BASEBALL GODS

Bull Durham Movie (1988): "I believe in the church of baseball. I've tried all the major religions, and most of the minor ones ... but the only church that truly feeds the soul, day in, day out, is the church of baseball."

Be careful of this word “religion,” for, sadly, this term has come to often represent an insidious exploitation of the worst qualities of man. Although this may seem a harsh critique, I am opposed to downplaying the devastating effects this term can have on the potential for widespread destruction if left unchallenged. Why? Because "religion" has come to embody a type of commodity fetishism, selling fantasies and feeding off the hidden (and glaring) ambitions of the wayward while disguising itself as a type of comforting security blanket to protect people from their alienation and brokenness. If religion is a righteous occupation to be involved in then one should ask oneself why a rich and powerful robber baron who outwardly attacks the downtrodden, sexualizes and oppresses women, insults the disabled, steals from the poor, and exhibits little, if any, remorse would be interested in its proliferation. It is easy to be initially tricked into thinking there is some nobility in this cause, maybe regret, or desire to change one’s hateful ways. But this would be to disregard all evidence to the contrary, evidence that is found in the continuation of this man’s selfishness, arrogance, cynicism, narcissism, and self-centeredness. No, what draws this type of person to religion is twofold. One, religion’s ability to control the masses through “sacred” manipulation and authority. And two, its likeness to a type of high-brow capitalism in which one acts, not to sell products for material riches, but in a type of economic exchange of belief and conformance for salvation and eternal treasure. Unfortunately, I think "religion," in the common use of the word, is a lost cause and should likely be abandoned for other terms which better align to its original intent.

This is sad because, at its best, religion is simply a response to an unconditional event which cannot be conceptualized. It is this event, experienced even in the most common everyday unhappiness and brokenness of life, which drives every poet to attempt to articulate it. Yet, every artist feels, as they stand back and look at their completed work, like they’ve left out some essential component, as though this event of life could never be captured as it has been claimed to be in today's religion. This antagonism of wrestling with this event is what fuels an endless stream artistry and beauty in the world. This, I feel, is what the atheist finds most concerning about religion. Not the acknowledgement that there is a dimension of material reality that isn’t reducible to it, but with the assertion that this dimension can be discussed with authority. We make any discussion on religious ideas profane when we forget we are always engaging, with our speech, in a type of hoax. There is a domain of reality that cannot be talked about without our talking becoming hypocritical. This is no reason not to talk, but all the reason to caveat our words, when we attempt to point at it, with humility. Baseball, as religion, is touching on something other than the common use of the word. Not as a set of dogmas which elevates players and coaches for worship. Not as a ritual act of batting and catching. I’m talking about a much more subtle aspect of baseball. A subtly that is nearly lost in religion, as a concept, today. It is baseball as something that only promises one thing: heartache. Baseball is openly honest about this knowledge and doesn’t try to cover it up. It doesn't woo you into joining with the promise of eternal triumph. It exposes the sacred in a never-ending struggle for desire. It exposes God as a type of Absence which can never be filled but ever fuels one’s energy to come back, day after day. It is fulfilling in what it doesn’t give you. It’s a religion of nothing.

If you enjoyed this new meditation on the deeper meaning of the game, you’ll love my other work on the BENEFITS OF BROKENNESS!! Check it out here: www.theartofwarandbaseball.com