Respecting religious traditions in recreational programming: understanding the religions in your community can help you plan accordingly.

Each year park and recreation professionals are confronted by requests and concerns voiced by citizens that require decisions involving an interpretation of the First Amendment. Nativity scenes in public parks, facility requests by religious groups, Sunday start times for recreational sports, and many other issues challenge our legal acumen and public relations abilities.

What is commonly referred to as "separation of church and state" is in actuality a well-crafted yet deliberately vague amendment to the Constitution that allows for the free exercise of religious belief; while at the same time forbidding the establishment of a religious system by the government. Laws, as opposed to rules, are designed to allow for interpretation, and often reflect the changing mores of the nation and the practices of the local community.

These situations are difficult for administrators and are often emotionally charged for the citizens involved. Fortunately, there are a few cases that may help to initiate a fuller appreciation of the relationship between religious practice and recreation.

Immigration and the American Identity

The American experience over the past two centuries was one of constant immigration. The first permanent European settlers in American history came from England and the Netherlands. They were motivated by economic, religious and political freedoms that the New World offered. During the first 50 years after independence, the United States received about 710,000 immigrants,--which is about how many were admitted in 1995 alone. During the first century or so of our country's existence (1776 to 1884), the United States received about two immigrants an hour; in the 1990s, we are admitting more than two immigrants a minute.

Between the years 1892-1924, each wave of humanity that landed on the shores of the United States brought unique cultural practices, a desire for success, and a commitment to make a better life for themselves and their families. During this period the vast majority of settlers were of Western European origin. The predominant religion of these settlers was a form of Christianity. The moniker of white Anglo-Saxon Protestant accurately reflected the demographics of the United States during these formative years.

Since 1970, the foreign-born population of the United States has increased rapidly due to large-scale immigration, primarily from Latin America and Asia. The foreign-born population rose from 9.6 million in 1970 to 19.8 million in 1990, with the estimated foreign-born population in 1997 numbering 25.8 million. As a percentage of the total population, the foreign-born population increased from 4.7 percent in 1970, to 7.9 percent in 1990, and to an estimated 9.7 percent in 1997.

The United States accepts more immigrants than any other country in the world. The revised immigration law of 1990 created a flexible cap of 675,000 immigrants each year, with certain categories of people exempted from the limit. This law attempts to attract more skilled workers and professionals to the United States, and to draw immigrants from countries that have supplied relatively few Americans in recent years. The 1990 Immigration Act increased legal immigration by 40 percent.

During this same period the proportion of the total population that can be classified as Christian has declined from 86 percent in 1990 to 77 percent in 2001.

Over 37 million residents describe themselves as belonging to a religion other than Christianity (7,740,000) or having no religious affiliation (29,481,000).

From the onset of our democracy, differences existed between the various immigrant groups that were respected, yet not always understood. The motto of E Pluribus Unim, (Out of Many, One), guided the political and social actions of the nation. Ethnic groups tended to live in a particular part of town, and their lives centered on shared experiences of homeland, faith and their emerging status in the United States. Social life often revolved around affiliation with a particular church that served the needs of their community. The church was the community center for first and second generation Americans. Intermarriage between members of different faiths and different ethnic groups did not become commonplace until after World War II. Remnants of this lifestyle are evident in most major cities where ethnic neighborhoods have survived despite the efforts at urban renewal in the 1960s and 1970s.

School children of the latter half of the 20th century were taught that the United States represented a melting pot. The "ingredients," until recently, were predominantly white Western European immigrants who gradually discarded those characteristics that differentiated them from the majority of American citizens. During the past 40 years, the melting pot has disappeared from the conscience of American society, paralleling a demographic change in the immigrant community. The newly arrived are now predominantly South and Central American, Asian and from the Pacific basin. These new immigrants represent a challenge to the traditional path of assimilation due to very distinct cultural differences, including non-Christian belief systems. The melting pot notion of acculturation has been replaced by images such as a salad bowl, a patchwork quilt, or a mosaic, which connects various traditions. Increasingly, each new group maintains its particular identity while becoming a piece of a greater whole.

Relevance for Today's Professional

The hallmark of the 21st century for American society is that change will be constant and diversity must be understood and embraced. Researchers in leisure and recreational studies have, over the past 15 years, identified critical elements pertaining to diversity and have sought to measure and understand the impact of religious differences on the field of recreational service. Further study has sought to identify factors that are perceived to be constraints to the enjoyment of leisure.

The perception of a leisure problem in the 1970s, brought on by the possibility of a reduced workweek due to new technologies, indicated a discomfort and distrust of the prospect of additional leisure. Gordon Dahl, author of "Protestant Responses to a Leisure Revolution" aptly described our confused state regarding leisure and recreation in his writing that "Americans worship their work, work at their play and play at their worship." Religious organizations took it upon themselves to protect their members from the dangers of too much free time by training clergy in the administration of recreational activities.

