Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., who is running for president, condemned the Los Angeles Dodgers’ decision to celebrate the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, a group of drag performers who mock Christianity, and Roman Catholicism in particular, by dressing up as sexualized nuns and even sexualizing Jesus himself.
“We should all be incredibly disappointed in the Los Angeles Dodgers,” Scott told The Daily Signal in a phone interview Thursday, one day before the Dodgers’ Pride Night on Friday evening. “It was shameful and disgusting.”
The Dodgers announced May 4 that the team would bestow a “Community Hero Award” on the Los Angeles chapter of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence for “their countless hours of community service, ministry, and outreach to those on the edges, in addition to promoting human rights and respect for diversity and spiritual enlightenment.”
This sparked an avalanche of criticism, because the “Sisters” repeatedly have engaged in acts that most Christians—and especially Catholics—would consider blasphemous.
Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, compiled a list of the group’s most outrageous acts of anti-Catholic bigotry, including a 1987 “Condom Savior Mass” in San Francisco where the group burned the pope in effigy, multiple Good Friday shows featuring a sexualized Jesus pole-dancing on a cross, and its advocacy for abortion.
The Dodgers announced May 17 that the team would disinvite the group following backlash from Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., among others. Yet on May 23, the team flip-flopped again, offering “our sincerest apologies” to the “Sisters” and reinviting them to the June 16 event.
“In the weeks ahead, we will continue to work with our LGBTQ+ partners to better educate ourselves, find ways to strengthen the ties that bind, and use our platform to support all of our fans who make up the diversity of the Dodgers family,” the team announced in a written statement.
Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw condemned the team’s move in an interview with the Los Angeles Times, and said the team would host a “Faith and Family Day” on July 30.
“I don’t agree with making fun of other people’s religions,” Kershaw said. “It has nothing to do with anything other than that. I just don’t think that, no matter what religion you are, you should make fun of somebody else’s religion. So that’s something that I definitely don’t agree with.”
Scott, an evangelical Christian, praised Kershaw’s statement in his call with The Daily Signal.
“I stand with Clayton Kershaw,” the South Carolina senator said. “The act of denigrating faith as a way of celebrating independence, to me, is disgusting.”
“No one should be promoted and encouraged to denigrate someone else’s faith,” Scott added.
He noted that Americans wouldn’t mock Islam in the same way.
“I can’t imagine someone in this country doing that to the Muslim faith—it just wouldn’t fly here,” Scott said. “But to the Christian faith, it seems like people see us as a minority to be made fun of, or to be denigrated. I just reject it outright.”
“There’s never a place in America where being disgusting toward our Judeo-Christian principles should be OK,” the senator added.
According to the RealClearPolitics average of polls, Scott has 3.4% in the GOP primary race for president, trailing former President Donald Trump (52%), Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (21.6%), former Vice President Mike Pence (4.9%), and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (3.6%).
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