Like Bud Light, the Los Angeles Dodgers didn’t see what was coming. It remains to be seen if the team is going to be hit by a freight train, like Bud Light, or a Smart Car, or something in the middle. But a lot of Catholics – and other Christians – aren’t happy with the franchise, including some MLB players.
Just about every team in every pro sport has a Pride Night, but most don’t honor a vile group like the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, which is explicitly anti-Catholic, and pretty damned explicit in general. They’re not looking for equality and acceptance. They exist to shock and to mock. Not really the kind of organization that collects good citizen awards, unless it’s from like-minded shockers and mockers.
And in honoring the Sisters, the Dodgers declared the franchise like-minded, but not all of them are. Clayton Kershaw, the team’s ace left-hander didn’t agree with the decision to honor the Sisters and was the first to speak out. As our Jennifer Van Laar wrote, Kershaw told the LA Times:
“I don’t agree with making fun of other people’s religions. “It has nothing to do with anything other than that.”
So he was the one to announce the Dodgers would have a “Faith and Family Night,” and he admitted the timing of the announcement was Dodger damage control. “Yes, it was in response to the highlighting of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence.”
Another MLB player spoke out today. Nationals right-handed pitcher Trevor Williams tweeted a statement:
— Trevor Williams (@MeLlamoTrevor) May 30, 2023
Williams wrote:
As a devout Catholic, I am deeply troubled by the Dodgers’ decision to re-invite and honor ‘The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence’ at their Pride Night this year … 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.
“Creating an environment in which one group feels celebrated at the expense of another is counterproductive,” the veteran tweeted. He pointed out that the Dodgers were violating their own discrimination policy, and that “It seems the Dodgers have made an exception [to that policy] in this case.”
Ya think? This group is blatant anti-somebody and some-thing, and if the target weren’t Catholics or Christians, no professional sports organization would have anything to do with the Sisters.
I believe it essential for the Dodgers to reconsider their association with this group and strive to create an inclusive environment that does not demean or disrespect the religious beliefs of any fan or employee.
I also encourage my fellow Catholics to reconsider support of an organization that allows this type of mockery of its fans to occur.
Williams, originally from Southern California, has bounced around in his career, pitching for the Cubs, Pirates and Mets. But he has a really good sense of home:
As Catholics, we look to Jesus Christ and the way He was treated and realize any suffering in this world unites us to Him in the next.
I don’t know where Williams is bound after the Nationals, but the Dodgers would be fortunate to get him.
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