Kansas City, USA - Whether it’s the designated hitter or the three-point shot, they’re always arguing about something in the wide world of sports.
But here’s a new one for you: A local athletic league is in turmoil over matters of not sports but religion.
Yes, after a decade of tournament play, the Golden Eagles of Center Place Restoration School in Independence won’t be heading to Joplin, Mo., for next month’s MCSAA tourney.
That’s because the MCSAA, a league of Christian high schools, has a new rule requiring members to affirm that the Bible is the final authority in all matters of faith.
And that puts Center Place in a bind, as the school teaches that the Book of Mormon is also the inspired word of God.
“It’s so unfair,” says Center Place athletic director Judi Faunce. “We don’t have to believe in all the points of doctrine to play basketball, do we?”
Actually, you do in the Missouri Christian Schools Athletic Association, which adopted stricter membership requirements this year.
Thus, Center Place, a founding member of the 32-member, 10-year-old, multisport association, was pushed out.
And to me it’s a perfect example of why some of us oppose allowing religion in the public schools. When matters of faith are involved, there’s always some faction wanting to shove its unique beliefs down everyone else’s throats.
“We believe in the Bible with all our heart,” Center Place girls basketball coach Brian Mundy told me.
Sorry, coach, but believing in the Bible and Jesus is no longer good enough to be part of the Missouri Christian Schools Athletic Association. Now you have to be a Protestant fundamentalist.
When I called the head of the association to ask him about this, Dave Keener declined to identify which member schools lobbied for the change.
But Keener, athletic director at Blue Ridge Christian School in Kansas City, did say it all began a couple of years ago. That’s when two secular schools inquired about joining the church league.
“So to protect ourselves from being inundated by any kind of school becoming a part of our Christian school system,” Keener said, “we decided to draft a general doctrinal statement.”
OK, but that doctrinal statement went further that some figured it might.
Controversy arose over the statement that all one needs to get into heaven is to accept Jesus as savior. Naturally, that revived the whole grace versus good works debate, an essential element in any team’s win-loss record.
However, another provision seemed as if it were written to exclude Center Place.
“One of the (league’s) faith statements … says that only the Bible is the complete revelation of God,” Center Place principal Richard Neill says.
The school couldn’t agree to that, and Neill can’t understand why that doesn’t bother the league’s board of directors.
“I thought this was supposed to be about kids playing sports,” he said.
Supposed to be. But unless the policy changes, Center Place’s soccer and volleyball teams won’t be going to the state tournament.
And neither will the school’s basketball teams be in Joplin next February.
“I didn’t want to go down this path,” Keener said.
But down that path he and the rest have gone, and it’s too bad.
All the kids wanted to do was play ball.