tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4395214934672260953.post7244679679427193070..comments2023-11-21T00:19:15.151-08:00Comments on Corrections: Page One: When athletes praise God at the Super Bowl and other sportsCorrections: Page Onehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07722760575330998692noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4395214934672260953.post-86031570234212475992010-02-11T14:27:01.571-08:002010-02-11T14:27:01.571-08:00America is still a free country and the pettiness ...America is still a free country and the pettiness of the invective in the Christian Science Monitor reflects more on the prejudice and shallowness of the author than on Drew Brees. If you don't like the speaker and are indifferent to the opportunity to hear from an accomplished person with different opinions from you then change the channel. <br /><br />Another aspect is that the athlete expressing an authentic thought may in fact be reflecting on a cause of their success. Decades of work in cognitive psychology has repeatedly demonstrated that positive "self-talk" as well as affirming beliefs contribute markedly to mood, self confidence, and ability/willingness to act in the world. Religious beliefs, regardless of whether factually true, factually untrue or where truth is untestable (as seems inherent from a Popperian view of religion) can have a positive or negative impact on ones self assessment, level of confidence or resilience which easily impacts on real world accomplishment. Belief that life is sacred and that an all-powerful being is on your side could pretty easily be seen to provide significant encouragement in trying circumstances. It is quite possible that ones Christian or existentialist or objectivist or other beliefs can be a factor in facilitating or even propelling great achievement. One is reminded of the comments of Solzhenitsyn in the "Gulag Archipelago" regarding the survival value of the Christian religion in that context or the comments of neurologist/psychiatrist, Holocaust survivor Victor Frankl in his book on Logotherapy and note that challenges and vicissitudes are inherent in the human condition and that religious belief is often a support that makes the difference between survival and succumbing. It is obviously the case that one might have survived as well with different beliefs and affirmation is not unique to Christianity but in this case it happened to be a motive factor for Drew Brees and one need not be shy about making true factual statements in public (even at the risk of offending the politically correct). It could be that the comment of Drew Brees reflects a belief system that sustained him through his severe shoulder injury and other challenges to a moment of greatness. Or it could have been an authentic expression of his feelings at the moment. In either case the commenter from the Christian Science Monitor should either just get a life or change the channel.student1776noreply@blogger.com