Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Ryan Thompson has come to the support of the L.A. Dodgers players who were warned by the league for wearing Bible verses on their caps in contrast to the team’s Gay Pride celebration.
Thompson pointed out that the Giants players were not “anti-something,” but were instead being “pro something.”
Speaking from the locker room to the media, Thompson said, “I think there’s a perceived negativity with this stuff. ”
“Landen Roupp wrote a verse on his hat that means he’s anti something. That doesn’t mean that. It means that he’s pro something. So, the rainbow means something to him. It means that he believes in the Noahic Covenant being something that’s special to us as Christians,” he added.
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Three Giants players refused to wear the team’s Gay Pride hat and instead wrote Bible verses on their caps to show their personal support for Christian ideals.
Last Friday, the three Giants pitchers, Landen Roupp, JT Brubaker, and Ryan Walker, were all warned by the league for the Bible verses when they took the field during the team’s Gay Pride night game.
Roupp had written “Gen 9:12-16” on his cap in reference to Genesis 9:12-16.
“It’s just about God’s covenant and a promise that he makes to us that, you know, his faithfulness and his mercy,” Roupp explained. “That’s just kind of something I believe in, and I stand firm in that, and I’m thankful we live in a country where, you know, we have the freedom to believe what we want … and express what we want.”
But after the game, Major League Baseball warned the players that they would be sanctioned and fined if they wore the Bible verses again.
MLB’s chief communications officer Pat Courtney told the media that “The writing on the cap violates our rules, and consistent with normal practice, we have warned the players about future violations.”
In the aftermath of the warning, many came to the players’ support. Comedian Rob Schneeider blasted MLB as “anti-Christian” and said he would pay the fines for any player who defied the league’s rules against Christian displays.
Missouri Republican Senator Josh Hawley also spoke out against the league and sent a letter to MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred demanding answers over the warning sent to the players.
Hawley demanded that Manfred answer to the “apparent pattern of discriminating against Christians while promoting left-wing ideologies.”
The league, though, has claimed that the warning was not based on the Christian content of the players’ caps, but on the fact that they had placed Bible verses on their hats without prior authorization.
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