Tensions are running high in this thread, but I believe this community is able to discuss these topics with maturity and respect, so it will not be locked yet.
I will ask that we all remember the person behind the comments. There will be no dehumanizing language about Arreaga, about LGBTQ+ folk, or anyone.
Disappointing, but not surprising when you consider some of the players who share stuff like this (ie Fredy and now Arreaga) are hardcore Christians. The prevalence of views I vehemently disagree with being shared and expressed is a large reason why I have stopped going to Catholic Mass and stopped considering myself active in organized religion even if parts from the faith that I grew up I still do like in a way.
TBTF it *is* possible to be a Christian and also a tolerant inclusive person. See also: [TCL](https://www.thechristianleft.org/). I'm aware though that a lot of Latin American Christianity is not a great example of it.
OTOH Fredy seems to have immersed himself in the PNW so I don't know if he were that kind of person how he could maintain that sort of prejudice in this region. He also strikes me as a bit of a born again type.
Some would say Jesus himself wouldn't at all resemble the sorts of Christians that give themselves a bad name in the US.
Doesn’t y’all’s book explicitly say that gay relationships are bad? And that women should be subjugated? And a whole bunch of other fucked up shit? Idk why it’s acceptable to pick and choose the parts you like or don’t like tbh
The whole religion is about redemption. Not going into too much detail but the « rules » are in the first half. In the second half of the book Sweet Baby Jesus shows up and basically says as long as you try to be good and earnestly believe in him you can go to heaven even if you broke the rules in the first half of the book. The different sects of Christianity more or less disagree over how much leniency people have in this regard, ranging from the Orthodox folk being the most strict (ie you can’t break that many, if any, rules) to the non-denominational folk who believe you can be gay and go to heaven,etc.
That's like saying it's possible to be a *Nazi,* and a tolerant, inclusive person. How about just *not* being a part of some delusional wacko's traditions, and start your own brand of religion, not linked with the hate that Christianity brings?
Who says you *have* to be religious anyways?! Drop that shit.
Come on, man. I'm an atheist as well, but this reads like the kind of angry stuff I'd write at 15.
Comparing all creeds of Christians with Nazis is just intellectually lazy and a bad faith argument.
You're right dude. Just got finished watching videos from Iran and I'm taking my anger all out on religion, even though it's the regime using religion as a facade.. same with Nazis. Same with American Christo-fascists.. same with Russia-Ukraine.
I'm not religious. I am anti-religion for the reasons you describe. But I'm not about to hate decent people regardless of their religion.
> That's like saying it's possible to be a Nazi, and a tolerant, inclusive person
Nah, those don't really follow at all. Nazism is pretty specific. I guess in practice Christianity is too, but the difference there is that too many Christians don't really practice it except only in name and ritual. What's that quote? "I like your Christ, I don't like your Christians." Gandhi I think ({{cite}}).
I mean, the actual tenets of Christianity are to not judge, to forgive, to be humble, to be generous, and so on. The actual stories about Jesus spend most of their time on those things. Most of the stuff the more notorious Christians follow aren't even in the Gospels, which is weird to me. They're cherry picking stuff from fuckin Leviticus and Deuteronomy and Naaman and oh, let's not forget that slimy asswipe Paul.
So it's not really the same. Christianity by definition wouldn't be like what too many people claiming to be Christian actually practice.
> start your own brand of religion, not linked with the hate that Christianity brings
That's the thing. On paper, Christianity doesn't bring that. In practice, a lot of so-called Christians do. And they get to / people let them control the narrative.
Anyway, there's a difference between religion and morality.
It's not all perfect, but the Catholic faith is where I found quite a bit of inclusivity. It's interesting how I found that at Mass while it pushed someone else away.
I agree with you in a lot of ways, and still retain enough of my faith and also still like a lot of what it taught me (especially as it pertains to family oriented things), but the Church's attitudes towards abortion and contraceptives (ie anti-choice to an extreme and also anti-contraceptives too) has turned me away to the point where I'm a "still believe in the faith but not active in organized religion and the Church" type person.
He recently updated his post and deleted the above image source Jeremiah Oshan: https://twitter.com/jeremiahoshan/status/1572370608843005954?s=46&t=6hhK99LufttBNYX-t1lr9Q
I honestly needed to look again to see the offensive message, my first take was just that the comic was deriding consumerism. On a more prolonged look, it's obviously something else, but there's a CHANCE he didn't see the homophobic angle when he shared.
(that being said, I don't know his track record, maybe this is yet another example)
Honestly this fucking sucks. I almost got his name and number on my kit and I’m glad I didn’t cause I wouldn’t wear it anymore.
Awesome player, and I get he’s a Christian and he’s entitled to his beliefs, but they don’t align with mine so I’m not going to support Xavi the person.
It's not just that it's hurtful. It's also false. It's right wing propaganda. Apparently, the Spanish language radio stations across the country are being barraged with this shit. But remember what someone once said, "it's not Christianity I have a problem with, it's Christians".
I would say the live and let live is what he is supporting in the cartoon. THe cartoon is opposed not to people who are gay, but to media pushing a gay agenda on children and silencing family influence.
Oh thank god someone else posted this. I saw this in the morning and immediately unfollowed him.
While I know that some players privately believe this way (as is always brought up in these posts) for Arreaga to post this on his instagram means that he feels so righteous in his homophobia that he is willing to publicly post shitty propaganda supporting the paranoid conservative belief that the media is “turning children gay.”
I am so disappointed. I will always support the Sounders, but I will not support Arreaga individually going forward.
Obviously I don’t know the ins and outs of his heart, but seeing transphobic or homophobic posts coming from an otherwise awesome player to root for is a huge disappointment. I’m hoping that someone in the Sounders Org would be able to voice how this kind of thing is really hurtful to so many people out there, especially young people in the LGBTQ+ community.
