A Tale of the Pride Hockey Tape

 

Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly I tell you, it will be hard for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven.  Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”

                                              Matthew 19:23-24 NRSVue

In the hype about the start of the National Hockey League  season (after one game the Leafs are undefeated) a recent announcement about hockey tape may have gone largely unnoticed. Back in June the NHL decided that teams would no longer wear Pride warm-up jerseys as a symbol of support for the LGBTQ2+ community. The rationale offered by NHL commissioner Gary Bettman was that some players refused to wear the Pride jerseys, creating a "distraction" that overshadowed the causes those jerseys were intended to highlight. This was a baffling rationale on Bettman's part and a clanger during Pride Month. 

Some players planned to use rainbow tape on their sticks instead but the league has banned this as well.  In a memo recently sent to teams, the NHL said players are not to use rainbow-coloured Pride tape during warmups. A Philadelphia Flyers player, Scott Laughton says that he will continue to use the tape despite the ban. 

Part of the "distraction" came from players who claimed that their Christian faith informed their decision not to wear the Pride jerseys. One of them, goaltender James Reimer, then of the LA Kings, issued a statement about his refusal. 

I'm all for people in any walk of life making decisions based on what they feel is the moral compass of their faith. I'm also mindful that Jesus never said a word about homosexuality, nor did he condemn LGBTQ2+ persons. Jesus did speak strongly against hypocrisy on a surprising number of occasions, including several times in the Sermon on the Mount.

While athletes in several pro sports have refused to participate in events supporting the LGBTQ2+ community they are more than willing to collect big paycheques for playing on the Christian Sabbath. Big game on a Sunday? No problem. And It's not often -- well, never -- that I hear about athletes quoting Jesus' warning about accumulating wealth as they refuse a huge new contract. I would be interested to know if Reimer tithes. 

Honestly, I don't care if an athlete wears a jersey for Pride Night at the arena. I would appreciate if they were consistent in their "Christian witness" and selective reading of the bible. Why don't we ask the NHL to skip the hypocrisy as well.