Religious exemptions for HS meets

They should be required to get a religious exemption from "God".

I mean, who could say different?

Eric Liddell famously wouldn't compete at the Olympics on Sunday and some still hold that standard - no work on the sabbath.

But now, most Christians are ok with just trying not to compete on the sabbath - only if they are forced to for a championship meet/game. Though with the popularity of the nfl, which famously plays on sunday, that attitude is all but gone in the US.

At this level it doesn't matter so much though and I think the officials made the right call - sure let the team run alone and who cares if some girl who can barely break 20 makes it to state.

If the qualifier in question ran around the same time last year, she'd have been 143rd at the state meet.

This probably won't be interesting unless she improves dramatically over the next few years and the ncaa has to make a decision.

Religion and sexual preference aren't necessarily correlated.

Anyways, these people believe god wishes them to spend one day honoring him. Most will say man isn't infallible and they are doing their best to interpret what god wants (its not always literally spelled out) and in their interpretation (for some like these adventists), sport would cross the line and take away from worship/honouring god/etc. They don't believe god lives in the sky either, other than the sky as a metaphor for the unobservable. They would say god is everywhere and also in places humans can't perceive. Most Christian sects believe god can see everything that goes on in the universe, but exists outside of human perception (except when he actively choses to be perceived, which he can do but only does when needed for his long term (existence long) plan).

But you would agree god and the 100s of interpretations are literally made up? Can I just say they are always after me lucky charms and get to run on a different day?

All interpretations, are made up by man. All religions, save maybe 1 are made up. Yet sport should be about as wide of participation as possible at the high school level - about giving young people positive experiences, and bringing them together. Telling a school their team can't run due to their beliefs doesn't do that, the saturday running work around does that.

High school kids don't even have full agency. They shouldn't not be able to run because their parents believe a certain way. They can make hard choices like Liddell was faced with later in life.

What about the different wind and weather conditions? The Saturday meet might be pouring with rain, strong headwinds etc, while the Friday could be perfect weather, gentle tailwind etc.

I'm so sick of folks here using their ancraophobia (fear of wind) and ombrophobia (fear of rain) to oppress runners with savvatophobia (fear of Saturdays.)

Agreed! Not to mention, XC is much more dependent on place/order rather than time.

That kind of weather brings people closer to God.

Occasionally there are Orthodox Jewish runners on the Brandeis team and he (always he) would find Sunday meets [there are a few] in New England. GBTC would have their little invite on Sunday at Harvard and we have had a few Orthodox Brandeis Judges over the years.

Good point about the parents etc...I give you that.

Ridiculous..... What would the football team do to compete?

Hold the game on Friday like most of them.

Our state has numerous private high schools and some have strict rules about the sabbath. Their league typically plays some sports on Saturdays but they schedule around that for the Seventh Day Adventists. A few years ago, the Adventist school advanced in the semi-finals of the state basketball tournament. The schedule had to be rearranged so their semi-final was early on Friday afternoon. That allowed them to avoid playing after sundown on Friday.

There are strong legal precedents that the 1st amendment to the Constitution requires accommodation of religious belief and practices. This country protects the rights of minorities even when doing so is inconvenient to the majority. As Voltaire said, "I disagree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it."

I agree that there’s precedent and *reasonable* accommodations are fine.
but what happens when Jews can’t compete Friday after dark, 7DA can’t compete or travel on Sat and LDS members won’t on Sunday.

It’s not reasonable to have a big meet on a weekday and using “times” for xc quals is totally antithetical to the sport.

Again, I respect religious observances but this seems unreasonable.

Do Jewish and Muslim student also get their religious exemptions? Or do their have to be students of SCHOOLS based on religion?

WTF!!!

What brain trust came up with that idea? Yeah, running a team trial with no competition is an accurate simulation of an actual race with competitors and fans. I can see how Sundays are viewed as "Religious" and or "Sacred" days for prayer, worship, and family. At some point, a line needs to be drawn with regard to what is allowable, unfortunately, the only solution is what the majority dictates. Basically, 7 runners from a restricting religion vs. 100 plus runners not restricted to compete. Hmmm...seems kind of obvious to me.

I believe it's just full schools but I don't know 100%.

There was a time in small town America where the entire was closed on Sundays. You went to church in the morning, and you better not need anything from the store.