A recent Washington Post article highlighted the influence of Christian chapel services in Major League Baseball clubhouses. The article discussed chapel services offered by volunteer ministers, coordinated by Baseball Chapel.
Unfortunately, there’s been some recent news surrounding a simple head nod and a player remark in a chapel service held for Washington Nationals players and personnel. Here’s the gist:
As a result of the original Washington Post article, the politically-correct police has swooped down because of the following portion of the article:
The players not only pray, but they also discuss personal matters — marital tension, addiction issues, family illnesses, financial stress — drawing sometimes surprising lessons. [Washington National player Ryan] Church was concerned because his former girlfriend was Jewish. He turned to [Chaplain Jon] Moeller, “I said, like, Jewish people, they don’t believe in Jesus. Does that mean they’re doomed? Jon nodded, like, that’s what it meant. My ex-girlfriend! I was like, man, if they only knew. Other religions don’t know any better. It’s up to us to spread the word.”
Now, here’s the controversy. Rabbi Shmuel Herzfeld, leader of Ohev Sholom Talmud Torah (The National Synagogue, the oldest Orthodox synagogue in Washington, DC.), is upset at Ryan Church’s comments and Chaplain Moeller’s agreement and says that “the Nationals did a good job about bringing hate into the locker room.”
Rabbi Shmuel, can you please indicate where the “hate” is? Are you angry that this Christian belief slights persons of other faiths because it is not all-inclusive?
What about some of the things you have to say to your congregation? After looking at the “social issues” section of your Internet site, I noticed that this is what you had to say about intermarriage (Intermarriage Part II - 2/18/2005):
“I once took a summer class on religion in City College. I was the only Jewish person. I was also the only white person in the class. When I shared with the class, that I would not even consider dating a non-Jew, they thought my approach was racist and elitist. It did not resonate with them at all. How can we justify the prohibition of intermarriage to a world that worships multiculturalism and diversity?“
So, your Jewish heritage and belief indicates that you should not intermarry. Could this too be considered hate? The Washington Post article quoted other religious people who felt that other religions should have equal time in their ministering to players and personnel of Major League Baseball teams. I’m sure that other ministries are always welcome, just as “Baseball Chapel” has been welcomed - however, I’m sure there is a supply and demand component to this. And for you folks who throw out the “separation of church and state” fallacy, remember that Major League Baseball teams are privately held.
My point to Rabbi Shmuel is that we must be careful when we throw out the word “hate.” It becomes attributed to anyone who does not drink the kool aid of moral relativism which is often masked under the guise of “tolerance.”
Tags: [Washington Nationals, Rabbi Shmuel, baseball, hate, tolerance, moral relativism, Christianity, Judaism, Baseball Chapel]
