One by one, the ball players are coming out against that Dodgers plan to lionize the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence
They're coming around.
One by one, major league ball players are coming out to express their opposition to the Los Angeles Dodgers' management's decision to honor anti-Catholic bigot group, the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, with its "Community Hero Award."
Here are two of them:
Los Angeles Dodgers reliever Blake Treinen is the latest player on the team who does not agree with them set to honor the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence during their Pride Night on June 16.
Treinen, who is currently on the 60-day IL as he continues to recover from shoulder surgery, joined All-Star starter Clayton Kershaw as members of the organization who disapproved of the decision to add the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence back to their Pride Night event after previously removing the group.
Treinan's statement was exquisite, and it's clear he wrote it himself, because of one errantly placed apostrophe:
I am disappointed to see the Sister’s [sic] of Perpetual Indulgence being honored as heroes at Dodger Stadium. Many of their performances are blasphemous, and their work only displays hate and mockery of Catholics and the Christian faith.
I understand that playing baseball is a privilege, and not a right. My convictions in Jesus Christ will always come first. Since I have been with the Dodger’s [sic] they have been at the forefront of supporting a wide variety of groups.. However, inviting the Sister’s [sic] of Perpetual indulgence to perform disenfranchises a large community and promotes hate of Christians and people of faith. This single event alienates the fans and supporters of the Dodgers, Major League Baseball, and professional sports. People like baseball for its entertainment value and competition. The fans do not want propaganda or politics forced on them. The debacle with Bud Light and Target should be a warning to companies and professional sports to stay true to their brand and leave the propaganda and politics off the field…
...ending with:
But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.' Joshua 24:15.
Fox News has the whole thing here.
There also was this player from the Washington Nationals:
Washington Nationals pitcher Trevor Williams also denounced the Dodgers’ decision to honor SPI. “As a devout Catholic, I am deeply troubled by the Dodgers’ decision to re-invite and honor the group ‘The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence’ at their Pride Night this year,” Williams wrote:
To invite and honor a group that makes a blatant and deeply offensive mockery of my religion, and the religion of over 4 million people in Los Angeles county alone, undermines the values of respect and inclusivity that should be upheld by any organization.
There was this player, too, who, like the Dodgers came out one way, backtracked, then got backlash from fans:
Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Anthony Bass came under fire Tuesday after he apologized for seemingly endorsing the boycotts of Bud Light and Target over the companies’ LGBTQ promotions.
The video Bass shared to his Instagram Stories was from a creator named Ryan Miller who called on Christians to join the boycotts after the retail giant faced massive backlash this month over its Pride Month collection, which followed Bud Light’s partnership with transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney in March.
I haven't seen his posted video and can't tell if it was actually offensive or more in the mainstream of public sentiment against corporate wokedom. I can't tell if he were truly contrite or threatened by management to apologize or else. In any case, it wasn't quite against what the Dodgers were up to in coddling female-impersonating bigots, which is what the first three players validly expressed objections to.
What it shows is that if football players can take a knee against the U.S. flag, players in other sports can express objections to corporate wokery and bona fide bigots. Whether the new crop of players will be treated the same tolerant way as far-left players like Colin Kaepernick is an open question, but the backlash against Bass suggests that the public insists on it. After all, there's no argument, really, in defense of avowed bigots, which the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence are, right down to their Klan-like concealing white face paint.
That the first three players have stepped forward and thus far have not backed down is a very good sign, though. It also indicates to fans that ball players and their corporate bosses are not the same thing, which is good for baseball itself. The fact that the ball players are on the public's side suggests that their fans will stay loyal to them. That's doing the Dodgers a favor. Maybe that's why so far (and this may change) ... the management hasn't acted against them as they did to the Blue Jays player.
Fingers crossed that they won't -- and that will certainly be the case as more and more players come out against this outrageous award
Image: Joe Mabel, via Wikimedia Commons // CC BY-SA 2.0