Clayton Kershaw will stand up for the poor, little, misunderstood, underdog Christian faith

Looking for a night to not go to Dodger Stadium? Might we suggest July 30? Not only is it usually ungodly hot in Chavez Ravine at the end of July, but Clayton Kershaw will be pushing Christianity and faith on everyone. There are just way more pleasant places to eat a hot dog and drink a beer in L.A. that night (shameless plug for my friend’s bar in Eagle Rock called The Fable. Ask for Thom, tell him I sent you, don’t mind if he hits you with a fish. You’ll get a free beer after).

It seems Kershaw was a little touchy about the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence being re-invited to the Dodgers’ LGBTQ+ night, given that they make fun of religion. Apparently, that’s out of bounds for good ol’ Clayton, whose idea of fun is a room-temperature turkey sandwich from Subway, if you believe what you’ve been told by corporate America. So he urged the organization to let him announce his night of piousness earlier than planned, so that he could protect that fragile but vital contingent of Dodgers fans that are also zealots. No, not that one from Hollywood. Other ones.

Of course, what Kershaw is unaware of and certainly not ever going to learn, because a major tenet of American Christianity is that learnin’ is for the devil, is that even if The Sisters are mocking the Catholic church, certainly the molester-tastic Catholic Church deserves mocking and secondly, LGBTQ+ have faced decades or centuries of persecution based on Catholic and Christian teachings, even if it’s warped from that recently. Kershaw is the latest athlete bitching about their feelings being hurt while the LGBTQ community has to worry about things like being murdered for who they are and are being legislated out of existence. One can’t be surprised that a group like The Sisters might treat the church with some side-eyes and scorn, given the work they do and the people they work with.

Kershaw promotes Faith Night right after Pride Night debacle

To be clear, the Dodgers have had this Faith Night for a long time, this isn’t something that Kershaw is just inventing. However, his pushiness to have it announced in conjunction with the team’s LGBTQ+ with The Sisters night is yet another infuriating instance of a “both sides” argument that simply doesn’t exist.

Thanks to the Catholic and Christian church, whatever they may claim, there is a group of people who loudly, and at times violently, claim that LGBTQ+ are less than, undeserving of rights, or even undeserving of life. The other would just like to go about their lives in peace. These are not equal arguments, they’re not even arguments.

The Dodgers are more than welcome to have a Faith Night, and they do have a Jewish heritage night scheduled for August 30. No Islam or Buddhist night, strangely. If the team and Kershaw wanted to use that night to showcase how welcoming the Christian faith can be to all people, so much the better. But when Kershaw positions it as retaliation for what the Dodgers are planning for the LGBTQ+ evening, it’s the exact opposite. Which is probably, deep down, what Kershaw wants.

And of course, when there’s a first step in these, there tend to be others. A handful of Rays refusing to wear rainbow-emblazoned jerseys last summer only empowered several NHL teams and players to opt out of their pride nights. This won’t be the last time we hear about this from a baseball team or player.

Maybe we should show Kershaw too just how gay baseball is.

Follow Sam on Twitter @Felsgate.