“My blood shed for you…” Who said it better?

In Jesus’s mouth the phrase has been familiar and repeated billions of times over two millennia. Tony Hawk on the other hand sold his “soul”, including his life energy as symbolized by his blood to a beverage company. They paint skateboards with it by infusing ink with the skating god’s blood.

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#AmEndSec2point2

The Paralympic Games start in Tokyo tomorrow and athletes have a variety of advocacy needs. The IPC rules, following IOC language, currently state:

No kind of demonstration or political, religious or racial propaganda is permitted in any Paralympic venues or other areas related to the Paralympic Games.

IPC Handbook

We at PlayerPrayers have been outspoken advocates for free expression in the sporting arena since we first objected to FIFA’s ban of religious expression in March 2007.

Today, we joined athletes, 150+ global experts, and leading sport and social change organizations to #AmEndSec2point2 The full-length letter, including a list of signatories, supporting organizations, and athlete supporters, can be accessed here.

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Justin Meram gave Real Salt Lake an early lead in yesterday’s game against Houston Dynamo. When the official Major Legal Soccer Twitter account celebrated the goal, Meram retweeted it happily with a praying hands emoji. The Iraqi national player also sports the symbol of a cross in his Twitter bio. Like approximately 80% of Iraqi Christians Meram’s family identifies with the Chaldean Catholic Church. That explains the steeple shape of his Twitter reaction.

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In 2019, Prof. Dr. Basri Ibrahim published a paper on The Ruling of Football Watching According to Contemporary Islamic Scholars. The question was whether football was harus or haram, permitted or not. “Data were collected according to document analysis by referring to books on Quranic interpretation, Prophet’s traditions, classical books of Islamic jurisprudence, contemporary Islamic jurisprudence, current fatwas and views of contemporary Islamic scholars from various countries.”


Ultimatly, the scholar came to the conclusion that according to the majority ruling, “there is no authentic and concrete evidence that prohibits [football] and the harms only involve external factors outside of the is football match rather than from the football game itself.”


To all the women in Afghanistan and anywhere: Football is harus!

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The Raiders beat the Seahawks 20:7 last weekend. Tight end Darren Waller sat out the game. He is recovering from an ankle injury and should be good to go by the beginning of the regular season according to SBNation. There is also another kind of recovery the TE is going through: on August 12 Waller celebrated 4 years of sobriety, thanking his Higher Power.

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The Catholic News Agency put together a list of six faith-filled moments from the 32nd Olympiad in Tokyo featuring Hidilyn Diaz, Tatjana Schoenmaker, Sydney McLaughlin, Marileidy Paulino, Tamyra Mensah Stock, and Nicola McDermott. Body, mind, and soul belong together in the Olympic arena just as in any other aspect of life.

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“Do not let your hearts be troubled,” is an admonition Jesus gives according to John 14:1. NPR’s Linda Holmes reminds her listeners that the same thing applies to Olympic archers: The athletes “have to lower their own heart rates to stay steady.” Thanks to new technology, fans were able to monitor the competitors’ heart rate on TV for the Tokyo Olympics. Linda Holmes observes, “Lowering your heart rate is one thing; lowering your heart rate while everyone watches you try to lower your heart rate resembles not just an anxiety dream, but an anxiety dream about having anxiety.” What helps you calm down?

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