had to choose between my wife and my putter... well, I’d miss her.
C. S. Lewis at the 2012 London Olympics: Reflections on Pride and Humility
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Practical Theology, Vol. 5.2 August 2012, 153-168
The aim of this paper is “to reflect theologically on big-business competitive sports, in particular the ‘win at all costs’ ethic that dominates modern commercialised sports and the institution of the Olympic Games”. The authors do this by providing ”a Christian ethical and theological analysis of the ‘cult of winning”’ in competitive sports and the Olympic movement, drawing in part on the writings of C. S. Lewis.
The authors present the dichotomy: either winning is all important and people will do everything they can to win because their significance as people and their identity depends on it. The alternative approach is to see in sport the opportunity of “virtuous character development, in which athletes can learn about different forms of love, patience, compassion and self-sacrifice”.
The authors continue their argument: “it could then be argued that in sporting contests, including those of a physical and aggressive nature, there is a possibility of nurturing virtues in an athlete’s character, rather than engendering pride. However, along with Higgs and Braswell (2004) we contend that the ‘acid test’ for the athlete in any competitive sporting encounter, is whether they come .away having learned something about themselves and others and with commitment to change and grow in humility and virtuous character”. The choice is starkly put as “nurturing virtues” or “engendering pride”.
The paper suggests that much of what is wrong in sport is can be traced back to the sin of pride. The only solution they see is “spiritual transformation of the hearts of individual men and women”.
A thought-provoking and important paper.
PS I was amused to see that the paper is headed in the published version of the journal as “Watson and Parker C. S. Lewis at the 2012 London Olympics” although it was actually written by Nick Watson and John White.