Athletes on all levels, from the amateur high school softball player to the professional cyclist or baseball player, face ethical dilemmas regarding his or her performance on a daily basis. The more competitive the sport, the more pressure there is on these athletes to perform and surpass his or her opponents. When faced with a decision to participate in something that may be classified as technically within the law and could result in an enhanced physical performance, the dilemma posed for such athletes is whether the risk of failure in his or her performance would outweigh the risk of being drug tested and found ineligible to compete. This paper will examine the athlete’s ethical dilemma according to my Christian worldview.
Ethical Dilemma
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(Ed.). (2014). Much like Adam and Eve, Paul desires to be equal to that of his fellow teammates and go against his natural design of his place on the team. This desire exemplifies the sinful nature of mankind.
Resolution
To hold to the ethical and moral values of a Christian worldview, we find that Paul should proceed in truth. Scripture found in Proverbs relates to the need for an individual to restrain and refrain from evil, for one to stand firm in their faith. Through such stance, all is possible, including successful performance in athletic sport. Scripture in Proverbs says, “Watch the path of your feet and all your ways will be established. Do not turn to the right nor to the left; turn your foot from evil.” (Proverbs 4:26-27)
Because Paul has attained his standing in the team without performance enhancing drugs, he should continue this path of honesty and integrity to maintain his position with the team. Although his fellow teammate offered the performance enhancing drug, despite the friendly gesture of teammate to teammate, Paul should refuse such
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Holding true to obedience of God’s laws and proceeding with honesty and integrity may jeopardize Paul’s standing; however, such is the cost of being true to one’s faith and the Christian worldview (DiVincenzo, 2014).
To be a disciple of Jesus, an individual must “…give up being the king of their own kingdom.” (DiVincenzo, 2014). This means that Paul would have to choose to do things that Jesus would do, that he would have to consider Jesus’ priorities. According to Hiles and Smith (2014), This would require choosing to be humble over one’s pride (DiVincenzo, 2014).
An article written in 2012, details that while taking performance enhancing drugs improves athletic performance, it does not improve relative performance, especially if other athletes are also using similar enhancing drugs (Chwang, 2012). Therefore, even if Paul were to decide to accept his fellow teammates offer of drugs, there is no guaranty that he would perform better or that he would hold on to his standing in the team. Alternatively, if Paul were to accept the offer to use the performance enhancing drugs he would then be exposed to the harmful effects of such drug use. Chwang study postulates that there is the key question to consider of whether
not take a stand in the situation. He took care of Paul when he (Paul)
No matter your career, you will eventually run into a situation where an ethical or moral decision has to be made. I am planning on going into athletic training where many ethical dilemmas will surround the health or actions dealing with athletes. Here are three different scenarios I could face as an athletic trainer and how I would resolve each ethical issue.
Ever since the introduction of steroids to professional sports in the 1970s (Assael), they have greatly undermined the core American beliefs that sports held dear for so long. Values like honesty, hard work, and dedication h...
The failure of the NFL to disclose credible research linking concussions to permanent, hidden long-term brain injury to the players can be interpreted as both ethical and unethical. Ethical theories and traps influenced the NFL’s decision. Not disclosing the research is considered moral by the ethical theory of utilitarianism. Utilitarian ethics considers the best decision is one which maximizes overall happiness and minimizes overall pain is more ethical. Utilitarianism’s goal is to produce the best outcome for the largest number of people. The NFL’s failure to reveal the research connecting concussion to permanent brain injury’s is in line with utilitarian ethics. A larger population benefits from football compared to the small number of
Athletes put their lives in danger by using performance enhancement drugs. They use these drugs to gain physical advantages for their sporting events. These methods have been around for thousands of years. According to research, “In ancient Greece, Olympic athletes would ingest huge portions of meat that contained testosterone and creatine before they competed. They would also consume large quantities of alcoholic beverages and lamb testicles” (“Steroids”). Today, sportspersons have a drug policy due to health hazards, violence and incapability’s of normal performances. From lamb chops to steroids, many athletes are willing to destroy their bodies to become “popular” legends.
Paul believes that everyone around him is beneath him. He is convinced that he is superior to everyone else in his school and in his neighborhood. He is even condescending to his teachers, and shows an appalling amount of contempt for them, of which they are very aware.
Paul believes that he was tricked into joining the army and fighting in the war. This makes him very bitter towards the people who lied to him. This is why he lost his respect and trust towards the society. Teachers and parents were the big catalysts for the ki...
