From just up the road-The 23 members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Slippery Rock who signed up to play in a Mercer County church softball league weren't trying to make a religious statement, their would-be coach says.
"It's softball, for heaven's sake. We thought it would be a good opportunity to get involved in the community," said Brett Udy, 50, of Grove City.
The 10-team Grove City Area Church Softball League disagrees and won't let them join.
"It's more than softball -- it's church softball. If you're saying something's a church, that's more important than what's on the field," said Bryson Hoobler, 31, of Grove City, president of the league, who considers it a Christian league.
"Most of our churches don't view them as Christians. We don't regard the LDS church as a Christian church," Hoobler said. "When you include someone in a group -- that's kind of like saying they're fundamentally the same as most people in the group. We don't feel that's accurate with LDS."
The league's vote last month to keep the Mormon church out -- after at least two teams threatened to quit -- highlights a continuing issue involving how some Christians view Mormons, observers said. The issue cropped up on the national political stage as presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney has answered questions and concerns over his Mormon faith.
More here-
http://triblive.com/home/1858404-74/church-league-softball-christians-hoobler-mormon-christian-mormons-grove-issue
1 comment:
Seems to me to be religious bigotry. If it was an "Evangelical softball league" it would be fair, since Evangelicalism is a subset of Christianity that does not include Mormons. However, since it is a "Church" league for "Christians" it is intellectually dishonest to exclude Mormons, who meet both counts.
Also, what if a Jewish, Muslim, or Bhuddist group wanted to play softball? Seems to be Unchristian to have such an exclusive league, as it seems reasonable to include people of other faiths.
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