A cross scraped into the pitcher’s mound at St. Louis Cardinal’s Busch Stadium has one columnist screaming about the separation of Church and state. Huh?
David Brown, a sports columnist for Yahoo Sports actually wrote the following:
Religious references are not uncommon in a heavily Catholic city like St. Louis, but you won’t (or shouldn’t) find the cross on, say, the Arch. Of course, that’s public land. Busch Stadium might be privately owned, but it didn’t get built without tax breaks. Legally, as Vines points out, that gives the public “skin in the game.” And not everybody in the public is a Christian like Adam Wainwright and Mike Matheny.
Hypothetically going beyond the legal boundaries of church and state, it’s awfully presumptuous and ignorant of the Cardinals to draw any religious symbol on the mound. It’s not really their mound, or anybody’s mound, after all. Jews use that mound. Muslims (might) use that mound. Hindus and Sikhs. Hypothetically, Zoroastrians would use that mound. Diests use that mound. People with no god use that mound. Should the Cardinals really have to be reminded that not everyone is their religion?
Wear a cross around your neck. Hang one in the dugout — maybe — if nobody on the team objects. But the mound is neutral turf and should remain as such.
So now if an organization receives tax breaks that means they can no longer display their religion?
I haven’t heard anything so stupid since I read Jim Carrey’s tweets. David Brown should be less concerned with the separation of Church and state than with the separation of reason and thought.
June 27, 2013 at 4:52 pm
Doncha know? You can't have a rosary dangling from your rear view mirror or have one of those fish magnets on the bumper. Why? Because public money financed the roads and bailed out the car companies. So there! Nyah!
Oh! And no more crosses on churches. You see, Medicare paid for the cataract surgery and IOL (inter ocular lens). We can't have eyes paid for my the Feds be looking on any religious symbols!
June 27, 2013 at 4:55 pm
Next step is : taxpayer money or not, you're not allowed to display your religion at all. Nor what you think if it's again the secular dogma.
In France even simply wearing a shirt with a (normal) family on it can send you to jail. Or sitting in a place like last night (52 persons taken to the police for nothing).
June 27, 2013 at 5:54 pm
You know, I am seeing so many examples of stupid that I'm thinking this country SHOULD collapse – it will simply be Darwinism in action. Too many genes for foolish are in the pool.
June 27, 2013 at 5:54 pm
Separation of Church and Sports?
June 27, 2013 at 5:56 pm
"Hang [a cross] in the dugout — maybe — if nobody on the team objects."
Since when do Atheist's get to veto everything? You might just as well say, 'leave the mound unmarked – maybe – if nobody objects'
June 27, 2013 at 6:26 pm
There should be separation of sports and obamacare too then.
Hey, that jackass should leave St. Louis since the word saint is in the name, and forget San Diego, San Antonio, San Francisco, Los Angeles, etc. while we're at it.
June 27, 2013 at 7:35 pm
Consider the source. Yahoo Sports is incompetent in its most basic mission, basic sports reporting. For example, within the last few days they posted an article that stated Oklahoma State shared the Big XII basketball title with Kansas. Kansas actually shared the title with Kansas State. Oklahoma State finished third. When you get basic facts wrong, you should probably keep your opinions to yourself.
June 28, 2013 at 1:44 am
It was either this. Or reporting on something that required intelligence, insight and investigative journalism. The shallow nature of the media made this the only viable option.
June 28, 2013 at 5:06 am
Sounds like something the Freedom From Religion Foundation would instigate.