Roger Federer and Religious Experiences Rough Draft

1099 Words5 Pages
To what extent do different human senses play in interpretating what is a religious experience? Different senses contribute to the perception of what makes an experience religious. Whether it is sports, a ghost story, or even modern observational studies, there is a question of what affects how a person perceives a religious experience. When one person views an event with their own eyes, the same event could seem to be a complete different to another person who has used their ears and eyes. As senses changes over time, perception of a religious experience changes over time. As a result, a step further in finding how and why religious experiences happen is needed to explain more of the unknown expressed in the experiences. Yet, before getting to what the actual senses are, a religious experience needs to be defined. Which defined by Rodney Stark, a credited American sociologist of religion, is “All of those feeling, perceptions, and sensations which are experienced by an actor or defined by a religious group or society as involving some communication with some divine essence…??” (Burger 255). According to the definition then, Wallace has supplied a sufficient claim that watching Roger Federer play is a religious experience. For example, Wallace has claimed that Roger Federer is a “rare, preternatural athlete who appears to be exempt from certain physical laws” (Wallace 51). Wallace was one of the many tennis players in the tennis community who experienced the sensation that is Roger Federer and felt that a divine essence was present when watching the graceful man play. Wallace stated throughout the article some of the farfetched ideas to explain why Federer’s playing style is somewhat unrealistic to watch. However, as always, there are exceptions to the rule, especially since the Stark definition implies that the experience is unique to the group or society
Open Document