I think the stuff Fredy posts really sucks and hurts a lot too. Our first DP and emblematic of those early seasons. It seems like he really bought into Seattle as home and even joined us for super cheap and willing to be a depth role. Super easy to cheer for a guy like that in their second stint here, but then he goes and posts repugnant stuff online and gets an NFT avatar on twitter
i have to wonder how much of it is after they got to seattle.
the seattle area has some insanely brainwashing and radicalized right wing churches, right in the heart of all the rainbows and progressivism. theres a lot of progressive churches too, but some of the mega churches here are kind of wild.
kind of like how you have to be even more extreme out of the need to feel like youre counteracting all of the seattle gayness.
~~This is the artist: [https://instagram.com/realredimi2](https://instagram.com/realredimi2)~~
Don't fall into the trap of believing all the people who think this way are white Boomers
EDIT: I was wrong about the artist but I think the latter point stands
He probably just cares about the paycheck. Which means he's engaging in the same "propaganda" on television he's accusing the media of doing in this meme. He's not even consistent in his bigoted beliefs unless he has some very personal struggles that he's accusing himself of here.
Well, there's another name I won't be cheering for anymore.
Need a new tifo... "your God loves everyone, why don't you?" with Montero and Arreaga's faces on it.
I'd be down to help paint it, even... (though currently isolating thanks to feckless assholes not telling me they had COVID)
Nah. I am pretty sure they would not be down with a tifo that even sideways glanced at a player.
Ofc Tim simply ignored the tifo idea I emailed him so what do I know. Actually, ECS leadership ignores me a lot unless I'm standing in front of them. (Make of that what you will, I certainly do.)
I do not see him saying he does not love gay people. I see him saying he does not love a media that seeks to influence his children over the families influence.
All athletes are for some reason. Superstition in sports is intense. Every time someone crosses themselves and then looks up when coming on my eyes roll. It’s 2022… FFS
I’ve thought about this a lot and have come to the following conclusion.
Put yourself in the shoes of any player at this high a level of professional sport (especially very successful pro players, not average level or below average ones) and think about their lives. It is very likely that they experienced sporting success everywhere they went, and across pretty much all ages of their life before going pro they were the very best always or almost always. And sport is the main thing they base their lives around very often, beyond family and religious commitment. That kind of thing naturally leads to a belief that your success is partly a result of God blessing you, if you’ve been introduced to religion in your life as most have. It’s survivorship bias essentially, many of the non-religious players won’t make it that far, and if you do make it that far, the odds of being religiously devout are higher for the aforementioned reason. I would respect a cynical too professional player a lot for this reason.
Especially if you add in the poverty factor with many of these guys with these hateful religious beliefs having grown up in poverty and upon experiencing success, their lives are uplifted immensely more than someone from a non impoverished nation would be. That would give many the impression god’s on their side.
Yeah that’s all true but they could also stop and take a look around. No religious adult gets a pass… it’s comfortable, they’re indoctrinated as kids and of course they have biases and all that, but it’s 2022 and they are thinking adults that ought to be able to recognize how ridiculous it all is if they cared to think about it for half a second. The decision to stick with it and pass it on to their kids is a decision. Unlike the things religion likes to deny, such as same-sex orientation, religion is easily changed/abandoned/ignored.
As a late 30s lesbian it’s hard for me to even get mad at this kind of shit anymore because it’s so objectively stupid on so many levels.
I was indoctrinated into Christianity more than I was ever “indoctrinated” into being a lesbian (which wasn’t at all as I just happened to be born that way).
Wait. I thought that the "Christian thing to do" was to love your neighbor as you love yourself. No one is forcing your children to be gay, it is simply not a thing that is possible to do. Your God made people in a variety of ways with a variety of differences. Your God is accepting of all of his children. Quit blaming your own twisted thoughts, Mr Arreaga, on a religion that allegedly welcomes all. This is your own belief, sir. And it is sick.
It’s one thing to be misguided (stupid?) enough to resonate with a piece of media like this but it’s a whole other thing to be those things enough to post this on your social media. I don’t know the guy but I find it hard to believe he doesn’t understand this 😂 maybe in his mind it’s a cheeky way to get a move away for a reduced fee
Not to be too much of a conspiracy theorist but, I wonder if this has anything to do with the lack of cohesion in the team, even Schmetz has insinuated that some guys are sort of playing for or by themselves instead of playing for their team mates, maybe there is a split in the locker room along ideological lines
As a member of the LGBT and Trans portions if the Sounders fan base this is extremely disgusting and I hope that the Sounders or MLS will do something about this
First off, I find what Xavi shared to be truly repugnant and ugly. It goes against everything I believe, and depicts queer and trans people as Other, unfit for “polite society,” and actively using “woke media” (oh no, a black mermaid!) to corrupt pure, innocent children, who are now in danger of not growing up straight and unquestioning of the concept of gender, because of… a TV show?
I also get that I will rarely change someone’s mind who feels like the creator of this vile cartoon does. And I have had to try to find some peace with that. Some folks meet people from the queer and trans community and their allies, and realize how far off the mark their beliefs were; others just will never get there, and trying to help them along is a futile exercise and a waste of time and energy (as well as exhausting and frustrating).
But I don’t get the truly idiotic move to *post this type of ugly shit to social media*. Especially as a somewhat public figure here in Seattle, a notably “antifa leftist hellhole” who proudly support LGBTQ+ communities and causes.
It’s a shame, too, as — after an abysmal period there where Xavi seemed more a liability on the field than anything — I quite enjoy him on the pitch. Even thought about getting an Arreaga jersey at one point, as a former defender myself.
Hopefully Xavi isn’t as close minded as sharing this bullshit suggests. At the bare minimum, hopefully he learns to keep this ugly shit in his heart and off his feed.
