senior Scoops

The place-kickers speech

It’s been a week since private citizen and professional athlete Harrison Butker was the commencement speaker at Benedictine College, a Catholic institution in Kansas. His address has caused a firestorm. Before we get to the controversy, let’s understand that he was preaching to the choir (pun intended). Several times, he was forced to pause for applause. He was given a standing ovation when he was done. In viewing the speech in its entirety, which I encourage everyone to do, I was impressed by his sincerity and commitment to his faith.

The speech was not greeted with enthusiasm from all quarters.

Traditional Values

The theme of his talk was the importance of traditional Catholic beliefs. He called out our political leaders as a group. He also mentioned President Biden by name, chastising his support for reproductive rights. Butker questioned how Biden could make the sign of the cross in a pro-choice environment. So be it, the Catholic Church’s pro-life stance is etched in stone.

He went on to find fault with the president on several other issues.

Absent was any criticism of former President Trump. There was none for his infidelity, which is widely recognized. There was no mention of the Access Hollywood tape or any other examples of the ex-president’s degradation of women, nor any of his other shortcomings—nothing! I found that hypocritical, especially in light of the values theme to which he repeatedly circled back. Could it be that Butker’s assesments had political boundries?

To his credit, Butker held the Catholic clergy accountable. While he hardly went far enough by not addressing the well-documented and widespread problem of pedophilia, he did criticize their attachment to worldly things. It’s better than nothing, I guess. Commenting on the sexual predators within the church’s ranks would have gone a long way towards an honest and frank assessment .

Perhaps, Butker was being deferential to his audience.

To the women

The segment of the speech that has garnered the most attention was his assertion that women graduates should look forward to becoming wives, mothers, and homemakers above any professional aspirations. Who better to make that point than a wealthy, male professional athlete? I found those remarks dismissive at best, misogynistic at worst. Women have been relegated to a supporting role to men for eons. If Butker were to have his way, he would keep them there. He failed to mention the enormous contributions women in American public life have made—Clara Barton, Harriet Tubman, Sally Ride, Helen Keller. Given his reasoning, Florence Nightingale was misguided.

It is insulting to the women who have held families together in the absence of men. The speech completely overlooked single mothers who have had to balance child-rearing and work. As I mentioned, he’s a male professional athlete – perhaps out of touch with mainstream reality?

Conclusion

Butker, the place kicker for the Kansas City Chiefs, is a 2-time Super Bowl Champion. Those credentials surely played a role in his invitation to Benedictine. As a private citizen, he is fully entitled to express his views. Similarly, any private organization has the right to distance itself from his remarks as they see fit. The NFL’s handling of the Colin Kaepernick situation serves as a relevant example.

Both the NFL and the Chiefs have voiced displeasure with Butkers speach.

In my opinion, it would be unfair for the Chiefs or the NFL to penalize Butker for expressing his views, just as it was wholly unjust to deprive Kaepernick of his career. Nobody should be intimidated to silence, regardless of where their opinions lie on the political spectrum. After all, isn’t that the essence of the American Experiment? What we should demand is an equal playing field (pun intended).

Let’s see how it all plays out.

What do you think?

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