Pennsylvania: Protesting the "Crusader" Team Name

The name "Crusader" is very popular among sports teams in America, but there has been a growing awareness of it's historical connotations of violence that has led to efforts to eliminate it. In Pennsylvania, Carl Silverman is trying to convince the local diocese to drop this from its field hockey team.

The Patriot-News reports:

Silverman's point, he said, was that the term Crusaders refers to medieval military expeditions by Christians who "killed thousands and thousands of people with the encouragement of the Catholic Church." "The pope apologized for the Crusades, yet these schools continue to use that term," Silverman said. "It is time they realize what they represent."

In a letter to McDevitt principal Sister Mary Anne Bednar, Silverman also complained about the school's Web site, which refers to the school seal as "the shield of a Crusader, which serves to protect us from the secularism of the world." "If they don't like the secular world and secular schools, they don't have to come here," Silverman said.

A number of Camp Hill fans said they did not feel Silverman's sentiments were shared by the community. "It doesn't reflect the opinions of the majority of people who live here," said Debbie McLanahan, a McDevitt graduate whose daughter Shannon is a sophomore forward for Camp Hill.

I'm sure that Silverman's position isn't shared by most of those who send their children to or who financially support the diocese's schools — but that's an evasion of the point, which is whether they should share his position or not. Silverman has a very good case, not only in that the name "Crusaders" has very negative connotations, but also that a Catholic school should hold itself up to a high enough standard that would preclude such a name from being used. Would they really allow themselves to use a name like The Rapists or The Murderers? Of course not, but "The Crusaders" carries just such connotations.

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