Yesterday the longtime pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers came out against his teams hosting of the bigoted hate group known as the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence in an interview with the LA Times.
In the interview Clayton Kershaw reveals that it was his idea to bring back the Christian Faith Day in response:
Clayton Kershaw said he disagreed with the Dodgers’ decision to honor the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence during the team’s upcoming Pride Night game, and that he approached the organization about expediting his announcement of the club’s relaunching of Christian Faith and Family Day as a response.
In an interview with The Los Angeles Times at Dodger Stadium on Monday, Kershaw said that while there were tentative plans for the club to bring the Christian event back this year — it was an annual staple on the Dodgers’ promotional schedule before the COVID-19 pandemic — his announcement of its relaunch last Friday was prompted by the team’s planned recognition of the Sisters group.
“I think we were always going to do Christian Faith Day this year, but I think the timing of our announcement was sped up,” Kershaw said. “Picking a date and doing those different things was part of it as well. Yes, it was in response to the highlighting of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence [by the Dodgers].”
Kershaw, who has spoken openly about his faith during his 16-year career and founded a faith-based charity with his wife, Ellen, called Kershaw’s Challenge, voiced opposition to the team’s decision Monday.
“I don’t agree with making fun of other people’s religions,” he said. “It has nothing to do with anything other than that. I just don’t think that, no matter what religion you are, you should make fun of somebody else’s religion. So that’s something that I definitely don’t agree with.”
That’s what Kershaw said prompted him to push for the announcement of the Christian faith event — which will take place on July 30 — up to last Friday.
“As a team between my wife and I and different people that I respect, we talked a lot about the right response to this,” Kershaw said. “It’s never an easy thing, because it felt like it elicited a response.”
Kershaw said he was not aware of the Sisters before the Dodgers plans to honor them this year.
He said he “did the best I could to try and understand what they stood for,” but called it “tough” to see videos and other examples of the group’s portrayal of Christianity.
“For us, we felt like the best thing to do in response was, instead of maybe making a statement condemning or anything like that, would be just to instead try to show what we do support, as opposed to maybe what we don’t,” Kershaw said. “And that was Jesus. So to make Christian Faith Day our response is what we felt like was the best decision.”
Kershaw was adamant his issue was with the Sisters group specifically, and not the LGBTQ+ community at large.
“This has nothing to do with the LGBTQ community or pride or anything like that,” Kershaw said. “This is simply a group that was making fun of a religion, that I don’t agree with.”
Another player for the Dodgers named Blake Treinen issued a statement disavowing the move as well, making clear he does not support it:
It’s very courageous for both Kershaw and Treinen to speak out against their own team. I only wish the team would once again rescind this invitation and side with their own players. But they’ve been bullied into submission and that likely isn’t going to change.
Late last night it was reported that the MLB player’s union has now gotten involved at the request of players, complaining to the MLB about teams pushing these social/political agendas which make it seem as though the players are also endorsing it:
Big News: The MLB Players union @MLBPA has been contacted by players and has now contacted @MLB over concerns players have about teams pushing social/political issues which in turn appear as player endorsements. This has been an ongoing problem and players don’t feel protected.
— Robby Starbuck (@robbystarbuck) May 30, 2023
Can confirm more players on the Dodgers have been in contact with their agents + the union than the two who’ve put statements out so far. Players are NOT happy. If @MLB wants this to stop then they need to put an end to teams pushing social issues + political agendas on players.
— Robby Starbuck (@robbystarbuck) May 31, 2023
As I said I doubt any of this will make a difference, but we’ll let you know if for some reason the Dodgers do the right thing.