July 25, 2020
Quick Hit Quartet
Baseball is Back!
After 266 days, Major League Baseball (MLB) is officially back. Thursday night, the defending World Series Champion Washington Nationals hosted the New York Yankees for the first official game of the 2020 MLB season. Dr. Anthony Fauci threw out one of the most inaccurate first pitches in history (juuuuuuust a bit outside), and the shortened season was underway.
Of course, no fans were allowed in the stadium, and even the broadcasters were at home. The game was good, with a healthy Giancarlo Stanton hitting a towering blast for the first home-run of the season. In a way, the game seemed like a microcosm of the season as a whole, though. After the fifth inning, the heavens opened and a downpour came over the nation’s capital. The game—like the season—was shortened due to weather. There were glitches in the audio. The home plate umpire Angel Hernandez called a strike on a ball that was 5 inches outside of the strike zone.
But the faults don’t matter; baseball is back. For the rest of this odd summer, a sense of normalcy will be back per usual, as radios on the porch tune in again to America’s game, even if only for 60 games.
COVID-19 and School Reopenings
The last few weeks have seen record numbers of COVID-19 cases in the US. The numbers are usually between the high-60,000s and the low-70,000s. Congress is considering another stimulus bill that could include an extension of the Payroll Protection Plan for small businesses and more stimulus checks for most Americans. Of course, the negotiations for the stimulus bill are open to partisan oversight and regulation, but Congress will probably move quickly once they settle on terms.
The newest aspect of the COVID-19 debate is what public schools will plan on doing for the soon upcoming school year. Government agencies (CDC, White House, etc.) have given out mixed responses on whether or not schools should open in the fall. These decisions will impact millions in virtually every community in the US.
This is a good reminder that as Christians, we ought to be in constant prayer for the decision-makers in our communities. We might not always agree with the decisions made, and we might even need to peacefully protest against those decisions, but we ought never to cease to pray for our governing authorities. Let us have our speech be seasoned with salt, remembering two things: (1) We’re biblically commanded to pray and honor our governing authorities, and (2) it’s everyone’s first pandemic. No one will make perfect decisions in this season. Let’s be graceful.
SCOTUS (Nevada Church Case)
Speaking of disagreeing peacefully with the government, now might be the time for churches in Nevada. On Friday, the Supreme Court (SCOTUS) denied a request from Dayton Valley Calvary Chapel (located in rural Nevada) to block the governor’s restrictions on attendance at religious services. The current restrictions in Nevada prohibit churches and religious organizations from gathering with more than fifty attendants. Other businesses in the state—including casinos—can have up to 50% of their building fire code occupancy.
The discrepancy is clear to see, as is the discrimination. Dayton Valley Calvary Chapel is a smaller congregation, wishing to hold worship services for around 90 people while ensuring social distancing in the church building. However, while the 90 people would be less than 50% of their fire code occupancy, 90 is greater than 50.
SCOTUS ruled 5-4 to deny the request to block the restrictions, with Chief Justice John Roberts joining the liberal side of the court with Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor, and Elena Kagan. Justices Samuel Alito, Clarence Thomas, Neil Gorsuch, and Brett Kavanaugh dissented, writing around 24 pages of scathing, dissenting opinion. Upon dissenting, Justice Alito pointed out the clear discrimination in the Nevada restrictions and the greater troubling trend of states’ targeted restrictions on places of worship: “For months now, States and their subdivisions have responded to the pandemic by imposing unprecedented restrictions on personal liberty, including the free exercise of religion. This initial response was understandable…But a public health emergency does not give Governors
and other public officials carte blanche to disregard the Constitution for as long as the medical problem persists.”
The hypocrisy on display in Nevada is evident: Casinos, where people mill around in close quarters, are allowed up to 50% of the building occupancy. Religious gatherings are only allowed with 50 people. Justice Alito also pointed out the hypocrisy in allowing protests (which are allowed under the First Amendment, along with gathering to freely exercise in worship). Another paragraph from Justice Alito: “Public protests, of course, are themselves protected by the First Amendment, and any efforts to restrict them would be subject to judicial review. But respecting some First Amendment rights is not a shield for violating others. The State defends the Governor on the ground that the protests expressed a viewpoint on important issues, and that is undoubtedly true, but favoring one viewpoint over others is anathema to the First Amendment.”
I would encourage you to read the full dissents from the Associate Justices, as they will be important words going forward. Churches are being discriminated against in Nevada, but they should still gather—peacefully—to worship on the Lord’s Day. The government is overstepping its God-given authority, while also discriminating against religious gatherings.
Covington Catholic/Nick Sandmann
Way back in January 2019, Nick Sandmann, then a junior at Covington Catholic High School in Kentucky, broke the internet. Sandmann and his classmates were touring Washington, D.C. after the March for Life when they were caught on video engaged in a standoff with Nathan Phillips, a Native American elder. The immediate reaction to the video was marked with hate toward Sandmann and his friends, who appeared to be smirking at Phillips while wearing Make America Great Again hats.
Twitter erupted. Hashtags were made. The video was shared all around Facebook as people branded Sandmann and his school as hateful. However, quickly after the initial video, more information became available about the interaction in D.C. In short, things were not as they seemed at first. Sandmann and his classmates were verbally berated by a group of Black Hebrew Israelites, who used shameful language toward the teenagers. The group of students then began to chant to drown out the vulgarity coming at them, when Phillips and his group approached with drums.
Now, whether or not Sandmann and his friends reacted properly, I cannot say. I do know that Sandmann was a teenager at this time, and was hated simply for wearing a MAGA hat and smirking. The hate came from the right and the left, and even from evangelicals. Famous evangelical leaders Tweeted their hatred for Sandmann’s response.
On Friday, Sandmann settled with The Washington Post over their botched reporting of the event. In addition to the Post, Sandmann has already settled with CNN.
This story displays the importance of pursuing truth at all costs. Our culture is so coiled up and ready to hate the other side that we will forsake the truth to score points. In the case of Sandmann, it came at great cost, as he was labeled a racist, bigot, and hater, even by Christians. We must do better.
Book Recommendation
It’s opening week for the MLB, as pointed out above, so my book recommendation and some of the links will be baseball themed. This week, I’m recommending Men at Work: The Craft of Baseball by George Will. Will makes his living as an opinion writer for The Washington Post but is also passionate about baseball. Men at Work is an in-depth look at the game of baseball. Originally published in 1989 and republished in 2010, Will follows a manager (Tony LaRussa), a pitcher (Orel Hershiser), a batter (Tony Gwynn), and a fielder (Cal Ripken, Jr.) as they work on the craft of baseball.
Links
Tom Verducci wrote a beautiful piece for MLB’s opening day. The video is narrated by Jon Hamm (a St. Louis Cardinals fan!) and will shake you up. Here’s hoping that baseball unifies us a bit here in the midst of our extreme polarization.
Speaking of baseball and unity, I was reminded this week of President George W. Bush’s first pitch in Game Three of the 2001 World Series in New York. Already we’ve talked about Dr. Fauci’s terrible first pitch, now we’ll take a look at the greatest first pitch in history. Six weeks after one of the darkest days in US history, the Yankees hosted their first home game of the World Series. President Bush was chosen to throw the ceremonial first pitch, and, of course, he jogged to the mound and delivered a perfect strike. It’s a great moment and a testimony to the unifying power of baseball in America.
This Week on the Blog
Hymn Highlight: Whate’er My God Ordains is Right
Article: All Things: Biblical Inerrancy and Sufficiency
A Special Mid-week Edition of The Prospectus
Book Review: The Whole Counsel of God
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