How Christian Authoritarianism Threatens American Values
A gay boy and sandlot baseball explain
When I was a little kid, my dad was a Baptist youth minister and briefly a sandlot baseball coach. He swore he didn’t organize his league just to evangelize the neighborhood urchins. That’s probably true; he loved baseball and was always the “fun dad,” patient with kids and delighted to work with them.
But he loved “bringing people to Jesus” even more.
The city park behind our house was always full of kids messing around on shaggy ball diamonds. I was a nascent little gay boy who loved reading more than forcing my clumsy body to play sports. But I was a baseball fanatic with shoeboxes crammed with trading cards. I spent hours on my bedroom floor staring into the eyes of Johnny Bench, Pete Rose, Jose Concepcion and other Cincinnati Reds greats.
Did I realize I loved those cards because the men were so hot? No, I treasured them for a forbidden thrill I didn’t have words for.
So even though PLAYING sports made me nervous as hell, with Dad as coach, I felt safe enough to give it a go. I had a blast! Dad’s sand league…
