Clayton Kershaw says Dodgers' Christian faith night was scheduled in response to outrage over Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence
Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw explained his opposition to the team awarding a group known for mocking and ridiculing Christianity, and especially Catholicism, at their LGBTQ "Pride Night."
Many of the team's critics wondered whether Kershaw, an outspoken Christian, would voice any public opposition to the decision.
On Monday, Kershaw said in an interview with the Los Angeles Times that he was opposed to the decision and that the team had scheduled a "Christian Faith and Family Day" as a way to try to make amends for awarding the anti-Christian 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."
Initially, the Dodgers uninvited the drag queen group after the massive public backlash, but they later apologized and invited them again after outrage from LGBTQ activists and groups. Some conservative critics have called for a boycott of the Dodgers over the controversy.
Kershaw made it clear that he was opposed to the group because of its actions mocking Christianity.
"I don’t agree with making fun of other people’s religions," Kershaw continued. "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."
He said that he was not going to boycott the "Pride Night," which is scheduled for June 16.
"As a team between my wife and I and different people that I respect, we talked a lot about the right response to this," he added. "It’s never an easy thing because it felt like it elicited a response."
He added that he wanted to make a positive response instead of simply condemning the decision.
"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," he concluded, "and that was Jesus. So, to make Christian Faith Day our response is what we felt like was the best decision."
Kershaw is a three-time Cy Young Award winner. He and his wife have devoted themselves to building an orphanage in Zambia as part of a Christian missionary effort.
Here's more about Kershaw's response:
Clayton Kershaw details objections to Dodgers' plan to honor controversial LGBTQ group www.youtube.com
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