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“Christians, it’s time to settle in and get comfortable with being hated. Calmly and confidently speak God’s truth and then stand firm…. It’s the only way to successfully deal with the mob — as Blake Treinen has proven and Anthony Bass has hopefully now learned.”
You may have seen this quote attributed (or misattributed) to Aristotle: “There is only one way to avoid criticism: do nothing, say nothing, and be nothing.”
The quote should probably be attributed to publisher Elbert Hubbard, who in 1898 published a series of short essays titled, “Little Journeys to the Homes of American Statesmen,” in which he wrote, “If you would escape moral and physical assassination, do nothing, say nothing, be nothing—court obscurity, for only in oblivion does safety lie.”
Authorship aside, if you say or do anything in this world, someone is going to hate you. This has never been truer than in our day when every word, every social media post, every “like” or retweet is immediately available to billions in a society that loves to be outraged. So if you exercise your God-given right to express your opinion (or facts, for that matter), rest assured, hatred is headed your way.
Fortunately, Major League Baseball (MLB) last week provided a blueprint of how to deal — and how not to deal — with that hate. It is, of course, June, now known as Pride Month, where nearly every major organization, including sports teams, celebrates the LGBTQIA+ agenda with “Pride Night” and other events.
The Los Angeles Dodgers invited several LGBTQ+ groups to participate in their Pride event, including the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. This group of biological males dress up as nuns and engage in twisted and sacrilegious activities. Following criticism from Catholics, the Dodgers disinvited the group.
For one day.
Then they engaged in self-flagellation and offered their “sincerest apologies” — not to those whose religious beliefs had been mocked but to the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence and the LGBTQ+ community. The Dodgers’ groveling is not the example we want focus on, though. The response by one of their pitchers, however, is one-half of our lesson. As Freedom Center writer William Wolfe wrote, Dodgers pitcher Blake Treinen showed great character by releasing a scathing statement which can be read here:
Treinen knows that taking this stance could cost him his job, make him the object of hatred by the LGBTQ+ mob, or earn the ire of his teammates, but he did it anyway. And — this is the important part — he insisted that no matter the consequences, he will serve the Lord and not back down.
By contrast, there’s the response of Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Anthony Bass.
It came after he shared a video on social media from creator Ryan Miller, who had called on conservatives to boycott companies like Bud Light and Target after the two companies aligned themselves with the LGBTQ+ cause. As should have been expected, the LGBTQ+ mob and his employer piled on and demanded repentance.
Obviously, on some level, Bass believes that corporations shouldn’t promote perverse sexual behavior and gender confusion to the community, especially children — but apparently not enough.
Last Tuesday, Bass caved and gave a public apology, saying,
“I recognize yesterday I made a post that was hurtful to the Pride community, which includes friends of mine and close family members of mine. I am truly sorry for that. I just spoke with my teammates and shared with them my actions yesterday. I apologized with them, and as of right now, I am using the Blue Jays’ resources to better educate myself to make better decisions moving forward. The ballpark is for everybody. We include all fans at the ballpark. We want to welcome everybody. That’s all I have to say.”
Bass apologized for dissenting from the LGBTQ+ orthodoxy, and he further repented by agreeing to “educate himself.” But how was his confession received?
Journalist Nick Ashbourne dubbed Bass’s post “hateful” and called on the organization to “Take the moral high ground” and cut him. “When Bass shared a video to his Instagram story that strongly endorsed boycotting Target due to the company’s pro-LGBTQ2S+ initiatives, he took the step from controversy into bigotry. As long as he’s wearing a Blue Jays uniform, that’s a stain the club can’t scrub out,” Ashbourne penned.
Of course, Bass’s transgression can never be “forgiven” by the LGBTQ+ community but, by Ashbourne’s reasoning, the fact that the Blue Jays still employ him also makes the team “complicit.”
The journalist further threatened that if the Blue Jays “stood by Bass in any way, shape or form, that will be a grievous error.”
It wasn’t just one writer who refused to accept Bass’s apology. In his first appearance for the Blue Jays after the apology, the team’s fans booed him. Yahoo Sports Canada headlined the crowds’ reaction with a dramatic: Blue Jays fans boo Anthony Bass into oblivion during appearance vs. Brewers.
It’s impossible to know if the fans were booing Bass for his Pride offense or because he gave in so willingly to the woke mob, but the media’s narrative is clear: Everyone hates him and his days in the MLB should be over.
Bass’s story is a sad one but very instructional. As has been said time and again: Never, ever, ever apologize to the mob. It doesn’t assuage them. They will not let you off the hook because you admitted your “error.” They will not extend you grace and leave you alone. No, saying “sorry” and trying to get on their good side will only embolden them and cause them to hate you more.
This young pitcher is not the first to find himself consumed and undone by a modern-day “struggle session,” and he probably won’t be the last. But perhaps his experience will teach him this truism: The only way forward is to stand on God’s Word — and stand unflinchingly — like Blake Treinen has done.
Jesus said in John 15:18-20,
“‘If the world hates you, you know that it has hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they kept My word, they will keep yours also.’”
No one wants to be hated. We like to believe that with some kind words and charm, we can win people over to our point of view. But we are not dealing with reasonable people with whom we might have slight moral or doctrinal differences. Those in the LGBTQIA+ movement have fully rejected God in order to serve their own destructive and deceptive purposes and they will attempt to destroy anyone who calls them out and speaks the truth.
So, Christians, it’s time to settle in and get comfortable with being hated. Calmly and confidently speak God’s truth and then stand firm. Don’t apologize. Don’t back down. Don’t agree to be “educated.” Instead, pray for those who hate and persecute you. This way is difficult, but it’s the right way because it’s God’s way.
What’s more, it’s the only way to successfully deal with the mob — as Blake Treinen has proven and Anthony Bass has hopefully now learned.
Ready to dive deeper into the intersection of faith and policy? Head over to our Theology of Politics series page where we’ve published several long-form pieces that will help Christians navigate where their faith should direct them on political issues.
