Baseball Promotions Make Fundies Mad

Sunday, July 8, will be Pride Night at the San Diego Padres’ home game. What does that mean? It means the scoreboard will give a shoutout to the San Diego Pride supporters/volunteers and the National Anthem will be sung by the Gay Men’s Chorus of San Diego.

Coincidentally, the promotions for children usually take place on Sundays, and the Padres are giving away free caps to all kids 14 and under this weekend.

Guess who’s flipping out about this?

“This action by the San Diego Padres management has greatly tarnished their record as being a family friendly organization. They have truly offended the moral and religious sensibilities of literally thousands of fans. I will never look at the Padres the same way that I have over the past 40 plus years here in San Diego, enjoying its image as being pro family. It is really sad,” said Phil Magnan, the director for Biblical Family Advocates.

The Padres organization said they weren’t promoting any sort of “gay agenda”– they don’t get involved with social/political issues. They just want to sell tickets.

Team spokesman Tim Haskins told [WorldNetDaily] that the team really didn’t do anything – it was just a block purchase of tickets by a customer, in this case a “gay” organization, like any other bulk purchase.

…

“This is not an endorsement or partnership,” he told WND.

Of course, the Christian groups are perfectly fine when minor league and major league baseball teams hold “Faith Night” where Christian bands perform before the game and Biblical bobble-heads are given away.

But you don’t see atheists complaining about that event. Because it’s optional. You don’t have to go to the concert, and you can do whatever you want with the bobble-head. Since any organization can theoretically put together an event like this, everyone is allowed to participate. If it sells tickets and gets publicity, the teams (especially minor league ones) are interested.

No need to complain.

But try telling that to Padre fan Mike Farmer:

“This is a very slippery slope, and I hope you and [team owner] Mr. Moores will reconsider your position… If you two want to hold hands and ride in the gay pride parade, go right ahead. But please don’t bring this filth into a stadium that I helped pay for and in front of a team that I have spent thousands of dollars supporting over the years. I would sure like to know how some of the players with moral convictions feel about this travesty…”

What exactly is the slippery slope here? Does Farmer think every time a Padre hits a homer, all the gay men will sodomize children?

(via Dispatches from the Culture Wars)


[tags]atheist, atheism, Pride Night, San Diego Pride, San Diego Padres, Gay Men’s Chorus of San Diego, Phil Magnan, Biblical Family Advocates, Tim Haskins, WorldNetDaily, Christian, Bible, bobble-head, Mike Farmer[/tags]