Major League Baseball’s Tampa Bay Devil Rays just held a “Pride” night at the ballpark. It is Pride Month right now across the country.
The team recognized Pride Night by putting Pride flags on their uniforms. All of the team’s players were all in; yet, five players opted out. I am a First Amendment person. I am totally good with that.
Yet, when I read the statement by the players who opted out, I cringed. Calling it a “faith-based decision,” this is their statement:
So it’s a hard decision…Because ultimately we all said what we want is them to know that all are welcome and loved here. But when we put it on our bodies, I think a lot of guys decided that it’s just a lifestyle that maybe — not that they look down on anybody or think differently — it’s just that maybe we don’t want to encourage it if we believe in Jesus, who’s encouraged us to live a lifestyle that would abstain from that behavior…
There is more but it gets more confusing.
The first thing that got me was these players are hiding behind God and Jesus Christ. Jesus made no comments on how he felt or felt about individuals identifying as members of the LGBTQ community. There is nothing in the Bible that supports what these players stated. This is a hateful lie that just goes on and on.
Then, it is the last words there — “abstain from that behavior.” I had to ask myself — what behavior? What lifestyle? Loving a person of the same sex. How about realizing you are attracted to members of the same sex but you are not in a relationship? What is it?
The fact is, Jesus Christ did not condemn members of the LGBTQ community in any way according to his words and how he lived his own life. The continued use of Christ as a “canopy” cover over unsupported anti-LGBTQ expressions and actions and laws is troubling.
I do not condemn these players. I doubt they spend their days combing through the words of Jesus seeking out the truth of what he said during his life about much of anything.
They likely came up in a Christian Church somewhere and are still connected and this is what is preached and was preached to them. Being gay is evil, they might have been told, and God said so. It is religious madness.
I have a good friend right now going around saying that gay people are responsible for monkeypox. My friend is very Christian. My friend regularly says horrible things about members of the LGBTQ community.
I would not know how to convince these baseball players that their reasoning is misplaced. Their statement makes no sense. Yes, you should not wear the flag on your uniform if you do not feel comfortable. Do it. I do not think it means you are homophobic either. But don’t use Jesus.
Perhaps, they are worried someone back home, in their church will see them wearing the flag and it will cause static. I get that. Totally. Imagine the static the members of the LGBTQ community deal with each day if the hate is this deeply rooted.
But imagine also, on April 15, when every baseball player in Major League Baseball wore #42 to commemorate the breaking of the color line by Jackie Robinson, some players opted out of that.
Imagine if they say they are doing it because it is a “faith-based” decision. Jackie Robinson, they assert, is a child of Ham and was never supposed to be allowed to play baseball with white people because he is a descendant of slaves. Does it sound crazy?
The fact is, this used to be mainstream Biblical teaching in churches organized by white Americans. The Ham myth was the justification for treating African Americans as an inferior species and for America’s racial caste system. God ordained this, was the affirmation by these churches. Africans are supposed to be subservient to their white masters and lived a second-class slave life.
Of course, this nonsense, just like this fantasy about Jesus being against members of the LGBTQ community is a lie. These players don’t have to wear the flag or the logo but don’t use God in this. It makes things much worse.
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Previously published on Medium
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