Field of Dreams: baseball and religion
             "And they'll watch the game, and it'll be as if they had dipped themselves in magic waters. The memories will be so thick they'll have to brush them away from their faces. People will come, Ray. The one constant through all the years, Ray, has been baseball. America has rolled by like an army of steamrollers; it has been erased like a blackboard, rebuilt, and erased again. But baseball has marked the time. This field, this game, is a part of our past, Ray. It reminds us of all that once was good, and it could be again. Ohhhh, people will come, Ray. People will most definitely come." -- Terrence Mann from "Field Of Dreams"1
             The fact that the game of baseball has been recognized as America's "national pastime" for nearly a century and a half represents one of the more remarkable aspects of American popular culture. On the surface, the game encompasses everything disdained by most Americans. Americans are supposed to enjoy up-tempo, fast-paced, constantly moving activities; yet, baseball offers only a split-second of activity for every second of inactivity. The players on the field stay relatively motionless unless the ball is hit in their direction. Nevertheless, baseball has functioned as a constant for American society throughout a myriad of turbulent times. So one must ask the question: "Why Baseball?" One has to wonder why a sport that aesthetically contradicts most of the ideals of American society remains so popular. First, one must realize that the term "home" can encapsulate many different concepts. "Home" can mean, among many things, one's place of residence, country of origin, or heaven. To find the answer to our question, one must examine the symbolic nature of the game. This symbolism occurs in three different areas, all of which relate to an individual's quest for "home." By examining baseball's ability to symbolize an individual's spiritual development, the American ideal, an...