Rick Reilly Let Us Pray Play Summary

In “Let us Pray Play,” Rick Reilly argues that sports are overpowering just about everything in society, including church, and this negatively affects people including parents, their children, and the church community. There is a lot to be said for youth sports, but there is an almost unhealthy obsession that both parents and kids have with achieving excellence in that area. Many will go to any length to ensure success, even if that means sacrificing church on Sundays for games or even practices. While it is unfortunate that sports schedules conflict with religion, it is a matter of priority; if people valued religion enough, they would chose church over sports, or they would go to another mass that did not conflict with sports games. If …show more content…
Sports are an excellent activity for people of all ages; they build character and teach important life skills such as teamwork and how to cope with difficulty and failure. However, for the vast majority young athletes, sports will not lead to a multi- million dollar contract, a career, a college scholarship, or even a spot on a college team, so placing sports above all else in life, especially religion, is unhealthy, particularly for young people. In a letter by Theodore Roosevelt to his son, he explains the value of sports, but that they must also be in balance with everything else that is important in life. This applies to religion, which should not be sacrificed for sports, particularly comparatively unimportant youth sports. I know people who routinely swap their church clothes for soccer uniforms, their pews for bleachers, just to watch their seven year old absentmindedly …show more content…
For the devoutly religious, this might not be okay, however, for the more casual parishioner, that is probably fine. There is no law or rule that says that failure to go to church every Sunday will result in a fine or a one way trip to Hell. In general, it is not good to miss church for sports. But in the case of an extremely important event, missing one weekend of religion is acceptable. For example, a religious athlete, though he was typically not allowed to compete on Sundays, played in a state championship game even though it was on a Sunday. As long as the event is important and it seldom happens, missing a church service here or there is not an abhorrent crime. Also, if a person is not from a religious family, there is no reason why they should be expected to miss Sunday games or