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1 Andrew Toney Dr. Penny Marler Sociology of Religion 4 December 2009 Winning, Losing, and the Religious Inuence of Racing Culture The blue-collar American working class leads a lifestyle marked by many differences from the culture as a whole. Blue-collar citizens, restrained by nancial situation, often work out an existence that is polarly opposed to more pervasive American cultural themes. Sociologist Tex Sample, in his study of blue-collar religion, points out that the primary theme contributing to the situation of the working class is what he calls the religion of winning. The pervasiveness of achievement religion invades all aspects of blue-collar life, including recreational sport, of which NASCAR, a commercialized form of stock car racing, is dominant. This paper will examine Samples idea of the religion of winning, the experience of losing, and their inuence in the blue-collar participation in the sport of NASCAR. I. Understanding the Religion of Winning In order to begin to dissect Samples notions of the religion of winning, one must rst examine his denitions. When Sample talks of this religious mindset, he begins by dening religion as the pervasive and powerful values and beliefs that orient and inform the people of society (Sample 22). Samples denition is characteristically functional, as it describes what religion does, not what it is.By Samples denition, religion serves as a guiding force and direction for individuals in societyit is authoritative. According to Sample, the most pervasive religion in America is that of achievement, or winning,

Toney 2 which conveys that there is great opportunity for mobility; anyone can succeed; and people can move from the bottom to the very top of society (Sample 23). This sky is the limit mentality serves primarily as a religious dialogue that is out of touch with reality. Sample argues that two fundamental assumptions undergird this dangerously generalized religion: individual freedom and equality of opportunity, which claims that each individual has a right to compete and contend against others for success. This dangerous combination leads to a cultural mindset of competitive individualism, which ultimately concludes that the success or failure of a person is believed to be up to the individual (Sample 24). Therefore, the culture of competitive individualism, by its very nature, creates a distinct separation between winners and losers. Sample provides four reasons why this natural inclination towards a religion of winning is detrimental and depreciative of the individuals worth, the rst being what Emile Pin calls a terrible contest for dignity (Pin 414). With a religious culture focused on success, individuals are unconsciously inclined to prove their worth and dignity, thereby separating themselves into the winning category. This attitude is especially prevalent among blue-collar individuals, as many feel a need to establish their competency in the eyes of others. When an individual cannot attain this competency, Sample argues that the next social characteristic arises: the internalization of social criticism (Sample 29). He quotes John C. Raines, who claims that winner religion cuts the nerve of social change by transforming social criticism into self-criticism, turning the drive for social change into a passion for self-improvement (29). The American obsession with self-help and improvement is obvious; one only need peruse the aisles of a local bookstore. However, this internalization of failure actually inhibits social change and betterment. This internal

Toney 3 focus leads to another negative characteristic, the painless justication of social inequalities (30). When one fails, the issue is most often reected upon the individual, not the societal structures that often cause such disadvantages. Oftentimes, the frustration of losing translates into self-harm or rage against other people, even family members (31). In light of these conclusions, the most important characteristic of Samples religion of winning is that it is vastly inconsistent with reality. Many of our societal assertions created out of a fascination with winner religion actually hold very little truth. For example, the prosperity gospel, as well as widespread propagation of social mobility, does not reect the various situations in which many Americans nd themselves.The widespread proliferation of winner religion and unrealistic success create a distinct disconnect between expectations and the real situations of working-class citizens. In fact, the reality experienced by many blue-collar Americans is not even close to the winning ideal.

II. Blue-collar: The Experience of Losing Blue-collar workers live in a world marked by disadvantaged structures, the majority of which stem from an imbalance of power.Because humans essentially desire control, economic systems are not only characterized by the pursuit of self-interest, but also the pursuit of power. Sample points this out by illustrating that no individual or group simply concedes to the natural powers of the general will, but instead, each group tries to make its competitor subject to them (43). In regard to the corruptive qualities of power, several related themes inuence the daily lives of blue-collar citizens. For one, the exercise of power through the giving and receiving of orders serves as a means of distinction among classes. While upper class citizens tend to give more orders,

