God and the Little League

[triadboy]

I was invited to play in a fundraiser golf tournament for a community little league baseball organization. I went to their site to check it out and found this pledge:

Little League Pledge: "I Trust in God. I love my country and will respect it's laws. I will play fair and strive to win. But win or lose, I will always do my best."

For some reason, this bothers me. What does God have to do with Little League baseball?

 

[Iacchus]

For some reason, this bothers me. What does God have to do with Little League baseball?

When's the last time you took a look at any U.S. currency? Perhaps they just "coined" the phrase?

 

[Marquis de Carabas]

For some reason, this bothers me. What does God have to do with Little League baseball?

I'm pretty sure when the Little League prayer says "God," it means "Koufax."

 

[TragicMonkey]

Will their god punish them for abusing that apostrophe, and pointless capitalization?

 

[jimlintott]

I don't see the need for any sort of pledge for little leauge but if they must have a pledge, they should get rid of the first TWO sentences.

 

[Yahweh]

What does God have to do with Little League baseball?

Theres no crying in baseball, I guess...

 

[Atlas]

What does God have to do with Little League baseball?

Back when they let me play deep lonely fielder, God was the only one to talk to during the game.

I would say "Please don't let him hit it to me." If I try to remember those days real hard, I can still hear Him laughing.

So what does God have to do with little league? I hate them both.

 

[triadboy]

When's the last time you took a look at any U.S. currency?

You are right - it shouldn't be there either

 

[triadboy]

Will their god punish them for abusing that apostrophe, and pointless capitalization?

Agree.

Someone should proofread these things before they throw them on the Web.

 

[triadboy]

I don't see the need for any sort of pledge for little leauge but if they must have a pledge, they should get rid of the first TWO sentences.

They forgot "I will eat my vegetables and clean up my room."

 

[triadboy]

Theres no crying in baseball, I guess...

But apparently the adults need to ensure there is a deep cosmic guilt pent up in the little buggers.

 

[triadboy]

Back when they let me play deep lonely fielder, God was the only one to talk to during the game.

I would say "Please don't let him hit it to me." If I try to remember those days real hard, I can still hear Him laughing.

So what does God have to do with little league? I hate them both.

So you were that guy in right field!

I played third base and prayed the same prayer!

 

[Iacchus]

You are right - it shouldn't be there either

Actually, many (if not most) of the founding fathers were Deists. So, which "God" do you think they set this government up in the name of?

 

[Mercutio]

Actually, many (if not most) of the founding fathers were Deists. So, which "God" do you think they set this government up in the name of?

Do you know anything at all about the history of how that phrase came to be on our currency? Or are you as ignorant of that as of...gee, pick one...

 

[triadboy]

Actually, many (if not most) of the founding fathers were Deists. So, which "God" do you think they set this government up in the name of?

I agree the founding fathers were Deists. I think their 'god' was just 'a creator'. They probably didn't identify Him with the Jewish tribal god.

The god phrases on the coins and in the Pledge popped in the 50's (I think) to made the distinction between the US and the godless communists. (This was right after the McCarthy Hearings)

 

[DarkMagician]

Poor semicolon, no one loves you. You're like the redheaded stepchild of punctuation; You're not quite a colon; you're not quite a comma. People don't use you, thinking it's too tough for you to get into a sentence. I still love you, though.

 

[Iacchus]

The god phrases on the coins and in the Pledge popped in the 50's (I think) to made the distinction between the US and the godless communists. (This was right after the McCarthy Hearings)

Yes, I was aware of this, except perhaps the part about McCarthy. While, believe it or not, this is one of the (few) things I have learned since I've been posting on this forum. It still leads me to wonder though, how "inocuous" such an inscription would seem to the founders of this country? But then again, who's really interested in learning about the heritage of this country? Does any reference to God become suspect now? These folks were not atheists, and believed in a Creator.

 

[Roboramma]

Holy Mary Mother of God! If the founding fathers of the USA believed in God, well, then. They must have been right!

 

[Mercutio]

These folks were not atheists, and believed in a Creator.

Even among the founders, the conception of god was not monolithic. They certainly felt differently about god than the McCarthyites did, and very differently than you, Iacchus, do.

If you think there is disagreement between atheists and theists, that is nothing compared to disagreements between theists of different stripes. Would you mind if our currency said "in Allah we trust", or "in Thoth we trust", or any of a thousand others?

 

[TragicMonkey]

"In God We Trust" is too tame and boring. I would prefer a jazzy Bible quote:

"There are spirits that are created for vengeance, and in their fury they lay on grievous torments." Ecclesiasticus 39:33

"For the devising of idols was the beginning of spiritual fornication, and the invention of them the corruption of life." Wisdom of Solomon 14:12

"Then I returned, and washed myself, and ate my meat in heaviness" Tobit 2:5

All of which are fraught with interesting color and value. And since they're all apocryphal, maybe they're religious, maybe they're not, so who can object?