Major League Baseball is now in the business of policing Scripture on baseball caps, and if you think that sounds like something out of a dystopian novel, congratulations — you're paying attention. Several San Francisco Giants players who declined to celebrate Pride Night by either refusing to wear pride-themed gear or writing Bible verses on their caps are now being "warned" by the league about "future violations."

Because apparently being an unapologetic Christian is a violation now.

Here's what happened. During the Giants' Pride Night, starting pitcher Landen Roupp, along with teammates JT Brubaker and Ryan Walker, modified their caps with passages from Genesis rather than sport the league's rainbow-themed gear. Relief pitcher Sam Hentges flat-out refused to wear the pride cap, telling reporters, "I don't morally support it." That's a grown man expressing a sincere religious conviction in the most polite way imaginable. Naturally, MLB treated it like a federal crime.

MLB Chief Communications Officer Pat Courtney confirmed the league had "warned" the players about "future violations," stating that writing on caps "violates our rules." Got that? The official position of Major League Baseball is that standing up for their Christian faith violates their rules. Someone should probably let them know that the Bible has been around a little longer than their uniform policy.

The Giants organization, ever the profile in corporate courage, released a statement saying, "Baseball should be a place where everyone feels welcome, respected, and valued." Everyone, that is, except Christians who stand up for what they believe in. Those people can apparently pound sand.

But here's where it gets good.

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier saw the story and came out swinging harder than anything the Giants have produced this season. "Do you practice religious discrimination in Florida, MLB?" Uthmeier posted. "You'll be hearing from my office soon." That's not a suggestion. That's a man reaching for his briefcase.

Missouri Senator Josh Hawley piled on with a message directly to Commissioner Robert Manfred and the league front office. "What does MLB think it's doing penalizing players for their Christian faith?" Hawley demanded. "They owe us some answers. Right now." He gave MLB a deadline of June 19 to respond.

We'll see if Manfred has the guts to answer or if he hides behind another focus-grouped corporate statement about "inclusion" — the kind of inclusion that somehow always excludes the largest religious group in the country.

Let's be honest about what's happening here. MLB didn't "warn" these players because they violated a uniform code. They warned them because they committed the unforgivable sin of not genuflecting to the cultural left's favorite month. Players modify their gear all the time — eye black messages, commemorative patches, cleats honoring dead relatives. Nobody gets a threatening phone call from the commissioner's office over any of that. But write a Bible verse? Sound the alarm.

This is religious discrimination dressed up in a baseball uniform, and everybody knows it. You're allowed to celebrate every identity under the sun in professional sports — unless that identity is Christian. Then you're a problem. Then you need to be "warned."

The backlash against the MLB has been swift and fierce. And it should be. We're talking about a league that can't fill half its stadiums anymore trying to tell its own players what they're allowed to believe.

Here's a free piece of advice for Commissioner Manfred: when a state attorney general publicly tells you he's coming for you and a sitting U.S. senator gives you a three-day deadline, maybe — just maybe — you picked the wrong fight. These players didn't do anything wrong. They exercised the same religious liberty that built this country while every other institution was busy tearing it down.

MLB wants to be the league of "everyone is welcome." Cool. Start with the Christians.