Mon Nov 14, 2005, 08:39pm
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Official Forum Member
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Join Date: Oct 2005
Posts: 760
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Re: Re: From the cheap seats...
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Originally posted by SanDiegoSteve
Quote:
Originally posted by WhatWuzThatBlue
Steve - I can appreciate your honesty but take a step back and look what you are saying. You are injecting your Christian based morality into a game. Invoking or thanking the Lord is okay, using his name in vain isn't? Come on, we have Jews, Muslims, Atheists, Agnostics, Buddhists and the like all playing our favorite game. I've umpired plenty of games with non-native English speakers and didn't know what they were saying - offensive or not. Would you warn or eject a kid for saying, "holymoses", "allah" or "mohammed"?
Around here, if a player curses at himself we usually ignore it - unless he screams it, of course! If a varsity second baseman, while tying his shoelace, breaks it and mutters "goddam it", are you reallly going to warn him about his language?
I've heard some of the most foul on-field language from so called Christian school athletes. I've never melted or had to go wash my ears out after those words. They are, after all, just words. When they are directed at me or an opponent, they take on new meaning and I've bounced kids for gestures too. But they've always crossed the line when using them and they knew it.
Some of us are fortunate to live in more tolerant environs. Mixed ethnicities and religions don't afford us the luxury of Sunday school marmism. We make the calls and ensure that the game is being played fairly. My job is not to ensure that they get into heaven or not. If Junior wants to invoke Allah's name, I don't care. Well, as long as he's not wearing a backpack when he yells it.
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No WWTB, I have no problem with someone reverently invoking the name of their diety, such as Allah, or Mohammed. I am talking about swearing. Holy Moses is not swearing any more than is holy smoke, or holy cow. And yes, it is okay to thank the Lord, and it isn't okay to use His name in vain. I found that in the Big Rule Book. In fact, it was Moses that wrote that section.
Also, I am refering to them screaming the curses, not muttering to themselves out of frustration. I'm certainly no saint myself, and I don't act like a cop on the field. I can't begin to tell you the number of times I've heard the "F" word as I'm heading back to 'A' after the batter has flied out! As long as he doesn't make a big scene, I don't say a word. But if he screams is out to where it can be picked up by a small child watching the game, I simply say, "hey, watch the language", and that usually takes care of it.
Now cussing me personally, well.....that's a horse of a different color. Pack your bags, because you're going on a little trip!
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The problem with that logic is that not everyone believes in THE BIG RULE BOOK! In fact, there are other BIG BOOKS out there! Your morals have no place on the field. Do you eject a kid for saying, "for christsakes" when his teammate drops another flyball? What happens when you warn him to knock it off and his coach hears that and asks for an explanation? Do you pull out a bible?
Moses didn't write any section, but I digress. If a Jew says "jesuschrist" (please note, that I have used lower case letters in both posts), it is not taking the name of his God in vain. If I say, "allah" when a ball is dropped, it is the same thing. You don't want to be a cop out there, but you are acting like a preacher. Religious beliefs have no place on a non-secular baseball field.
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