A small editorial on racing and religion
Sounding off on Kingdom Racing and their ministry
When I first learned about Kingdom Racing and their vision of winning races and souls for Jesus Christ, I wondered how the fans would take it.
As I mentioned yesterday, the IRL is based in the Midwest, where there are plenty of Christians. There’s no doubt that the Houston-based race team can find a receptive audience. But there’s also the possibility of a backlash from fans that may feel like they are being “preached at” or forced to deal with beliefs that don’t follow their own.
I am a Christian and I do believe in God and Jesus. But unlike others that may have trouble coming to grips with other religions and backgrounds, I don’t. Living in Boston, Mass., I have friends with beliefs that would make some evangelical Christians a little squeamish to be around. My mother and father are also Christian, but they taught me as a child to always try and put myself in other people’s shoes. Personally, I think if more people had that philosophy, the world would be at least slightly better off than it is. Just my opinion.
Continuing on this tangent, we all possess free will and the ability to both listen or stay away from things that are different from what we normally know. We don’t have to become converts right then and there (and this doesn’t just deal with religion either), but we can try to figure out why somebody else ticks in Way Y, instead of Way X. At least then, we won’t go around and wonder “What the heck is this man or this woman thinking?”
With that, I ask those that may view Kingdom Racing’s philosophy with a jaundiced eye one question.
What are you afraid of?
If you are firmly set in your religious ways, whether they honor God (or another omnipotent being) or not, then to be honest, you have nothing to worry about with George Del Canto’s operation. They simply believe that the word of Christ is a message that is worth relaying to people. If they accept Him, great. If not, well, that’s their decision to make. Life goes on.
Besides, even if a person isn’t “saved” through Kingdom Racing, he or she may still like the race team and its driver, Davey Hamilton. And there you go, one more new fan supporting the IndyCar Series in its quest to bring open-wheel racing back from its own Hell.
It may not be as good as winning a soul for Christ, but I’m sure that Kingdom would love to see new fans attracted to the sport through their exploits. Either way, it’s a win. And if Kingdom eventually evolves into a top-flight operation, they can bring in plenty of new blood for the series.
To those that are still uncomfortable, just know that we live in a religiously free country. Anybody can worship and promote their message in any way they please. Anybody can also choose not to follow a certain religion. If you’re that uncomfortable with Kingdom’s ministry, you don’t have to get involved with it.
But you can enjoy watching their work on-track at the Brickyard this May with Hamilton, who in a perfect world, would have just as many fans as Danica Patrick or Helio Castroneves. His tale of determination, which was completed last year with a ninth-place run at Indy, is inspiring for anybody, Christian or not.
With that, I conclude that there should not be a big stink over this. Every team is out to do their best on the track and to promote a certain message. Kingdom Racing just has a different style to that notion.
Feel free to comment below. I’d like to hear your take.
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7 Responses to “A small editorial on racing and religion”
April 15th, 2008 at 11:53 pm
Great article. I am also a Christian and big open wheel fan and I’m excited to see what this team can do this May at Indy.
April 16th, 2008 at 2:01 am
I agree. I am Catholic (which is Christian also), and concur 100% with your sound evaluation.
April 16th, 2008 at 7:53 am
I’m a cynic…sorry but it’s who I am. I see this as a ploy to start a tax exempt race team.
April 16th, 2008 at 10:22 am
I have no problem with this team so long as they aren’t chasing down or bothering anyone at the track which I highly doubt they will; I’m sure it will just be a big tent of people having fun willing to answer questions for people who might have them and mostly interested in their car on the track….
I think for some people who have a problem it’s that they either have not been forced or never even tried to be open or be around a multicultural situation…
me personally, I’m raised Catholic, wife raised LDS (mormon), I went to college in southern Mississippi where all my friends are Baptist, Southern Baptist, Methodist, Lutheran etc yet somehow we all get along and religion never even comes up…(and if it does, its usually in a joking manner)
I think the big problem for the majority of people is religious marketing in general; churches can use their money in whichever manner they please, so good for them; but I do have a personal pet-peeve with churches/religions with marketing budgets, simply because any spare money is best used on charity work because helping people in need is much more important than “converting people” or at least thats what most/all religions preach; so when they spend money on marketing and converting, the church has basically become no less a business than the local gym or hobby-club. (which is also why I jab with my wife about how mormon missions should be 2 years of charity work, not 2 years of knocking on people’s doors, which she agrees).
however, if Mr. Del Canto’s church has a marketing budget, I’d much rather see it bring another entry into the sport I love than billboards, fliers, TV infomercials, or door to door salesmen.
It (religious marketing) is such a commonplace thing in this day of age that it really shouldn’t offend anyone and I personally don’t see how anything this race team is about can be construed as offensive.
April 16th, 2008 at 10:47 am
I think Allen hits it on the head. As long as they’re not on a “hunt”, then people at the track shouldn’t have any beef with Kingdom or their “festivals.”
Hey Mutt, don’t be sorry for what you believe in. I just think that this has the potential to be a good thing if everyone involved puts forth a legitimate effort.
April 16th, 2008 at 11:14 am
Two things:
1. This shows how clean the Indy 500 infield has become since the Snake Pit and stands on the back straightaway were removed. My first Indy 500 infield experience was…interesting…to say the least. That the infield will be a place for preaching the Word is crazy to me…not good or bad, just crazy.
2. There already was a christian presence at the 500. IRL ministry and local churches did a lot of stuff, including maintaining a rather large tent across the street from the front straight where they offered anyone…drunk, high, satanist, etc….free water, snacks and a place to get out of the heat if needed. They did a great job and never forced anything on anyone.
My question still stands though…who’s TBA entry will Kingdom be using?
April 24th, 2008 at 5:05 pm
[…] I wondered how the fans would take it. As I mentioned yesterday, the IRL is based in the Midwest,http://mvn.com/irl/2008/04/15/a-small-editorial-on-racing-and-religion/Creating Music in Manlius The Post-StandardEditorial assistant Desiree Feigel-Dart recently spoke […]
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