Toney 4 middle and lower classes are more accustomed to receiving orders (Sample 47). However, many lower class workers, as Sample claims, will not tolerate receiving orders from their peers (48). In a study of male occupations and class, Melvin Kohn and Carmi Schooler found that middle-class men were much more likely to have jobs that encouraged selfinitiative and autonomy of the individual. These men were much less accustomed to receiving orders. In contrast, the majority of blue-collar men took jobs that emphasized obedience and authority (Sample 49). Furthermore, these conclusions were indicative of general attitudes toward work. More middle-class men reported having general satisfaction through their work, while blue-collar men generally cited more practical concerns, including pay, work hours, and security (49). In many cases, the type of work characterizing the careers of blue-collar men served a more demanding function by virtue of its nature. This type of work, with its long hours and strict routine, acted as an even greater means of control than the presence of a physical boss. Another distinguishing characteristic in terms of the blue-collar notion of losing is the experience of failure. In a winning religion context, each instance of failure seems redoubled and magnied by its social context. For lower class workers, failure serves as a self-fullling prophecy of sorts; because the level of class structure generally suggests that this is a group with a propensity to failure, the cycle becomes self-repeating. As Eliot Liebow observed in his study of street-corner men, they do not constitute a distinctive cultural pattern with an integrity of its own. It is rather the cultural model of the larger society as seen through the prism of repeated failure (Sample 55). In a way, the achievement mindset of the larger culture psychologically affects this class of people, as it maintains the feeling of failure as an ever-present element of the working class life.

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III. The Mindset of Blue-Collar Life and Religious Participation In his book, Sample describes the mainpatterns of blue-collar attitudes, focusing rst on the most successful group of lower-class workers, what he calls the Blue-Collar Winners (Sample 59). Winners is a loosely applied term here, not to be used in the same way as with upper-class citizensthese are merely the winning-est of the losing population.Sample turns to sociologist E.E. LeMasters in order to illustrate this point. LeMasters comments that Blue-Collar Winner menare not struggling to get ahead, to rise in the social class structure. Given their limited educational background, most of them feel that their job is about as good as they could expect (Sample 61). However, Sample does not necessarily agree with this point of view, instead offering his own assessment that blue-collar men do not simply relinquish the desire to succeed. Rather, they nd more recreational outlets for these sentiments (62). Because these men are virtually trapped in a system of limited mobility, they express their competitiveness in necessary ways such as hunting, athletics, owning good trucks, or being more physically powerful than their peers. These activities seem to fully embrace traditional ideas of manhood, reinforced by the manual labor characteristic of blue-collar job employment. Furthermore, blue-collar winners seem to embrace the traditional marriage structure, wishing to provide stability for their families by way of an honest job. In a similar study, Mary Walshok discovered that blue-collar working women, an emerging population in society, valued many of the same things men did in job opportunities (Sample 67). These women specically sought

Toney 6 productivity, challenge, relatedness, autonomy, and well-being, illustrating that the concerns of blue-collar workers are not merely restricted to one gender. Blue-Collar Respectables struggle much more nancially than Winners, with a primary emphasis on living with precise order and controlling situations. The respectable blue-class lifestyle demands unique attention to precision and management. There is a great sense that Blue-Collar Respectables view daily life as a slippery slopeif not managed well, the situation, both nancial and material, can get out of control. In the respectable blue-class family, the home is the most sacred possession. Sample explains, The house is basic to ones stake in the neighborhood. The investment in the house places ones destiny in the neighborhood. On this basis the neighborhood becomes the center of meaning and valueones wealth, status, kinship, meaning, and destiny can be bound up with the house and its neighborhood (74). Furthermore, the home serves as a symbol of family, the breeding ground for morality and primary form of socialization. Blue-Collar Respectableshold to a very strict conventional morality. They often abstain from drinking and partying, and sexual promiscuity is virtually taboo. According to Sample, Conventional morality is a morality of realism and conformity because it knows how tough the world is, especially when one wants to please (77). Furthermore, the conventional morality of this group of blue-collar workers is inextricably tied to their notions of respectability; to sacrice reputation is to sacrice public image, and, by extension, worthiness and value. The respectable lifestyle is also known to articulate a sense of dissatisfaction and incompleteness. Such great faith in the social system inevitably leads to disappointment when promised gains are not achieved or realized.

