AVOC
March 5, 2006
United Methodist Conference and the Richmond Braves
By Wendell Dawson, Editor, AVOC, Inc.
I am a member of a United Methodist Church. I have always been tolerant of other people’s religion as long as they don’t try to force it on me. Neither do I push others. I have had friends of all faiths: Disciples of Christ, Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, Catholic, Jewish, Jehovah’s Witnesses, atheists and others. I do not try to convert my friends but probably choose friends of similar beliefs and values.
It was not without a little consternation that I read a February 25, 2006, article in the Washington Times in which the United Methodist Conference refused Richmond, VA, as a convention site because of the Indian mascot name of their local baseball team: the Richmond Braves. To me this smacks of liberalism, over abundance of political correctness and discrimination on lifestyles and culture.
Fortunately, we are not bound as individuals on what some higher up in our religious denominations declare to be the rule.
This was a stupid move on the part of the UMC and leaders need to express displeasure with such picayune issues.
How intolerant are we becoming in the name of Political Correctness!?!?
2-25-06 United Methodist Conference declines Richmond as Convention site because of name of baseball team!
The Washington Times
http://insider.washingtontimes.com/articles/normal.php?StoryID=20060224-105711-8741r
February 25, 2006
Braves strike out in Richmond
By Michael Hunsberger
The United Methodist Church has rejected Richmond for its 2012 international conference because the city's minor league baseball team is named the Braves.
"Many Native Americans, if you ask them what they think about team mascots, will tell you that they find [them] to be demeaning," said Stephen Drachler, a spokesman for the United Methodist Church.
Apparently, nobody asked Virginia's Monacan Nation, located near Lynchburg about 130 miles west of Richmond.
Kenneth Branham, Monacan chief, yesterday said, "The mascot thing has been blown out of proportion."
The problem is not that teams have American Indian names and mascots, but how those mascots act, Mr. Branham said.
"It is not so much the name as the silly way they act," he said. "When children see that, they think that is how Indians act."
The Richmond Braves don't have a mascot. They have a duck -- "a big, happy, yellow" one named "Diamond Duck," Braves spokesman John Emmett said.
What's more, the mascot for the Atlanta Braves -- the Major League parent team of the Richmond Braves -- is a large, talking baseball named "Homer."
A United Methodist Church panel last week announced that holding the General Conference in Richmond would violate a 2004 resolution barring Methodist events in cities where professional sports teams use American Indian names or symbols.
When the panel met last fall to select a site for the 2012 conclave, it automatically ruled out Atlanta, because of its Braves, and Washington, D.C., because of its Redskins.
But Richmond -- which is within the Virginia Conference, the church's largest U.S. region -- made the initial cut because the panel did not consider minor league teams during the selection process. A pastor from New York informed the panel of the Braves' existence.
"However well-intended, sports teams named after Native Americans demean the heritage of native people," says Gail Murphy-Geiss of Centennial, Colo., who headed the selection panel. "They perpetuate unhealthy and unfair stereotypes."
"[The Braves' name] does offend some people, but not me personally," said Ken Adams, chief of the Upper Mattaponi Indian tribe in King William County, about 25 miles from Richmond. "It is a name I grew up with."
Mr. Branham said he appreciates the efforts of the Methodists, though he was unaware of their actions regarding Richmond. Mascots are an important issue to some tribes in other states, he said.
"Here in Virginia, the eight tribes have more important issues than whining about mascots," he said.
The General Conference is the church's top legislative body. It convenes every four years to set church laws and vote on theological and social issues.
The 10-day conference will attract about 1,000 delegates from around the world and 4,000 other participants. It is likely to generate about $0 million for the local economy.
The United Methodist Church's 2012 conference will be held in Tampa, Fla.
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