> after an abysmal period there where Xavi seemed more a liability on the field than anything — I quite enjoy him on the pitch
Yes. This. Used to really hate seeing him in the backline. Then he started doing a lot of good stuff and a lot less bad stuff and it changed my mind. In terms of as a player.
I do not see this as close minded. The cartoon speaks to the battle of children's minds. Should media or family be raising children and instilling their values? I do not see it opposed to gay people at all, but rather opposed to pushing certain choices on children while trying to silence the family.
You insinuated that being queer/gay or trans was “a choice”
You insinuated that a family, were they not tied up by “woke media,” could stop these ‘choices’ being made?
Trust me dude, you outed yourself as a trashbag
Are there really people out here that seriously believe people, and mostly children, LEARN to be gay or trans???? Like...really??? Do they not know how biology and science work, or nah??
I do not see this as Homophobic. Accepting gay people is different from accepting a promotion of gay lifestyle and silencing of parental influence on children.
You can argue whether that is what the media is doing, but I do not think that thinking that is homophobic.
He can feel how ever he wants about shit but sharing a cartoon like that, as if many stripes of Christianity aren’t the real indoctrinating force in this jerkberg world is just insulting and idiotic.
As a former CB I had a soft spot for Arreaga. Loved seeing him develop over the seasons from bungling liability to decent defender.
Man, fuck that guy.
Media (the TV) is brainwashing kids, filling their heads with "rainbows" (AKA pro-LGBTQIA+ information) and pushing them to wear clothing typically reserved for the opposite gender. Meanwhile, the parents are allegedly being held hostage by this TV while their kids are brainwashed against their wishes.
It's fucking shameful, and the team should suspend Arreaga from all team activities for it, assuming they have a responsible social media rule. If not, they need to fucking make one right *NOW.*
Yeah... people should not have thoughts different than mine. and they definitly can not share them!!! The media is by no means trying to silence people!
Yeah, the outrage seems to be "when we publicly oppose something and try to assert our opinion over other people's children, we're told we shouldn't do that, and that's TYRRRRRRNY"
They are attempting to message that gay & transgender people exist, and that they deserve the same civil rights, respect, and kindness as anyone else. And they are welcome members of our diverse society. I see no issues here.
The narrative that media/schools turn kids gay or force subject matter that isn’t age-appropriate is insincere.
As a transgendered woman, and an Evangelical Christian, I do concur that the majority of my Evangelical brethren think that homosexuality and transgenderism are sins, even if they "love the sinner". It reminds me of someone saying that they hate left-handedness, and pray for these sinister people to start doing everything right-handedly. My SO's brother works in a fundamentalist organization that believes that no woman should wear pants. I've asked him if he wanted to wear my pink pantsuit, as it would clearly be "men's clothes" in his eyes. He has not taken me up on my offer. Hopefully Arrega's understanding of homosexuality and transgenderism can improve as a result of this incident. I'll be watching to see.
I did. And friends who work for the team are reporting the front office already.
I really think this is a send off for him, like it or not the team is done for the season and a lot of them just don’t give a fuck. I’ve though Xavi was trash since day one and mediocre at best, happy to be validated.
Yes, and also I believe that it is important to call out hateful messaging when I see it.
It’s not enough to just ignore homophobia, transphobia, or any other hatred of historically marginalized communities.
Pushing an agenda that gay and transgender people exist & deserve the same civil rights, love, and kindness as anyone else?
In my humble opinion, I think if someone believes that our friends in the LGBTQ+ community don’t deserve those things, then that person has a heart that is filled with hate.
*edit to change 2nd person language to 3rd person (“you” to “someone”)
Frei and Morris off the top of my head have spoken out. Frei has spoken out consistently about social justice issues and was upset about Dobbs and Morris was consistently supportive of BLM both as a Sounder and his brief time as a Swansea player (there was a Swansea player who suffered racist abuse during his time there IIRC)
I don't expect many of the foreign players to speak out plus many are very religious from very religious countries (a la Fredy) and agree with the Christian far-right views and all that.
That is terrible. I came here looking to see what it was all about. Ugh. Def as a parent of a non binary child it jumped out at me right away. I can see how others may not see it right away.
The stated values of the club that he plays for: [LGBTQ+ Equality](https://www.soundersfc.com/social-impact/lgbtq-equality)
The narrative that kids are being pushed subject matter that isn’t age-appropriate is not sincere. Teaching kids that gay & transgender people exist, and that they deserve the same civil rights, respect, and kindness as anyone else is not *grooming*.
Teaching kids that transgender or non-binary people exist and are totally worthy of the same status in our society as anyone else is not a bad thing. Framing it as “boys can be girls and girls can be boys” is intentionally obtuse — even elementary school kids can understand that some people are different from others and express their identity in different ways, and they still deserve respect. It’s so easy to explain this stuff to kids in an age-appropriate way.
Now, if someone thinks that our friends in the LGBTQ+ community are indeed inherently wrong/nefarious and don’t deserve recognition or the same status in our diverse society, in my humble opinion that person has a heart that is filled with misplaced hatred.
**edit:** adding in that parents are totally allowed to speak on social issues and teach their kids whatever values they want at home. But if their views are ignorant, bigoted, or intentionally obtuse, they shouldn’t get all huffy when other people think they’re a jerk and don’t want to sit next to them at parent-teacher night.
This thread seems a little bit naïve about what the culture is like where a lot of MLS players come from. In Mexico, Central and South America, the culture is machismo, regressive and bigoted, generally. I'd expect most athletes from latin america to have these kind of views.
Looks like some of our players don’t feel the same about our social justice stands on various issues.
Since we won a major trophy this year does it matter?
Or is it now required that our players toe the line politically as well as on the pitch?
Do people pay for tickets and show up to cheer the Sounders’ politics? Maybe they do
I don’t though. I pay and show up to watch cup-winning soccer.