Toney 7 Because of the enduring force of the religion of winning, Blue-Collar Respectables are forced to turn the blame back upon themselves. In contrast to these two groups, the Blue-Collar Survivors and the Hard Livers, because of their continual struggle with nances and just getting by, do not pay much attention to notions of respectability or societal approval. Foremost, Sample illustrates that these two groups do not enjoy the job security of other blue-collar groups, so, for them, the job environment is a constant source of struggle and frustration (86). Most Blue-Collar Survivors or unemployed Hard Livers report immense dissatisfaction with their lot in life, continually asking, Is this what life is all about?(Sample 87).Survivor and Hard Liver recreational life is not much more exciting than work. Survivors typically lead boring social lives, with unimaginative hobbies, while Hard Liver recreationstrongly emphasizes drinking, and in some cases, doing recreational drugs (89, 95). In Hard Living situations especially, drinking, marital problems, and toughness are thematic in almost every situation. These themes are reected in the daily attitudes of the individual, from how one dresses to the type of car one drives. The religious sentiments and participation of blue-collar workers further reects the effect of winning religion on their situation. The religiosity of the working class is more focused on feeling and believing, rather than thinking and knowing. Perhaps the experiential nature of blue-collar religious practices is closely related to the overall focus on the experience of blue-collar life. According to Sample, blue-collar workers also most often display a strong devotion to doctrine, a creedalismthat exhibits greater commitment to religious belief (Sample 108). This strong creedal afnity also creates a high-tension mentality that is generally more intolerant than that of the upper classes.

Toney 8 The religious expression of blue-collar workers also includes the widely held conception of religious groups as a source of community and belonging. Personal relationships are an integral aspect of worship for blue-collar participants. For these people, church is not an association, not a secondary social relationship; it is a community. The church serves as a primary group for them (Sample 108). For religious blue-collarites, the church environment fosters the experience of solidarity, a collective identity. Furthermore, the church provides an environment in which to share the burdens of blue-collar existence within a tightly-bounded community. Furthermore, despite the typical stereotype that they are not as involved in church, blue-collar citizens do not show lower rates of church attendance (Sample 109). In fact, according to a study of religiosity and social stratication, class seems to make no major difference in whether or not individuals attend church regularly (Sample 109). However, more conservative, sect-like groups do show higher rates of blue-collar regular attendance, most likely by virtue of their higher success in religious socialization. Furthermore, Baptists and sect groups have the highest percentage of lower-class membership, whether regular or occasional attendees (Sample 110). Sample concludes that the Blue-Collar Respectables constitute the most religiously devoted group of the working class, while hard-living people are the most alienated and marginal (116). Given the generally tough-skinned, disillusioned outlook of the Hard-Living, it is not surprising that they would eschew more spiritual concerns.

IV. The Appeal of NASCAR Fan Culture in Blue-Collar Society

Toney 9 Founded by blue-collar auto enthusiasts upon the unassuming sands of Daytona Beachin the 1920s, and based upon the historical phenomenon of Appalachian moonshine bootlegging in eastern Tennessee, NASCAR stock car racing has long been a symbol of blue-collar life. In recent years, NASCAR culture has ascended to a new level of comprehensive commercialism, yet while still retaining its denitive blue-collar roots. Though it is marked by widespread consumerism, NASCAR somehow manages to maintain blue-collar interest, acceptance, and promulgation.NASCAR culture introduces an adapted form of the religion of winning by specically speaking to the lifestyle and mindset of the American lower-class working population. In his examination of achievement religion, Tex Sample asserts that American obsessions with stadium sport only contribute to the destructive nature of the overriding cultural theme of winning (Sample 23). However, NASCAR can be seen as a positive reinforcement of the concept of winning and success in the midst of a largely disillusioned population, discouraged by the experience of constant failure. In response to Samples argument, sociologist Jim Wright, who recently conducted eld research in the sport of NASCAR, poses a signicant question in relation to the blue-collar admiration of such sport: should we not all be grateful for institutions, rituals, and subcultures(stock car racing is all of these) that glorify courage in the face of danger, that give us heroes to worship and emulate, that reward uninching bravery in circumstances that would scare lesser men and women out of their wits? (Wright 164).Wrights question provides a characteristic view of the religion of winners in NASCAR culture. Stock car racing can provide, for many individuals, a heroic archetype that one, by virtue of a perceived shared lower-class culture, can identify with. It does not matter that the heroes of this arena are

