what sports are frownd upon by the WT

i joined a gym recently an.d the instructor was telling me that i would be good at starting out with some boxing due to my size and speed and previous experience prior to being a jw. i am not sure at my age if i want to start that up and i am sure that as i fade, that it would not be in my best interest to draw unneccesary attention to myself. but it led me to thinking.

in the USA, we are told that some sports are violent and should not be viewed.  i have heard specifically boxing, wrestling, martial arts.  i have heard hang gliding, bungee jumping and cliff diving as well.  it has been hinted by WT pictures that auto racing would be in that field, although many a jw, especially in the south, love nascar racing.  football has been mentioned as well but we know how jw's feel and live for american football.  in fact, i dare say, saturday field service is followed by college football, and sunday meetings is followed by pro football in the fall. 

around the world, what other sports are considered a no-no? for example, what of rugby? soccer?

American Football-violent

Basketball-competitive

*** w02 8/15 p. 29 Do You Remember? ***

The violent and deadly gladiatorial events of the Roman Empire have been compared to what modern spectator sports?A recent exhibit in the Colosseum in Rome, Italy, suggested modern parallels by including video clips of bullfighting, professional boxing, auto and motorcycle races, and spectator fights at other modern sports events. Early Christians took to heart that Jehovah does not love violence or violent ones, and neither should Christians today. (Psalm 11:5)—6/15, page 29.

blondie, thanks.  that was the article that came to mind. it specifically mentioned auto races.  the congo that i am currently fading from has a large number of people who love auto racing.  they even have a group of brothers who go each year to different tracks.  the sunday meeting is always about half the attendance when that race is happening.  

i always wonder how sports like rugby are viewed? i would classify that with american football, although i know it is much tougher than american football

thanks for finding the article for me.

I believe this proves that the WTS views rugby as violent and dangerous:

*** g90 1/8 p. 28 Watching the World ***

Most sports are classified as too dangerous or too violent (or both).  Even something like baseball and basketball take lots of time that "should be used for field circus".  And there is the competitiveness--the witlesses do not like anything where there can be a winning or losing team or player.

About all they leave in as possibilities are things like cross country skiing, walking and hiking (on easy trails), riding a bicycle, and sailboating.  Of course, they stress that one needs to do all things primarily for field circus, so virtually any sport is frowned on by the Washtowel.

Baseball is okay, but flag football is not.

Any organized sport.

An easier question would be, "what sports are supported by the WT?"

Answer = none.

Anything that takes time and/or money away from watchtower related activities is a no-no.

W

Depends on the strictiness of the congregation.  I was brought up that anything:

Competitive - which is all teams sports and virtually every other sport (and, oh, this includes games like chess)

Violent - American football, rugby, ARF, soccer

Potential for injury - really, best to just stay in the house all day...

...were all suspect.  The first two usually came up first, and if there wasn't any cause for complaint then the last would be brought up.

i was always told that chess was a war game and could not be played.  i have since taught myself how to play.

Yea, some congregations were stricter than others when it came to the violence or physical aspect of a sport.

Every fall for several years we got together and played football on weekends.  We played tackle one year but  I remember getting clobbered on one play and blacking out.  Another brother broke his leg.  After that, we were "counseled", so we played tag from there on out.

During the colder, winter months and into spring, we rented a local school gym and played pick-up basketball games.  We had so many brothers show up, we had multiple teams with the winner staying up and losers sitting until it rotated back to their turn.  But it turned ugly one game when two excessively competitive brothers got in a fight after a hard foul.  After that, attendance dwindled due to the elders investigating the situation until we couldn't even get 3 on 3 anymore. 

But actually, it's not the violence or danger of a sport that prompts warnings...it's the time factor.  It was the time it took away from "spiritual" things.  They don't want their employees pursuing any activity that keeps them from selling magazines or sheparding harrassing the flock.  Pioneers, MSs and elders bore the brunt of this as they were to set the example of the other publishers to not let "worldly" activities take too much importance.

An example of how brothers were counseled on sports not generally known as violent:

I knew two brothers who were excellent tennis players.  They played every chance they got.  And they used to get quite competitive and would hate losing.  They got counseled for spending too much time pursuing this hobby instead of pursuing increasing their service hours.  A side counsel was that they were too competitive.  They were told to play without keeping score to keep the "proper" perspective.

Other brothers were avid golfers.  They took lessons, played 9 holes in the evenings to practice and lived to play golf after service on Saturdays.  Of course, over time, they too were counseled for allowing this activity to take too much importance in their lives. 

Yet despite all these examples, dubs still manage to get together for pick-up basketball and football, golf and attend professional sporting events.  I know of JW golf tournaments, complete with trophies, closest to pin contests, etc.

When it comes to sports and blue collar dubs, they're going to find a way to get their fix, whether they partake in the sport itself or spend time watching game after game on TV.  Just another example of cognitive dissonance.  They know they're supposed to shun these things and they can qoute the Society's stance on it, but  yet they'll be wrapped up in it just as much as anyone else in the "world".