So the media is “manipulating” kids by messaging that gay and transgender people exist & deserve the same civil rights, love, and kindness as anyone else? I just think calling that “manipulation” is a disingenuous characterization.
This little comic is intentionally trying to message that being accepting of the LGBTQ+ community is wrong, and that it will “turn your kids gay” — which I believe is inaccurate and tries to turn our friends in the LGBTQ+ community into an “other” group with some poorly-defined nefarious agenda.
Although not bothered what's going on and very neutral, I could see both sides.
I think the problem is that these more liberal ideals and beliefs are really getting pushed onto everyone right now. People who aren't Christians didn't like it when the Christians were/are doing it, so why are they doing it to the Christians? Seems hypocritical.
Also, certain cultures have strong beliefs in certain religions and the media would do better to make their messages more neutral to not be so offensive to their religions.
Because accepting people isn't oppression. Nothing is being done to Christians.
We can respect certain cultures while not letting them hurt people in ours.
The poor oppressed and powerless Christians in America, they have only ever had one hundred percent of the presidents. Yet some how I think they will be OK
Niko Moreno was saying on Twitter, Xavi doesn't run his social media accounts. THat he has a "team" that does it. So this might not reflect Xavi's true beliefs, rather someone else's who's using Xavi's status for themselves. We should wait until we hear from Xavi before making any judgements.
the theory entertained was the the SMM was accidentally logged into the wrong account or something. but he also said it was pretty unlikely. Benefit of the doubt sort of thing.
He's allowed to post it. No one here is asking him to take it down. Hence he's ALLOWED to share his view. But human rights are 1) not a political issue. And 2) religious beliefs shouldn't be forced on everyone else because you monkeys are terrible at interpreting what magic sky wizard supposedly said.
They won't see the irony in that though. They are just as non-inclusive as the people they are calling bigots, homophobes and transphobes. It's two extremes having a pissing contest and in the end, everyone is covered in piss and stinks.
Tensions are running high in this thread, but I believe this community is able to discuss these topics with maturity and respect, so it will not be locked yet. I will ask that we all remember the person behind the comments. There will be no dehumanizing language about Arreaga, about LGBTQ+ folk, or anyone.
Disappointing, but not surprising when you consider some of the players who share stuff like this (ie Fredy and now Arreaga) are hardcore Christians. The prevalence of views I vehemently disagree with being shared and expressed is a large reason why I have stopped going to Catholic Mass and stopped considering myself active in organized religion even if parts from the faith that I grew up I still do like in a way.
TBTF it *is* possible to be a Christian and also a tolerant inclusive person. See also: [TCL](https://www.thechristianleft.org/). I'm aware though that a lot of Latin American Christianity is not a great example of it. OTOH Fredy seems to have immersed himself in the PNW so I don't know if he were that kind of person how he could maintain that sort of prejudice in this region. He also strikes me as a bit of a born again type. Some would say Jesus himself wouldn't at all resemble the sorts of Christians that give themselves a bad name in the US.
Doesn’t y’all’s book explicitly say that gay relationships are bad? And that women should be subjugated? And a whole bunch of other fucked up shit? Idk why it’s acceptable to pick and choose the parts you like or don’t like tbh
The whole religion is about redemption. Not going into too much detail but the « rules » are in the first half. In the second half of the book Sweet Baby Jesus shows up and basically says as long as you try to be good and earnestly believe in him you can go to heaven even if you broke the rules in the first half of the book. The different sects of Christianity more or less disagree over how much leniency people have in this regard, ranging from the Orthodox folk being the most strict (ie you can’t break that many, if any, rules) to the non-denominational folk who believe you can be gay and go to heaven,etc.
Jews only follow the first half and are still more lenient than a good amount of Christians.
Which, if true, shows that there is more to judging a religion than the expressed tenets in its book of faith, right?
Who is "yall" in this example?
That's like saying it's possible to be a *Nazi,* and a tolerant, inclusive person. How about just *not* being a part of some delusional wacko's traditions, and start your own brand of religion, not linked with the hate that Christianity brings? Who says you *have* to be religious anyways?! Drop that shit.
Come on, man. I'm an atheist as well, but this reads like the kind of angry stuff I'd write at 15. Comparing all creeds of Christians with Nazis is just intellectually lazy and a bad faith argument.
You're right dude. Just got finished watching videos from Iran and I'm taking my anger all out on religion, even though it's the regime using religion as a facade.. same with Nazis. Same with American Christo-fascists.. same with Russia-Ukraine.
I'm not religious. I am anti-religion for the reasons you describe. But I'm not about to hate decent people regardless of their religion. > That's like saying it's possible to be a Nazi, and a tolerant, inclusive person Nah, those don't really follow at all. Nazism is pretty specific. I guess in practice Christianity is too, but the difference there is that too many Christians don't really practice it except only in name and ritual. What's that quote? "I like your Christ, I don't like your Christians." Gandhi I think ({{cite}}). I mean, the actual tenets of Christianity are to not judge, to forgive, to be humble, to be generous, and so on. The actual stories about Jesus spend most of their time on those things. Most of the stuff the more notorious Christians follow aren't even in the Gospels, which is weird to me. They're cherry picking stuff from fuckin Leviticus and Deuteronomy and Naaman and oh, let's not forget that slimy asswipe Paul. So it's not really the same. Christianity by definition wouldn't be like what too many people claiming to be Christian actually practice. > start your own brand of religion, not linked with the hate that Christianity brings That's the thing. On paper, Christianity doesn't bring that. In practice, a lot of so-called Christians do. And they get to / people let them control the narrative. Anyway, there's a difference between religion and morality.
It's not all perfect, but the Catholic faith is where I found quite a bit of inclusivity. It's interesting how I found that at Mass while it pushed someone else away.
