“Sport Is Not Much Different from a Religion.” Do You Agree?

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When comparing sport with religion, it seems these two objects are totally different, and no relationship between them. Actually, some similarities can be found between sport and religion. Sport is all forms of physical activities that include a sense of competition. Through sport, humans improve their physical fitness and have entertainments with a group of people. Besides, religion refers to a set of beliefs, practices and values that contains some spiritual things. Most of all religions have a belief in god. Emile Durkheim, a French academic and sociologist, states that “a religion is a unified system of beliefs and practices relative to sacred things, that is to say, things set apart and forbidden - beliefs, practices which unite into one single moral community called a Church, all those who adhere to them”. However, it is not easy to find the similarities when comparing these definitions only. Similar characteristics should be found after some particular analyses. There are three reasons why sport is not much different from a religion: both relate to belief, both guide people to be right, and both lead people to make changes. The first similar characteristic of sport and religion is that both relate to belief. Belief is an abstract thing that exists in one’s thinking. It is different from principles, rules and systems. People are not being controlled by a belief. On the contrary, they are willing to follow the belief regardless of sport and religion. In sport, people believe in their own abilities. It resembles a type of self-confidence. They believe that they can do better, and get better with faiths. Take Jeremy Lin is an example. His career in NBA is not a smooth road. Although he usually tolerates some ridicules from others because of racial problems, he did not give up on pursuing his own dream. He believes his ability anytime, and has faiths in
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