Each weekend, you attend. You and thousands of other people pick out similar clothes and don’t think twice about it. When you enter the doors and cross into that open space, you suddenly feel a sense of pride.

You chant and speak in phrases that you only remember for this once-a-week event. Around you, there may be different races or different political philosophies, but for these moments, you are all one.

For some, this describes their place of worship. For others, it is a stadium. But many of us hear this and realize it is an accurate description of both.

The two grand things that unite Americans are sports and religion. Through the course of time, these two parts of American culture have come closer together, for better or worse.

Does God Care?

In recent years, it’s been hard to watch a sporting event without religion being seen. There are the running backs who drop to a knee in the end zone, thanking God for a touchdown. Even boxers, fresh off of knocking someone out cold, thank the Lord for helping them to a win.

But does God care who wins or loses?

The Rev. Tim Lozier is an associate pastor at St. Augustine Catholic Church. As someone who attends about 100 UF athletic events each year, Lozier sees the good traits that a sport teaches us.

As for God caring if one team wins or loses, Lozier has his doubts.

"I think God cares that we do our best, that we do everything for God’s glory," he said. "And God gave us talents, and we should develop those talents."

This concept is not exclusive to Catholics or Christians. Rabbi Jonathan Siger at UF’s Hillel says people of the Jewish faith have the same feelings.

"The Jewish approach to God is that God gives individuals strength to excel in whatever they do," Siger said. "But it’s not a very Jewish view of God to think that He’s really concerned with which team is going to win."

Some may believe praying for a victory would help. But Lozier believes "we’re all God’s children," and people aren’t necessarily praying for a particular team’s victory.

"You’re praying for the other team to lose," he said. "Why is that any better an outcome in the grand scheme of things?"

Faith on the Field

Probably the first athlete to merge religion with sports was Muhammad Ali. No athlete before or since has made his faith such a large part of his public persona.

At the time of his conversion to Islam in 1964, Ali was the world heavyweight champion. Yet as Ali has become one of the most beloved men of all time, his religion is often misunderstood.

It is for that reason that Mikal Rasheed, president of Islam on Campus, says Muslim athletes have a special responsibility to "model the best that our faith and this country has to offer."

Rasheed says athletics is a good way to promote not just Islam, but all faiths.

"When Muslims exemplify the tenets of our faith by observing religious practices," Rasheed said, "there is no limit to what they can achieve for the Muslim community or their sport. I think that being a role model in society is important and should be a goal of all athletes, which is why I commend all athletes that maintain their convictions in their religion, whichever religion it may be."

While she may be a far cry from Muhammad Ali, junior tennis player Jennifer Magley has never been shy about her faith.

A non-denominational Christian, Magley says she accepted Christ when she was six and her faith has grown since then. Her faith helps keep things in perspective, and while she may credit God for a good performance, God isn’t the one playing.

Magley thinks that when an athlete with a deep sense of faith matches up with one who doesn’t have one, the outcome isn’t determined by who loves God more. But Magley says she would be better off anyway.

"I think I would have an advantage in the sense that, when the match is over, regardless of the result, I’ll have peace and I’ll have joy," she said.

Another athlete with a different faith is gymnast Orley Szmuch. After she completes her UF career in this month’s NCAA championships, Szmuch will compete in the Maccabiah Games in Israel. The games are open to athletes of Jewish descent and are aimed to promote the Jewish faith and athletics.

Religion has provided Szmuch with the talents to be a successful gymnast, but the final result is her doing.

"I feel very blessed to be given this upbringing from my parents and be given a healthy body to compete in a very difficult sport," she said. "The successes and all my failures, I think, come from all the hard work … When I mess up, it’s me messing up. And when I do well it’s because I worked hard and put in a lot of time and effort and put it all together."

Coaches and the Man Upstairs

While athletes and religious experts say God can apply to sports, the merger isn’t perfect. It may not even be acceptable.

The secular view of religion and sports revolves around this. If sports are to accurately represent America, they cannot favor one religion over another. In fact, they cannot favor any religion.

While it may be impossible to separate a person’s faith from his or her daily actions, that is exactly what is asked of many coaches around the country.

Unless they work for a private school, coaches represent not only a public institution, but a state that has no designated religion.

So when Urban Meyer gathers his team before their first game, is it wrong of him to lead them in "The Lord’s Prayer"?

The former president of the Atheist and Agnostic Students Association, Ben Galecki, says "it’s no one’s place to prevent someone from displaying their belief system," like the player who prays after a touchdown. But a coach leading a team in a prayer is a different story.

"Then it becomes coercive to anyone who happens to be on the team that isn’t a part of that religion," Galecki said. "And unless it’s a religious school, there’s no requirement to be a certain religion to be there."

Siger says there is nothing wrong with a coach’s spirituality, but having a Christian-oriented prayer can divide a team.

"The issue is more of sensitivity," he said. "In that, if you’re not of that particular faith or denomination, then it feels exclusive."

The rabbi said he’d prefer prayer over no prayer, but a way to work around the problem or exclusion would be to cite scripture that can apply to all faiths.

Coaches seem to be aware of the fact that their beliefs can bother some players. Instead, they say things like ‘I believe things happen for a reason’ in response to a recent event that has shaken the team. But even this can become an issue.

"I don’t know if things always happen for a reason," said Lozier. "To say that God always directly willed that adversity is very problematic, if you start thinking that God willed you to be a paraplegic to make you a better person. But could God use that paraplegia to make you a better person? Absolutely."

Sports and Religion -- Hand-in-hand

Even with the criticism of religion in today’s society, the experts agree that faith is an important part of an athlete’s life. Does faith make a difference on the playing field? Only God knows.

With Christianity and Islam spreading through the Southern Hemisphere, and as Jewish leaders continue to seek new ways of outreach and revitalization, religion and faith will only become a bigger part of our society. And as more children are introduced to sports, it will only grow.

However, this merger of athletics and faith may have already occurred.

"What is so great about athletics in general or sports is that, in many ways, it does the same work that religions do. I think that’s why there is a certain compatibility," said Siger. "The fact of the matter is the hard work and the teamwork and the constant struggle for self-improvement is very similar to what most religious traditions teach. So they’re not mutually exclusive by any stretch of the imagination."