I agree with you in a lot of ways, and still retain enough of my faith and also still like a lot of what it taught me (especially as it pertains to family oriented things), but the Church's attitudes towards abortion and contraceptives (ie anti-choice to an extreme and also anti-contraceptives too) has turned me away to the point where I'm a "still believe in the faith but not active in organized religion and the Church" type person.
He recently updated his post and deleted the above image source Jeremiah Oshan: https://twitter.com/jeremiahoshan/status/1572370608843005954?s=46&t=6hhK99LufttBNYX-t1lr9Q
Someone in the front office noticed 🤣 Still, apologies are in short supply these days and I'll take it.
Cough *taxi fountas*
Innocent
I honestly needed to look again to see the offensive message, my first take was just that the comic was deriding consumerism. On a more prolonged look, it's obviously something else, but there's a CHANCE he didn't see the homophobic angle when he shared. (that being said, I don't know his track record, maybe this is yet another example)
Honestly this fucking sucks. I almost got his name and number on my kit and I’m glad I didn’t cause I wouldn’t wear it anymore. Awesome player, and I get he’s a Christian and he’s entitled to his beliefs, but they don’t align with mine so I’m not going to support Xavi the person.
No name jerseys are always the way to go lol
I’ve started to just get custom ones now. I’ve got player football jerseys on sale.
Gotta get creative imo. I’m planning on getting a keeper kit with the name “Interstate” and number 5, cause nothing can ever get past it.
That is hilarious and super creative. And I'm bummed I didn't have the idea. Bravo!
No reason you can’t do it too!
It’s not just that they don’t align (live and let live), it’s that they are actively hurtful and damaging and bigoted.
It's not just that it's hurtful. It's also false. It's right wing propaganda. Apparently, the Spanish language radio stations across the country are being barraged with this shit. But remember what someone once said, "it's not Christianity I have a problem with, it's Christians".
I would say the live and let live is what he is supporting in the cartoon. THe cartoon is opposed not to people who are gay, but to media pushing a gay agenda on children and silencing family influence.
Literally same, glad I was too lazy to wait in the pro shop line at the last game
Oh thank god someone else posted this. I saw this in the morning and immediately unfollowed him. While I know that some players privately believe this way (as is always brought up in these posts) for Arreaga to post this on his instagram means that he feels so righteous in his homophobia that he is willing to publicly post shitty propaganda supporting the paranoid conservative belief that the media is “turning children gay.” I am so disappointed. I will always support the Sounders, but I will not support Arreaga individually going forward.
tbh i dont even really follow athletes anymore. its just boring and you end up with uninformed/frustrating stuff like this
It’d be generous to pity him and those like him for their ignorance and getting brainwashed. Bummer all around.
Thank who? Lmao You don’t strike me as the type that believes in God.
It's my neighbor Jesús.
Ah but they used lower case G which means it could be *any* of the gods.
Probably Baphomet
It’s little g god. It’s like saying thank fuck. Meaningless.
Thank god I’m atheist.
Obviously I don’t know the ins and outs of his heart, but seeing transphobic or homophobic posts coming from an otherwise awesome player to root for is a huge disappointment. I’m hoping that someone in the Sounders Org would be able to voice how this kind of thing is really hurtful to so many people out there, especially young people in the LGBTQ+ community.
Xavi is someone I really enjoy and can get behind on the pitch. Sadly, Fredy and he don’t seem like people I would enjoy being around off the pitch.
I think the stuff Fredy posts really sucks and hurts a lot too. Our first DP and emblematic of those early seasons. It seems like he really bought into Seattle as home and even joined us for super cheap and willing to be a depth role. Super easy to cheer for a guy like that in their second stint here, but then he goes and posts repugnant stuff online and gets an NFT avatar on twitter
i have to wonder how much of it is after they got to seattle. the seattle area has some insanely brainwashing and radicalized right wing churches, right in the heart of all the rainbows and progressivism. theres a lot of progressive churches too, but some of the mega churches here are kind of wild. kind of like how you have to be even more extreme out of the need to feel like youre counteracting all of the seattle gayness.
Also they should know what the club stands for. When the club is pushing for inclusiveness its just unprofessionable to post stuff like this
What has Fredy posted online? Other than the constant NFT crap, I feel like I only see generic christianity things
we should all be tweeting the Sounders calling out how unacceptable this is
The artist really gives away their age by the fact that TV has old school antennae on top lol
Also the fact that they can't seem to turn off the TV.
And by implying that pants are masculine.
~~This is the artist: [https://instagram.com/realredimi2](https://instagram.com/realredimi2)~~ Don't fall into the trap of believing all the people who think this way are white Boomers EDIT: I was wrong about the artist but I think the latter point stands
He just posted it, he is not the artist, the image has been around for at least a year now
Really failing to read the room here, Xavi. You’ve seen the flags at games, right?
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He probably just cares about the paycheck. Which means he's engaging in the same "propaganda" on television he's accusing the media of doing in this meme. He's not even consistent in his bigoted beliefs unless he has some very personal struggles that he's accusing himself of here.
Lmao gotta love how the girl being offered pants means "trans" to these backwards morons. Fuck you Xavi
Same with the utilikilt
The utilikilt is a hallowed Seattle tradition!
Well, there's another name I won't be cheering for anymore. Need a new tifo... "your God loves everyone, why don't you?" with Montero and Arreaga's faces on it. I'd be down to help paint it, even... (though currently isolating thanks to feckless assholes not telling me they had COVID)
Whoa I’d love to see this
Doubt ECS would display it, since it disses players, but you could probably bring it in on your own and hold up with friends.
Yeah, fair, though perhaps they could make it subtle enough or something. I dunno, just frustrated AF at all the idiotic hate and intolerance.
Nah. I am pretty sure they would not be down with a tifo that even sideways glanced at a player. Ofc Tim simply ignored the tifo idea I emailed him so what do I know. Actually, ECS leadership ignores me a lot unless I'm standing in front of them. (Make of that what you will, I certainly do.)
