Rockies' Religiousity Crosses the Line

Arizona via Slough linked to an article by Andrew Gimbel from the Independent, a well-regarded newspaper in the U.K. It detailed the pervasive influence of "born-again" Christianity in the Rockies organization. In the article, called Batting for Jesus, Gimbel reported that:

The team's chief executive is a born-again Christian. So is thegeneral manager and the team coach. Their two star players, along with many other members of their regular line-up, are not only believers but attend team-organised Bible studies.

The team doesn't like to talk about it much – mainly because the overlords of Major League Baseball don't think it's good for business – but they have an explicit policy to recruit as many Christian ball players as they can.

Gimbel cited as his source a USA Today article called Baseball's Rockies Seek Revival at Two Levels  (6/1/06) in which Rockies GM Dan O'Dowd and other club officials talked about the team's Christianity.

There's things about this that are absolutely no problem, such as the Rockies looking for players of good character. Having a religion can (but not always does) confer that. There's also nothing wrong with players, coaches, or front office personnel having a faith. Or magazines such as Playboy and Penthouse, and obscene rap music being banned from the clubhouse. And players who wish to come together for a Bible study should have the same right and opportunity to do so as players who wish to come together to play cards and video games.

But former Rockie Mark Sweeney hit the nail on the head when he told USA Today:

"They have a great group of guys over there, but I've never been in a clubhouse where Christianity is the main purpose. You wonder if some people are going along with it just to keep their jobs. Look, I pray every day. I have faith. It's always been part of my life. But I don't want something forced on me. Do they really have to check to see whether I have a Playboy in my locker?"

And that is the issue: the team organizes the Bible studies. The team strongly encourages Sunday chapel attendance. Would a player who is a good citizen, but also an atheist for example, be comfortable  knowing that his paycheck is signed by a "born-again"? If he were the guy sent down or DFA'd in a roster shuffle and told by the manager that he was the one chosen to leave because of a "numbers game," could he be sure that that, and not his lack of Christianity, was the real reason?

And as Gimbel points out in his article, the Rockies are one of the whitest teams in the majors. Does their particular brand of Christianity, and their location in a region of the country that is home to some major right-wing political and religious organizations, preclude black players from being drafted or traded for, even though African-Americans, as a group, have strong Christian roots? Pitcher LaTroy Hawkins is the one African-American. (The Rockies do have minorites: catcher Yorvit Torrealba, and pitchers Ubaldo Jimenez, Franklin Morales and Manny Corpas, and outfielder Willie Taveras are Latinos of color born outside the U.S. Pitcher Brian Fuentes is a Latino born in California. Second baseman Kaz Matsui is Japanese.)

If the Rockies win the World Series--I don't think they will; the Red Sox are just too strong--but if they do, let's hope we don't see their followers hyping religion as the reason. With a different team winning the World Series every year this decade, God/dess is showering His/Her favor on just about everyone, if He/She really cares at all. (Take a look at my photo album called "An Astronomical Perspective" and ponder that question). The notion that a particular group of people have Divinity on their side is one of the deadliest ideas in the world.

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