"Faith Day" in Atlanta

If politics and Baseball are ingredients you would rather not have mixed please skip this post.

Bigotry of any sort pisses me off to no end. When are people gonna learn. Below is a story from Think Progress that caught my attention. I've placed it here in entirety. The Atlanta Braves did the right thing.

Focus on the Family Disinvited From Atlanta Braves’ ‘Faith Day’ Events

Last week, the Atlanta Braves became the first team in major league baseball to sponsor a post-game Christian evangelizing event called “Faith Day.” The Atlanta Journal-Constitution provided details:

The blend of big-tent evangelism and the national pastime is expected to draw thousands of new eyes. … [The event is] designed to reach out to people looking for a spiritual purpose in life. Faith Day is the first promotion of “intentional Christian ministry” in Major League Baseball.

Except the Faith Day festivities didn’t offer a “big tent.” The event was cosponsored by right-wing group Focus on the Family, which, according to their press release, used the event to distribute promotional materials about a website they run called TroubledWith.com, which features virulently anti-gay content:

Male homosexuality is a developmental problem that is almost always the result of problems in family relations, particularly between father and son. [Link]

The following factors can also contribute to the homosexual orientation: pornography; spousal abuse in the home; molestation and pedophilia… [Link]

‘Mom…I’m Gay’: The story of one woman who heard these devastating words. [Link]

Contacted yesterday by ThinkProgress, Braves spokesperson Beth Marshall said that the Braves have asked that Focus on the Family not be affiliated with the two upcoming Braves “Faith Day” events on August 13 and August 26. Marshall declined to explain what brought about the decision to exclude Focus on the Family from the future events.

Unfortunately, Focus on the Family remains a cosponsor of several other Faith Day events at baseball games this summer, which are organized by a group called Third Coast Sports. Email the CEO of Third Coast — mike@thirdcoastsports.com — and urge him to completely sever their ties with the anti-gay group.

There’s no crying in baseball, and there shouldn’t be bigotry either.