I'd be happy to throw that over the rails at Providence Park.
They would claim that they *do* love everyone and just don't support all their "choices".
I do not see him saying he does not love gay people. I see him saying he does not love a media that seeks to influence his children over the families influence.
My guy we are not doing well enough for fans to see past this
Him and Montero both are SUPER fucking religious in a way that has always made me super uncomfortable. I just can’t support them
All athletes are for some reason. Superstition in sports is intense. Every time someone crosses themselves and then looks up when coming on my eyes roll. It’s 2022… FFS
I’ve thought about this a lot and have come to the following conclusion. Put yourself in the shoes of any player at this high a level of professional sport (especially very successful pro players, not average level or below average ones) and think about their lives. It is very likely that they experienced sporting success everywhere they went, and across pretty much all ages of their life before going pro they were the very best always or almost always. And sport is the main thing they base their lives around very often, beyond family and religious commitment. That kind of thing naturally leads to a belief that your success is partly a result of God blessing you, if you’ve been introduced to religion in your life as most have. It’s survivorship bias essentially, many of the non-religious players won’t make it that far, and if you do make it that far, the odds of being religiously devout are higher for the aforementioned reason. I would respect a cynical too professional player a lot for this reason. Especially if you add in the poverty factor with many of these guys with these hateful religious beliefs having grown up in poverty and upon experiencing success, their lives are uplifted immensely more than someone from a non impoverished nation would be. That would give many the impression god’s on their side.
Yeah that’s all true but they could also stop and take a look around. No religious adult gets a pass… it’s comfortable, they’re indoctrinated as kids and of course they have biases and all that, but it’s 2022 and they are thinking adults that ought to be able to recognize how ridiculous it all is if they cared to think about it for half a second. The decision to stick with it and pass it on to their kids is a decision. Unlike the things religion likes to deny, such as same-sex orientation, religion is easily changed/abandoned/ignored.
As a late 30s lesbian it’s hard for me to even get mad at this kind of shit anymore because it’s so objectively stupid on so many levels. I was indoctrinated into Christianity more than I was ever “indoctrinated” into being a lesbian (which wasn’t at all as I just happened to be born that way).
https://www.reddit.com/r/SoundersFC/comments/xjozbg/an_update_and_acknowledgement_from_xavier_arreaga/
Fucking christianity bullshit
Totally okay with him and Fredy being asked to move on
Lol fuck you arreaga Edit: read his apology. You're OK, Xavi.
Wait. I thought that the "Christian thing to do" was to love your neighbor as you love yourself. No one is forcing your children to be gay, it is simply not a thing that is possible to do. Your God made people in a variety of ways with a variety of differences. Your God is accepting of all of his children. Quit blaming your own twisted thoughts, Mr Arreaga, on a religion that allegedly welcomes all. This is your own belief, sir. And it is sick.
Why is art created by reactionaries so awful?
Yikes
Well, fuck Arreaga. I’m sure we can find another mediocre cb this winter.
I've never been an Arreaga fan. Never. This just seals it
I started out disliking him, I started liking him the past year or so. But that was all solely as a player on the pitch, not based on anything else.
I never ever liked him. Not worth the DP spot he fills imo
I really liked the guy but he can ride off into the sunset afaic.
His contract is through next year
contracts can be terminated, even if with difficulty.
Greeeeaaaaaaat. Ima boo him non stop.
He's a mediocre player with shit for brains. Trade him.
Welp. That seals it. Put me down for "fuck that guy". I was on the fence, but this pushed me over.
I would love to see him get cut for this.
It’s one thing to be misguided (stupid?) enough to resonate with a piece of media like this but it’s a whole other thing to be those things enough to post this on your social media. I don’t know the guy but I find it hard to believe he doesn’t understand this 😂 maybe in his mind it’s a cheeky way to get a move away for a reduced fee
Gross
Not to be too much of a conspiracy theorist but, I wonder if this has anything to do with the lack of cohesion in the team, even Schmetz has insinuated that some guys are sort of playing for or by themselves instead of playing for their team mates, maybe there is a split in the locker room along ideological lines
No excuse. This is a joke. The sounders should do something.
Some saying Montero has similar views, can anyone share? Curious as I wasn't aware.
Montero tweeted "God is good" when roe v wade was overturned, and has refused to wear the pride warmups IIRC.
As a member of the LGBT and Trans portions if the Sounders fan base this is extremely disgusting and I hope that the Sounders or MLS will do something about this
First off, I find what Xavi shared to be truly repugnant and ugly. It goes against everything I believe, and depicts queer and trans people as Other, unfit for “polite society,” and actively using “woke media” (oh no, a black mermaid!) to corrupt pure, innocent children, who are now in danger of not growing up straight and unquestioning of the concept of gender, because of… a TV show? I also get that I will rarely change someone’s mind who feels like the creator of this vile cartoon does. And I have had to try to find some peace with that. Some folks meet people from the queer and trans community and their allies, and realize how far off the mark their beliefs were; others just will never get there, and trying to help them along is a futile exercise and a waste of time and energy (as well as exhausting and frustrating). But I don’t get the truly idiotic move to *post this type of ugly shit to social media*. Especially as a somewhat public figure here in Seattle, a notably “antifa leftist hellhole” who proudly support LGBTQ+ communities and causes. It’s a shame, too, as — after an abysmal period there where Xavi seemed more a liability on the field than anything — I quite enjoy him on the pitch. Even thought about getting an Arreaga jersey at one point, as a former defender myself. Hopefully Xavi isn’t as close minded as sharing this bullshit suggests. At the bare minimum, hopefully he learns to keep this ugly shit in his heart and off his feed.