Toney 10 actually in a much higher nancial class than their fans; the perception of a shared background of blue-collar life creates a public sense of identication with the driver. The immense cultish following accrued by drivers also contributes to the overall sense of identication. By wearing the number of their favorite driver, listening in to his pit crew via radio, or keeping up with him on the points system, spectators in effect become part of the team,aligning themselves with the performanceand potential victoryof the driver. Amato, Lee, and Peters, in their survey of hardcore NASCAR adherents, argue that their fandom mirrors a marriage metaphor because it reects a deep and binding commitment that involves psychological, social, nancial, and time-related pledges NASCAR fan commitment generates a degree of loyalty that is unmatched in any other sport in the U.S. (Amato 82). If we apply Samples theory, we see that this deep and binding commitment is the express result of winning religion and the desire to be associated with it. NASCAR is not only attractive to blue-collar citizens because of its elements of success; the NASCAR Nation fan culture closely mirrors many of the personal and religious values of its participants. One of the most important and pervasive themes in blue-collar life and NASCAR culture is a sense of belonging and community. Samples observations reveal that this is a primary foundation for blue-collar social engagement. NASCAR culture as a whole is one of the greatest examples of tight-knit community and uniformity in the sporting world. Furthermore, the sense of communal experience and unity incorporates the blue-collar obsession with the idea of order. As Joshua Newman points out in his examination of the religious practices of NASCAR, In NASCAR Nationreligious language creates order, and that order is conrmed through the corporeal responses of racefans. There is uniformity

Toney 11 and unanimity in spectators reaction to practices ofprayer. A seemingly taken-for-granted as if written law in some informal guideto NASCAR fandom response among all fans at every race is to stand, bow, offer a collective amen,and cheer in communal sequence as directed by the prerace faith merchants. Onthe surface, obedience to this unwritten code signies the individuals membership in a much larger congregation of NASCAR Nation.More importantly, however, there is little space for bodily practices which contest, resist, or reject thisamalgamated praxis of God and country (Newman 300). Newmans observations draw attention to the concepts of uniformity and intolerance, which are both emphasized by Sample in his characterization of blue-collar religiosity. The creedalism of blue-collar religion ts in nicely with the elements of faith present in NASCAR, which promote uniformity in purpose and practice.Overall, NASCAR culture promotes a sense of solidarity among blue-collar spectators, who can experience the excitement of NASCAR alongside those who understand the predicament of blue-collar existence.

IV. Conclusion The blue-collar appeal of NASCAR is directly related to its unique incorporation of the religion of winning and its direct relation to the mindset of the lower class. By exemplifying the attractiveness of winning while offering a collective means for blue-collar citizens to cope with their situation, NASCAR avoids the empty disillusionment created by many other blue-collar means of recreation. Because of this sociological attention to audience, the NASCAR Nation is likely to remain a pervasive force in blue-collar existence for some time to come.

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Toney 13 Works Cited Amato, Christie, Cara Lee Peters, and Alan Shao. "An Exploratory Investigation into NASCAR Fan Culture." Sport Marketing Quarterly 14.2 (2005): 71-83. Print. Newman, Joshua. "Neoliberal Sporting Spectacle A Detour Through `Nascar Nation': Ethnographic Articulations of a." International Review for the Sociology of Sport 42.3 (2007): 289-308. Print. Pin, Emile. "Social Classes and Their Religious Approaches." Religion, Culture, and Society. New York: John Wiley and Sons, Inc., 1964. Print. Sample, Tex. Blue-collar Ministry: facing economic and social realities of working people. Valley Forge: Judson, 1984. Print. Wright, Jim. Fixin to Git: One Fans Love Affair with NASCARs Winston Cup. Duke UP, 2003. Print.