Our current understanding of the relationship between religion and recreation is heavily impacted by secularism. In the past 10 years the number of individuals in the United States who do not subscribe to any religious organization has doubled from 14.3 million to 29.4 million. An additional 11 million refused to identify a preferred religion. Further analysis suggests that membership in a particular religious group does not always equate with participation in that group.

What can we expect from government, particularly in the provision of recreational services, with respect to religious beliefs and practices? The First Amendment to the Constitution provides guidance, but confounds legislators and recreational professionals as they attempt to address religious issues in their communities.

Relevant Cases

The American Atheist movement is a vocal critic of restrictions placed on organized recreational activities and professional sports on Sundays. Its premise is that these restrictions favor particular religious beliefs and practices to the detriment of other groups. The group reports practices in Utah that forbid recreational activities on Sunday. Restrooms at parks have remained locked alienating groups such as Seventh Day Adventists who hold Saturday to be the traditional Sabbath.

The New York Times in 1998 reported that residents of the village of Larchmont, N.Y., petitioned the recreation department to refrain from scheduling recreational sports on Saturday and Sunday mornings as Christian and Jewish residents are predominant in the community. The paper cited facility and budgetary restraints as making the request untenable.

The city of Holland, Mich., historically a conservative community with close ties to the Reformed Christian tradition, has over the past 15 years seen its practices change due to a large influx of Hispanics and a diminished allegiance to the norms of the religious community. Recreational programming, once banned on Sundays and Wednesday evenings due to church responsibilities, now more accurately mirrors the desires of this diverse community. Holland Recreation Director Curtis Wright attributes their success to the leadership of the city manager, and a common sense approach to the changing needs of the community.

Dearborn, Mich., presents a unique case as this city of 100,000 residents includes residents from more than 80 different nations, most notably, more than 30,000 citizens of Middle Eastern descent. With the opening of the Ford Community and Performing Arts Center, which includes aquatic, sports and fitness, banquet facilities and state-of-the-art performance space, the recreation staff has learned to welcome the diversity of its community.

The center snack bar offers halal alternatives--food that adheres to Muslim dietary restrictions--in addition to the standard fare. The banquet hall may be serving a traditional Muslim wedding party, while the performance space is hosting a Bar Mitvah. Greater challenges were present as the Islamic clothing restrictions for women placed limitations on their enjoyment of the aquatic center and exercise classes.

While women-only exercise classes allow for traditional head covering, the center was unable to accommodate exclusive female use of the pool, nor could it limit lifeguards to male-only at the request of Middle Eastern men. Requests were also made for extended hours of operation during the holy month of Ramadan, but were not met due to budgetary and scheduling constraints. But the fact that these requests were taken into consideration, shows the community is listening to its religiously diverse residents.

Recreation Director Greg Orner indicates that while the diversity of his community is challenging, it is a source of pride for his staff as they serve this unique community. He cites that as participation rates for baseball remained flat at about 700 youngsters, soccer has grown to more than 1,400 players in the past five years, in part due to the influx of soccer-loving families from other countries.

Observations and Conclusions

What are the common conceptions and misconceptions about our government that may confuse our expectations regarding the "Exercise and Establishment Clauses" of the first Amendment?

The challenge is one of exercising tolerance as a means of accepting, though not necessarily agreeing with, the beliefs of another. Tolerance, described in this way by John Locke, Voltaire and others of the Enlightenment period, inspired leaders such as Thomas Jefferson and Thomas Paine to address the issue in popular literature and in the foundational documents of our democratic state. Voltaire argued that the process of imposing homogeneous values led only to conflict and religious wars. The society that resulted from such a process was intellectually stagnant and morally corrupt, because no questions or dissent were permitted. Instead of homogeneity and control, it was diversity and freedom that created a thriving and peaceful society

Even the inclusion of God in our Pledge of Allegiance and on our money does not refer to Jesus, Yahweh, Allah or another deity, but to a God as each of us comes to understand this. Embracing this basic idea of tolerance allows one to progress to supporting and promoting the idea of diversity. Diversity describes our ability to incorporate differences of race and ethnicity, age, gender, ability, class and sexual orientation in a positive way.

It is encouraging to see research into the effects of religion on leisure behavior such as that presented at the NRPA Leisure Research Symposium in October 2003. Monika Stodolski and Jennifer Livengood presented results from research intended to measure the effects of Islam on leisure attitudes and secondly, to measure the effects of their religious beliefs on their use of recreational facilities.

The authors found that issues such as strong family ties, modesty in dress, behavior and speech had an impact on their perception of leisure. The tendency for Muslims to gather in extended family groups explained their expressed need for large indoor and outdoor meeting spaces for holidays and religious observations. The authors also noted that food and alcohol restrictions also impact recreational activity preferences. Additional studies are needed to further our understanding of these and other issues related to religion and recreation.