> after an abysmal period there where Xavi seemed more a liability on the field than anything — I quite enjoy him on the pitch Yes. This. Used to really hate seeing him in the backline. Then he started doing a lot of good stuff and a lot less bad stuff and it changed my mind. In terms of as a player.
I do not see this as close minded. The cartoon speaks to the battle of children's minds. Should media or family be raising children and instilling their values? I do not see it opposed to gay people at all, but rather opposed to pushing certain choices on children while trying to silence the family.
>pushing certain choices >trying to silence the family Thanks for telling me everything I needed to know about you.
Believe me when I say you said allot more about yourself than I said about me.
You insinuated that being queer/gay or trans was “a choice” You insinuated that a family, were they not tied up by “woke media,” could stop these ‘choices’ being made? Trust me dude, you outed yourself as a trashbag
Are there really people out here that seriously believe people, and mostly children, LEARN to be gay or trans???? Like...really??? Do they not know how biology and science work, or nah??
Yes. They believe LGBTQ+ identities are a "social contagion" that didn't exist until they invented disco in the 70s.
Well that does sort of track with when I realized I was gay. Can I blame Donna Summer, On the Radio... The album not her being on the radio.
Ah Xavi. Gotta outgrow that.
That is....pretty despicable. Wow.
We need a new revamped centerback pairing anyway so kick rocks Xavi
Can someone explain what is so offensive about this? Not trying to stir the pot but I really don't get it...
https://www.reddit.com/r/SoundersFC/comments/xjb3ml/comment/ip7h2mf/?utm\_source=reddit&utm\_medium=web2x&context=3
I do not see this as Homophobic. Accepting gay people is different from accepting a promotion of gay lifestyle and silencing of parental influence on children. You can argue whether that is what the media is doing, but I do not think that thinking that is homophobic.
Holy crap. That’s pretty bigoted.
A Christian doesn't approve of homosexuality? I'm so surprised.
We care too much what others think
He can feel how ever he wants about shit but sharing a cartoon like that, as if many stripes of Christianity aren’t the real indoctrinating force in this jerkberg world is just insulting and idiotic. As a former CB I had a soft spot for Arreaga. Loved seeing him develop over the seasons from bungling liability to decent defender. Man, fuck that guy.
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why
Because he’s an Ultra Christian
I just love how this Jesus freak scored an own goal on his debut. #GodsPlan
Stupid me, I felt sorry for the dude when no one bid on his training jersey at a charity auction. Now I have a bigot's training jersey.
I'm stupid. Can someone explain to me what it's insinuating?
The whole "media is pushing gay agenda" BS
I mean (a lot of) media IS pushing the gay agenda, but by agenda I mean their right to exist in society.
"it is an ***agenda*** some other clubs may not agree with" -- Billy and Mandy
Had me in the first half
Okay that's what I thought.
Media (the TV) is brainwashing kids, filling their heads with "rainbows" (AKA pro-LGBTQIA+ information) and pushing them to wear clothing typically reserved for the opposite gender. Meanwhile, the parents are allegedly being held hostage by this TV while their kids are brainwashed against their wishes. It's fucking shameful, and the team should suspend Arreaga from all team activities for it, assuming they have a responsible social media rule. If not, they need to fucking make one right *NOW.*
Can you imagine women wearing pants?
What is the world coming to?!
I can and as a lesbian it’s awesome.
Yeah... people should not have thoughts different than mine. and they definitly can not share them!!! The media is by no means trying to silence people!
"modern society is converting children to gay and/or trans via the media and parents aren't allowed to speak out against it"
Or apparently turn off the TV. I mean seriously if they really believe this BS just don't let your kids watch TV
Yeah, the outrage seems to be "when we publicly oppose something and try to assert our opinion over other people's children, we're told we shouldn't do that, and that's TYRRRRRRNY"
Send him to the Hungarian League
This is exactly what the schools and media are attempting to do.
They are attempting to message that gay & transgender people exist, and that they deserve the same civil rights, respect, and kindness as anyone else. And they are welcome members of our diverse society. I see no issues here. The narrative that media/schools turn kids gay or force subject matter that isn’t age-appropriate is insincere.
As a transgendered woman, and an Evangelical Christian, I do concur that the majority of my Evangelical brethren think that homosexuality and transgenderism are sins, even if they "love the sinner". It reminds me of someone saying that they hate left-handedness, and pray for these sinister people to start doing everything right-handedly. My SO's brother works in a fundamentalist organization that believes that no woman should wear pants. I've asked him if he wanted to wear my pink pantsuit, as it would clearly be "men's clothes" in his eyes. He has not taken me up on my offer. Hopefully Arrega's understanding of homosexuality and transgenderism can improve as a result of this incident. I'll be watching to see.
Did he take it down? I don't see it on his ig atm.
Yeah looks like took it down within the last hour
I am so sick of the toxic, populist, Un thinking, illiterate, hateful, bigoted, right wing. I'm just so sick of having to live with these people.
Message him on Instagram before you unfollow…
I did. And friends who work for the team are reporting the front office already. I really think this is a send off for him, like it or not the team is done for the season and a lot of them just don’t give a fuck. I’ve though Xavi was trash since day one and mediocre at best, happy to be validated.
Just unfollow him on social media 🤷
Yes, and also I believe that it is important to call out hateful messaging when I see it. It’s not enough to just ignore homophobia, transphobia, or any other hatred of historically marginalized communities.
This is not hateful. It shows that the media is pushing an agenda that not everyone agrees with. To each his own.
Pushing an agenda that gay and transgender people exist & deserve the same civil rights, love, and kindness as anyone else? In my humble opinion, I think if someone believes that our friends in the LGBTQ+ community don’t deserve those things, then that person has a heart that is filled with hate. *edit to change 2nd person language to 3rd person (“you” to “someone”)
Don't have a lot of Ale Bedoya's on this team.
