Arian Foster has come out and committed blasphemy in the eyes of many.
We already knew that Foster was a cerebral player, an athlete who is also a deep thinker who challenges convention. Now his views on religion have been made crystal clear, and they make him a leader among an emerging group of people in the country.
Foster, who was born Muslim, studied the Bible and Quran growing up, and was taught to think for himself and ask questions, has decided that he does not believe in God or have a religion, and he is proud to say so.
“Faith isn’t enough for me. For people who are struggling with that, they’re nervous about telling their families or afraid of the backlash … man, don’t be afraid to be you. I was, for years,” the Houston Texans running back said in comments to Tim Keown for a feature in ESPN The Magazine.
Foster’s comments oppose that of say Tim Tebow, who became famous — and polarizing — for espousing his religious views on national TV while playing college and pro football. But Foster’s viewpoint about the relationship between God and the outcome of football games reflects one shared by many non-religious folks.
“If there is a God and he’s watching football, there are so many other things he could be doing,” Foster believes. “There are hungry children and diseases and famine and so much important stuff going on in the world, and he’s really blessed your team? It’s just weird to me.”
Just because Foster does not believe in God does not make him a devil-worshiper, however, so don’t even suggest that.
‘No, bro, I don’t believe there’s a God, why would I believe there’s a devil?’ There’s a lot of ignorance about nonbelief. I don’t mean a negative connotation of ignorance. I just mean a lack of understanding, a lack of knowledge, lack of exposure to people like me.”
Though football and religion are often intertwined, there are players who do not have specific religious beliefs. The difference is they all are not as outspoken as Foster about defiantly holding differing beliefs. He just seems to enjoy being different, playing the contrarian role as he challenges conventions. Between his admission about taking money in college and ripping the NFL for Thursday Night Football, we already knew Foster was outspoken. Now everyone knows how he feels about religion, and he is probably happy about that.
