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Better To Be Gay Than Christian in the NFL
When University of Missouri defensive lineman Michael Sam was drafted by the St. Louis Rams on Saturday — becoming the first openly gay player in the NFL — he laid a big wet one on his boyfriend in front of the cameras. In response, Miami Dolphins Defensive Back Don Jones tweeted out “OMG” and “Horrible.” The Dolphins were swift in their punishment. Jones has been fined and suspended.
But what about all those nasty tweets leveled against openly Christian Tim Tebow? Oh, that doesn’t matter. Because, you know, Christians deserve it. It takes courage to come out as an openly gay player in a society that is orgasmic about everything gay. But to stand up for your faith in the midst of a culture that is hostile to it, well, that’s just “annoying,” as one tweet said about Tebow.
The hypocrisy isn’t going unnoticed. According to The Blaze, DeMarcus Walker—a sophomore defensive end for Florida State—tweeted:
Later, Walker posted the following cartoon:
He got some backlash:
That last tweet is not exactly right. You can’t legally lose your job for being gay or for being religious, not according to the EEOC. That’s called discrimination (more specifically stereotyping when applied to sexual orientation) and it’s against federal law.
And how about the one that implies there’s something wrong with being Christian. But being gay? There’s nothing wrong with that? Maybe not, but now it’s wrong to be a Christian? Since when? What was it Isaiah said? “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter”? We live in those days (and, yeah, go ahead and crucify me for quoting Scripture).
So now we have it straight: We can tweet all sorts of nastiness about Christians with impunity, but if we tweet anything remotely negative about a gay person, then we will be punished.
The hypocrisy is stunning. But more than that, we have on display—once again—the cultish mindset of an influential portion of American society. The central doctrines of the cult (of which uncritical support of anything related to homosexuality is one) must be upheld, and anyone who criticizes those doctrines—or anyone who does not submit to them—must be demonized. This is why the brainwashed masses don’t care about or even see the hypocrisy. Their “truth” is all that matters.
Victor Davis Hanson recently lamented the hypocrisy of the left in a post at National Review Online and concluded that if you say the “right things” it doesn’t matter how much of a hypocrite you are. Al Gore can live lavishly, leaving behind a massive carbon footprint wherever he goes, and it doesn’t matter. The NAACP can honor people like Donald Sterling as long as they get a big check. And now, the NFL can punish anyone who criticizes a gay player while turning a blind eye to those who malign Christians.
Hanson believes liberalism will fall under the weight of its own hypocrisy. That would be true if people cared about truth. But they don’t. They care only about the cult doctrines. The hypocrisy of the cult leaders or even the hypocrisy of the group doesn’t matter. All that matters is the “truth” they have created. Hold to the truth as defined by those in power and you won’t be punished—in fact, you’ll be celebrated. Don’t submit to the teaching of the cult, and you will be excoriated. Just ask Brendan Eich. Now ask Don Jones.
Published in General
Like a moth to a flame, Gary, but I find myself irresistibly drawn back….(nice to see you too).
No, thankfully, we would not and that was exactly my point at comment #23.
FWIW I believe several other players were, in fact, shown kissing their girlfriends after being drafted.
But this is just the thing: heteronormativity — expressing revulsion or disapproval of male sexual publicity (if James of England is reading this, can we please be rid of the silly notion that two men lip-kissing isn’t anything other than, well, sexual because it points to, inmates, the sex act?*) — must be proscribed or bullied in submission. The Left must go this route if, as they believe (and pace EThompson at #23), sexuality is part of one’s “identity.” Which it isn’t. There are no heterosexuals or homosexuals. We’re just people. It’s the left that so wants to reduce us to such a level. Sexuality, like race, is accidental to one’s being or nature. Male/female, or sex, is essential to one’s nature.
* Were people (in particular women) similarly revolted by Madonna and Brittany Spears kissing? No they weren’t. Which actually is the portal onto the real underlying issue here…
Most of the women I know are very much against PDAs between women. They are much more tolerant of PDAs among men.
“Most of the women I know are very much against PDAs between women. They are much more tolerant of PDAs among men.”
My experience is just the opposite. There are exceptions to most everything, of course. I’ve known women who like watching gay porn. In any event, the studies show that most people are much more open to seeing two women getting it on than two men, in fact most being turned off by the latter.
Some years ago I ran across the slash fanfiction phenomenon. Fan fiction, as you know, is fiction written by members of the public which is set in a favourite show or book’s universe (Harry Potterverse, Star Trekverse, Buffyverse, LoTRverse, etc.)
The slash part is where the pieces of fiction are romantic, between X and Y, or X/Y for short.
The original slash fanfic was, apparently, set in the Star Trek univese and involved Kirk/Spock.
A lot, if not the majority, of slash fanfic is written about two male characters. The vast majority of it is written by and for straight women.
