The Big East Conference in a "woke" moment has surrendered to sports peer pressure and decided to sew patches with the letters "BLM" on the men's and women's basketball teams for this season.

The conference released a letter on its website detailing the rationale:

The Big East Conference decided on August 20th to have patches "celebrating" the Black Lives Movement. "We remain deeply pained by the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor,  Ahmaud  Arbery and the many before them whose lives were lost to callous and senseless acts of racial violence and bigotry."

Further:

For all of us in the extended BIG EAST family, "Black Lives Matter" is not a political organization or ideology, but a fact.  For us, BLM means that the safety, dignity and well‐being of all Black people are non‐negotiable rights and that intolerance and repression because of skin color cannot be tolerated in our world.

No black American law enforcement officers murdered in the line of duty this year were mentioned in their letter to the fans, alumni, faculty, coaches, and administrations of the schools.  They are Officer Breann Leath (Indianapolis, Indiana); Waldis "Jay" Johnson (Detroit, Michigan); wildlife officer Julian Keen, Jr. (Florida); and police officer Tamarris Bohannon (St. Louis, Missouri).

 The league is composed of a majority of  Catholic schools situated in urban areas with most located in their states' largest populated cities and in the nation's capital: Creighton/Omaha; Marquette/Milwaukee; DePaul/Chicago; St. John's/Queens, New York; Seton Hall/South Orange (adjacent to Newark); Georgetown/Washington, D.C.; Providence College; Xavier/Cincinnati; and Villanova/Radnor Township (12 miles from Philadelphia).  Butler University/Indianapolis is not Catholic or church-affiliated but was founded as a private school with Christian foundations and identity.  UConn/Storrs, an original member of the league, is public and returned to the league after a jump to the American Athletic League, attempting to become a big-time player in football.  

A letter was sent to Val Ackerman the Big East Commissioner detailing the concerns of the decision to attach a Marxist group's "call letters" on uniforms of university teams.

No response.

An assistant to the conference commissioner replied by thanking the letter-writer for "sharing your thoughts."

Another response stated: "The conferences use of the Black Lives Matter wording is in no way connected to the organization in which you mention[.] ... They felt strongly about the phrase being used as a 'rallying cry' during these trying times of social injustice."

Hey, Big East: Instead of BLM as a patch, how 'bout JMJ?  (That's Jesus, Mary, and Joseph for all those who didn't attend parochial school.)

If one takes the individual Catholic  schools' mission statements seriously, one will discover that the BLM organization is antithetical to the Christian values, ideals, morals, and philosophy of the schools.

Villanova, perhaps the most visible of all the Big East schools with two NCAA championships in the last decade, states in its mission statement:

Villanova University is a Catholic Augustinian community of higher education, committed to excellence and distinction in the discovery, dissemination and application of knowledge. Inspired by the life and teaching of Jesus Christ, the University is grounded in the wisdom of the Catholic intellectual tradition and advances a deeper understanding of the relationship between faith and reason. Villanova emphasizes and celebrates the liberal arts and sciences as foundational to all academic programs. The University community welcomes and respects members of all faiths who seek to nurture a concern for the common good and who share an enthusiasm for the challenge of responsible and productive citizenship in order to build a just and peaceful world.

Conversely, the leader of BLM stated, "We are  trained Marxists" (7:03–7:10).

"Catholic leaders say the Church has an important role in working for racial justice, but that protesting for justice does not imply endorsement of the positions taken by Black Lives Matter organizations."

Practicing Catholics and Marxists cannot "coexist" because each belief system is on the opposite side of the philosophical spectrum.  Marxists are for the here and now, materialistic, atheistic, amoral, and soulless.  Catholic faith encourages and inspires a life of holy, prayerful service to others and, hopefully, everlasting life with God in Heaven.

Image: Annettet via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.