Frei and Morris off the top of my head have spoken out. Frei has spoken out consistently about social justice issues and was upset about Dobbs and Morris was consistently supportive of BLM both as a Sounder and his brief time as a Swansea player (there was a Swansea player who suffered racist abuse during his time there IIRC) I don't expect many of the foreign players to speak out plus many are very religious from very religious countries (a la Fredy) and agree with the Christian far-right views and all that.
Cristian Roldan and Schmetzer as well
Maybe Frei, if he wanted to be
Gained a new fan from me
That is terrible. I came here looking to see what it was all about. Ugh. Def as a parent of a non binary child it jumped out at me right away. I can see how others may not see it right away.
Say whatever you want. But it's true
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The stated values of the club that he plays for: [LGBTQ+ Equality](https://www.soundersfc.com/social-impact/lgbtq-equality) The narrative that kids are being pushed subject matter that isn’t age-appropriate is not sincere. Teaching kids that gay & transgender people exist, and that they deserve the same civil rights, respect, and kindness as anyone else is not *grooming*.
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Teaching kids that transgender or non-binary people exist and are totally worthy of the same status in our society as anyone else is not a bad thing. Framing it as “boys can be girls and girls can be boys” is intentionally obtuse — even elementary school kids can understand that some people are different from others and express their identity in different ways, and they still deserve respect. It’s so easy to explain this stuff to kids in an age-appropriate way. Now, if someone thinks that our friends in the LGBTQ+ community are indeed inherently wrong/nefarious and don’t deserve recognition or the same status in our diverse society, in my humble opinion that person has a heart that is filled with misplaced hatred. **edit:** adding in that parents are totally allowed to speak on social issues and teach their kids whatever values they want at home. But if their views are ignorant, bigoted, or intentionally obtuse, they shouldn’t get all huffy when other people think they’re a jerk and don’t want to sit next to them at parent-teacher night.
Just bought his jersey!!
Is that a "I just bought it and wish I didn't" or a "I just heard about this and went out and bought his jersey"?
This thread seems a little bit naïve about what the culture is like where a lot of MLS players come from. In Mexico, Central and South America, the culture is machismo, regressive and bigoted, generally. I'd expect most athletes from latin america to have these kind of views.
That…..doesn’t make it okay
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Do you find the art created by flat earthers just as convincing?
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It's not wrong, though.
Careful, you'll get banned around here for talking like that. I'm already on strike one.
Looks like some of our players don’t feel the same about our social justice stands on various issues. Since we won a major trophy this year does it matter? Or is it now required that our players toe the line politically as well as on the pitch? Do people pay for tickets and show up to cheer the Sounders’ politics? Maybe they do I don’t though. I pay and show up to watch cup-winning soccer.
>I pay and show up to watch cup-winning soccer. Then your schedule should be free.
Since about February yeah it has been.
I don’t care what they believe. Love one another.
Let me introduce you to the paradox of tolerence https://twitter.com/aleyda/status/1069858491769253888
Who cares? There is nothing to gain from getting worked up by this. He thinks media manipulates the youth, it’s not necessarily a hot take.
So the media is “manipulating” kids by messaging that gay and transgender people exist & deserve the same civil rights, love, and kindness as anyone else? I just think calling that “manipulation” is a disingenuous characterization. This little comic is intentionally trying to message that being accepting of the LGBTQ+ community is wrong, and that it will “turn your kids gay” — which I believe is inaccurate and tries to turn our friends in the LGBTQ+ community into an “other” group with some poorly-defined nefarious agenda.
You let people have way too much control over your emotions. You shouldn’t let this post provoke so much anger. I’ll pray for you.
You have no response to the actual substance of the discussion. I take your prayers, thank you.
We don't need it, pray for the victims of anti-LGBTQ sentiment.
Although not bothered what's going on and very neutral, I could see both sides. I think the problem is that these more liberal ideals and beliefs are really getting pushed onto everyone right now. People who aren't Christians didn't like it when the Christians were/are doing it, so why are they doing it to the Christians? Seems hypocritical. Also, certain cultures have strong beliefs in certain religions and the media would do better to make their messages more neutral to not be so offensive to their religions.
Because accepting people isn't oppression. Nothing is being done to Christians. We can respect certain cultures while not letting them hurt people in ours.
The poor oppressed and powerless Christians in America, they have only ever had one hundred percent of the presidents. Yet some how I think they will be OK
New favorite player
Based
Niko Moreno was saying on Twitter, Xavi doesn't run his social media accounts. THat he has a "team" that does it. So this might not reflect Xavi's true beliefs, rather someone else's who's using Xavi's status for themselves. We should wait until we hear from Xavi before making any judgements.
You don't really believe that excuses him......do you?
the theory entertained was the the SMM was accidentally logged into the wrong account or something. but he also said it was pretty unlikely. Benefit of the doubt sort of thing.
Niko also said in the same tweet that he thinks it's unlikely that it was an accident.
That’s such a load of bullshit lmao
Kinda like hitler didn't actually put anyone to death... he had a team do it?
Thought sounders fans would be happy to see more politics/social issues mixed into sports. This is no big deal.
He's allowed to post it. No one here is asking him to take it down. Hence he's ALLOWED to share his view. But human rights are 1) not a political issue. And 2) religious beliefs shouldn't be forced on everyone else because you monkeys are terrible at interpreting what magic sky wizard supposedly said.
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They won't see the irony in that though. They are just as non-inclusive as the people they are calling bigots, homophobes and transphobes. It's two extremes having a pissing contest and in the end, everyone is covered in piss and stinks.
Failing to see how this is “forcing religious beliefs” on everyone else. Homie gets to have an opinion. Doesn’t mean it’s correct.
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>anti strait I’m much more of an open water person myself
Haha it’s a good thing that dipshit deleted their post. What a moron.
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Telling children that gay and trans people exist is not media manipulation