By Eric Jayne
There’s been a lot of excitement about NBA Center Jason Collins coming out publicly as gay. Even though he’s a mediocre basketball player, Collins will be forever remembered as the first male professional athlete from one of the big four leagues (National Football League, National Basketball Association, National Hockey League, and Major League Baseball) to come out as gay while still active. Thanks to increased tolerance for the LGBT community, Collins has been celebrated by his coach, teammates, fans, and NBA Commissioner David Stern for coming out.
This has been an exciting and significant moment for the LGBT community, but as an atheist I can’t help but wonder how exciting and significant it would also be for a professional athlete to come out as an atheist. With all of the intermingling elements between religion and sports these days (7th inning God Bless America renditions, locker room bible study, and routine Jesus invocations before, during, and after gameplay, for example) there might be far less acceptance for an out-of-the-closet atheist than for an out-of-the-closet gay man.