The use of performance enhancing drugs has become more and more common due to the pressure to win. The majority of serious athletes know the competitive urge to be victorious can be intense and often rely on performance enhancing drugs to succeed. There are many types of performance enhancing drugs out there such as anabolic steroids, androstenedione, gonadotropin, and erythoropoietin. Performance enhancing drugs are tempting to athletes because it give athletes a forceful feelings and it helps athletes recuperate from a difficult workout extra fast by diminishing the muscle loss that happens during the workout. This allows athletes to exercises faster and often without over working their body. The benefits of these performance-enhancing drugs aren’t worth it since there are more cons than pro because it can be dangerous to the human body and nobody wants to be known as a cheater. Athletes know the side effects but they ignore it due to the desire to succeed. “In response to the increased international awareness of the use of illegal PEDs, and the individual sporting associations’ apparent inability to successfully level the playing field, national governments have taken notice, and, in some cases, have instituted comprehensive national drug testing legislation for professional sport” according to "Safe At Home? Assessing U.S. Efforts To Protect Youths From The Effects Of Performance Enhancing Drugs In Sports." Performance enhancing drugs should be excluded from sports because it is not fair to athletes that aren’t using it and drugging can be very harmful to the body and it can even lead to death if use too frequently.
People think that all drugs are bad. However, they can enhance their performance.They really really can enhance the entire performance in front of the coaches, fans, players, and the other teams out there in the world. The real question is, what is a drug? “A drug is a chemical substance that, when absorbed into the body, can alter normal bodily function. Many drugs have been banned in sport if they are deemed to provide an unfair advantage, pose a health risk, or are seen to violate the ‘spirit of sport’.The use of banned drugs by athletes is referred to as ‘doping’. The International Olympic Committee (IOC), and more recently, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) have been leading the way in the battle against drugs in sport.( University of Ulster). Why do athletes that are even role models take drugs? Most athletes take drugs to enhance their physical performance in an attempt to prevent them falling behind other competitors, even if it does mean damaging their health and ri...
06 Jan. 2014. http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/9780470510544.ch70/summary>. Haugen, Kjetil K. "Why We Shouldn’t Allow Performance Enhancing Drugs in Sport." Academia.edu. Academia.edu, 1 Apr. 2011.
In the essay “Let Steroids into the Hall of Fame” from the book Patterns, Zev Chafets argues that the practice of performance-enhancing drugs should be allowed on the field of baseball players. For example, in the essay, he mentions that the game of baseball is always growing and allowing players to use steroids will help the game grow even more. It's not just the rookies who are using substances to improve their performance but professional like Paul Molitor and Ferguson Jenkins have been caught utilizing it. In addition, Zev Chafets states that athletes who do use performance-enhancing drugs benefit from it because it helps them calm their nerves before an important game and it also helps them operate better throughout the game. But there is more than just using drugs to increase performance in a game. An athlete must make sure to use it in a proper manner or they could experience long term or short term health risks like infections or swelling causing. In addition, if they are caught using drugs before or during a game then they will be dismissed from playing in the upcoming game. Although this may affect a player's reputation, most of them have lawyers and enough money to buy themselves out of the situation. Chafets also explains that the use of drugs show a bad
All competitors know that using performance enhancing drugs is wrong. But some know that it helps them get a step ahead of other athletes, risking their lives, family bond, and career. Even though these drugs are very desirer able the side effect are just not worth the risk. These drugs dismantle the playing field in all sports. It is not fair to other athletes who work their butts off day in and day out to achieve greatness. These drugs are not worth the risk. It’s not worth knowing that the only way you got to the top of the game was by cheating. A saying that everyone knows is cheaters never win... so get rid of performance enhancing drugs in sports or watch the concept of sports take a huge turn for the worse in the future
Concerning Paul’s expectations of how his communities were to behave, while he has always been consistent in expressing the love principle and that all things come from God, Paul was also responding to specific circumstances that arose in the early Christian communities. In so doing, whether intentionally or unintentionally, he created a set of values that would be later erroneously built upon to justify the condemnation of homosexuals (1 Corinthians 6:9–10) and the servitude of women to their husbands (1 Cor. 11:3; 7-9; 14:33-35).
...Though there have been various laws and rules in the sports, athletes didn’t hesitate breaking those rules. Using drugs in the sports a favorable outcome (to win) and gambling have speeded to the maximum. Athletes are cheating in sports through drugs and gambling leads to cheat to get the name, fame, money and rewards and instead of using their own effort and ability to work. They cheat when they don’t have to and when they get caught it ruin their career. In addition, gambling itself is addictive and the athlete who begins losing the money can be dangerously vulnerable to different destructive behaviors. Drug use and gambling are harmful for the career. Finally, all cheating in sports has to eliminate to save the spirit of sports.
The usage of performance-enhancing drugs in sports is commonly known as Doping. Doping is banned worldwide in every sports administration and competitions and doping gives an unfair advantage to those using illegal substances, such as steroids to boost their performance. It also puts at stake the integrity of those athletes who do not use performance-enhancing drugs also known as “clean” athletes. In fact it seems that we’re now entering the era of performance-enhancing drugs within professional sports. Doping rids the true athletes of what they truly deserve and is wrong; because why should those who put in a hundred per cent of their effort, be outshone by individuals who are choosing to use substances to enhance their physical and mental abilities? Doping damages the sports industry as a whole because it has a serious physical and mental effects on the athletes, as well as damaging the idea of sportsmanship and it also breaks the trust of the fans, as they realise their idols are hypocrites.