Organized religions have the power to unite and promote what is best in humanity, but also have, since the beginning of time, been the catalyst for untold suffering, radical fundamentalism and the unbalanced exercise of power.

Recreational professionals, as they reach out to all segments of a community, have a unique and important role in supporting the positive and constructive role of religion in society; one of mutual respect, personal, communal and spiritual growth and peace. Through our acceptance of diverse beliefs and practices in our communities, we can support the positive aspects of faith that contribute to a fuller, more meaningful and very American experience of life.

Religion and Recreational Activity

Religion, understood as a system of shared beliefs regarding a spiritual or divine presence that is communally celebrated through worship and other practices, has only recently received attention from leisure and recreation scholars. Likewise, recreation practitioners have struggled with the needs of religious communities as their cultural expression and preferred recreational pursuits are frequently tied to their religious beliefs.

Historically, religion has played an important role in understanding the importance of leisure in society. Religion has at times supported the positive use of leisure, and at other times condemned free time and recreational activity as counterproductive with regards to salvation. Here's a look at various types of religions, and what role recreation has played in the formation of its belief system:

Judaism

The observance of the Sabbath in the Hebrew tradition proscribed the setting aside of one day of the week for rest, celebration and worship. The prohibition of work (melakhah), as described by 39 specific activities that were forbidden by Hebrew Law on the Sabbath, was the basis of the covenantal relationship of the Hebrews with their God. The Hebrews distinguished themselves from others by their sanctification of the seventh day. The concept of rest (menuhah) was established in order to give glory to Yahweh. These practices provided an environment of disengagement from the world, a period allowing for self-knowledge and self-transformation, or re-creation. This idea is captured in the concept of neshamah yeterah--the experience of an expanded soul experienced during the Sabbath rest. This realization of self-improvement through study and contemplation is somewhat reminiscent of the Greek concept of schole.

Christianity

Christianity sought to redefine the Sabbath, diminishing the legal implications and increasing an understanding of the spirit of the Law. Jesus taught extensively on the Sabbath, and often withdrew from the crowds in order to have rest. As the Christian tradition progressed, the Sabbath was officially declared to be a day without work and was set as Sunday by the Emperor Constantine in the fourth century.

Other days were set aside to honor events in the Christian tradition and to memorialize exemplary members of the faith: martyrs and saints. By the 13th century certain areas of western Europe observed more than 100 feast days wherein work was averted and various sorts of celebrations were observed.

The Protestant Reformation radically redefined the Sabbath, eliminating church holidays to the point that the observance of Christmas was briefly outlawed in Scotland in the 1600s by the followers of John Knox. The English monarchy wrestled with the needs of its citizens and various groups, including the Anglicans and Puritans, who held differing views on leisure and recreation. King James I issued a decree, "The Book of Sports," in 1618 that identified "lawful recreations" for the Sabbath. Adherence to the restrictions placed on recreational activity was a matter of life and death for many followers, as civil and religious authority intermingled during the Reformation period. To break the Sabbath or to participate in unlawful recreation was equivalent to treason and was punishable by fines, imprisonment, excommunication and sometimes death. The introduction of Protestant theology and practice as the dominant religious force in the North American colonies initiated a long struggle with the acceptance of leisure and the identification of appropriate recreational activity.

Islam

Islam, founded by the Prophet Muhammad in the seventh century, shares many theological principles with Judaism and Christianity. Tradition holds that the Islamic faith is predicated upon the divine message recited by Mohammed through the inspiration of the archangel Gabriel. These recitations were later written as the book of the Qu'ran. Additional guidelines for Islamic living are found in Mohammed's instructional text entitled the Kadith.

Muslims adhere to five articles of faith: belief in one God, belief in his angels, belief in his revered books, belief in his prophet Mohammed, and belief in the Day of Judgment. The principles that regulate the private lives of Muslims, the Five Pillars of Islam, consist of Shahadah, reciting the profession of faith; Salat, performing five daily prayers preceded by ablutions; Zakat, paying a tax for the needy; Sawm, fasting during Ramadan and Haij; and conducting a pilgrimage to Mecca.

Islam does not accept a dual or secular view of government and society, but one based on the Qu'ran. Nor does Islam leave it to human beings to decide what is moral and immoral based on their whims, desires or man-made ideas. Human behavior is to be guided by the Shari a (Arabic for: the path worn by the camels to the water) a systematic organization of how Muslims should live. Just as water is essential for life in desert communities, following the teachings of the Qu'ran is necessary for spiritual life. Various schools of interpretation of the holy books exist allowing for diverse beliefs and practices within the Muslim faith.

Islam has no equivalent word for leisure but does express the ideas of rest, play and recreation. There are three sets of desires associated with leisure: a desire for amusement, relaxation and laughter; a desire for stimulation of all the senses; and a desire to wonder, learn and gain knowledge. There are also five distinct stages in the development of society. The third stage, one of tranquility, includes the prominence of leisure and the growth of crafts, fine arts and the sciences.