A recent set of articles bemoaned the lack of a “separation of church and sports” in the United States, an idea espoused by those who are tired of players “mixing” their faith and their athletics (see Tim Tebow, Fisher Deberry, Tony Dungy, Chad Hennings, etc.)

Time magazine recently covered the subject from a different perspective.  In “God and Football” they cover the various roles of Chaplains in the NFL.  Some of the comments are oddly similar to those faced by Chaplains and religious adherents in the military. 

though some may question the appropriateness of bringing one popular American Sunday pastime — God — into a considerably more commercial and violent Sunday pastime, the chaplains believe it is precisely their mission to help reconcile the two.

In some places in the article, one might think it was written with the military in mind, with “servicemember” replaced with “player”:

Owners and coaches try to take care of their players physically, financially and psychologically, but they understand that players have spiritual needs too. And the more the players are spiritually at peace, the more they can focus on the game.

Without implying a bias or prejudice, the article even matter-of-factly notes the prevalence of Christianity in the NFL, and the pragmatic result for those of other faiths:

The NFL is overwhelmingly Christian; when the occasional Jewish or Muslim player requires counsel, the teams generally outsource.

The story also notes that some players have the same feelings on the “mixing” of faith and profession.

Participation is optional, and many players abstain from religious services, not wanting to mix their professional lives with their spiritual ones.

The military isn’t the NFL, but they are both professions that seem, to some, to be contradictory with a religious (specifically, Christian) faith.  They also both represent environments that have been criticized for their “mixing” of faith and profession.

It seems some fail to comprehend that one’s ideology–whatever one may choose it to be–is a part of one’s personality, character, and life.  It is not a compartmentalized habit or network resource that one turns on or off at will.  Whether they know it or not, every person lives their ideology. Those of a religious faith are no different.