The point being: men and women produce and consume different kinds of erotica, but straight men like lesbian erotica and straight women enjoy gay male erotica. Iow, I contest your study’s findings!
uh oh. What defines cheap shoes?
When taken to federal court those cases are overturned by federal statutes. In 2011 the EEOC ruled that workplace discrimination against gays violates the Civil Rights Act of 1964 under stereotyping. What gays don’t have is the protected class status race and religion has, which is why people are pushing for ENDA.
—though something I’m not clear on and maybe someone can help me, did the Supreme Court in essence make them a protected class in its Perry v. Schwarzenegger ruling that student groups that deny gays can be denied recognition by the school? This is unclear. I know libertarians support homosexuality as a protected class. I don’t really agree since it’s a behavior and not to be compared to race, gender, or religion (which is freedom of thought). But that’s neither here nor there because it will become (or is already in practice) a protected class. Any thoughts would be helpful here.
As for the discrimination laws, there are many state laws on the books that are now overturned by federal law. This is one of them. If a person is fired clearly in a state for sexual identity reasons, they take it to federal court where Title VII of the Civil Rights Act comes into play.
As for the kiss, can we agree that if Sam has the right to kiss his boyfriend in public then Jones has the right to say it’s horrible? Clearly many would not agree with this because the homosexual activists are intolerant extremists.
Zafar–here’s the link to the EEOC about how they’re handling these cases under the Civil rights Act.
http://www.eeoc.gov/federal/otherprotections.cfm
To imply though that businesses can fire people now because they’re gay ignores the federal role and the inclusion of sexual orientation under the umbrella of discrimination by the EEOC. I clarified this point in the post.
DC, the first problem I see is you assume that the NFL has shown consistency in the past with its punishments. (See Vick, Michael, Stallworth, Dante, or any Sunday afternoon where helmet to helmet contact occurs). Wild divergence.
The second is that Tim Tebow was a national phenomenon before he was drafted. He was a 2X national champ, a goody two shoes par excellence, an outspoken Christian, and by all accounts an incredibly nice guy. Even players on the opposing teams talked about how much they liked Tebow. Fans LOVED him. Kids were ‘Tebowing’ in school hallways, soldiers sent in pics from in Afghanistan, firefighters, nurses, it was everywhere. The NFL didn’t reign him in. In fact, considering how poor his stats were (aside from wins) there was a faction of fans that thought the only reason he was got a shot was because of his faith.
Sam no more made a spectacle of himself then anyone who kissed their girlfriend or hugged their mom for a solid minute. Besides, heh heh- he was in his own home.
Saying it’s better to be one thing or another based on twitter responses is a dicey argument. (See Capitals, Washington).
That fact also occurred to me and I was just about to post it. It’s a good point, he was probably standing in a place where they had kissed a thousand times before. Just this time there were strangers in the house with video cameras.
Looks like the low information voter has one right, in many states being gay can get you fired. Eeoc deals mainly with federal employees. http://ktar.com/59/1732163/Legally-Speaking-Can-you-be-fired-for-being-gay
There were plenty of stories predraft about tebows lack of skills necessary for the pro game. Many of these stories talked about relearning his throwing motion, and his suitability to playing others positions.
not technically see my comments above. Eeoc covers discrimination against gays under stereotyping. It’s handled in fed court.
I am always amazed at how folks pointedly ignore the realities of this world. Do you think for one minute that a kid struggling to get himself drafted in the NFL at the mercy of a university’s political police squad (read about the experiences of former Texas Tech coach Mike Leach) would say a damn thing? Now let’s fast forward to the NFL where an openly gay player will be lining up against the likes of a Lawrence Taylor. (This great linebacker may be long retired but his professional legacy certainly lives on.) A player’s insistence upon ‘outing’ himself will only become a distraction to the game and I resent that.
Folks on this site tease me about my love for expensive shoes which is an undeniable truth. But- seriously- even more than Pradas, I love my football players and the ‘hetero-normative, machismo, take no prisoners’ culture that they represent in this country. I have minimal objections to SSM and in fact am a longtime friend to two male couples who have been recently married in Vermont. I’m resigned to that, but I do draw the line at the line of scrimmage.
It’s a cultural thing.
Amen, Liz. Keep liberal fascism and political correctness out of football!
Eh, another yawner. I’ll jump back in and criticize Michael Sam if he starts a new end zone custom called “Samming”, taunting the opposition by doing a “Drop the Soap” dance. If Samming becomes a national menace the Commissioner will have to step in.
Until then, spare us the hand-wringing over The Children. Don’t worry: at least 97% of the boys are still Googling Katharine Webb. And rightly so!
It turns out that Sam is going to star in a reality TV show.
This does not seem fated to end well. Few 7th round picks actually get to play in the NFL, and the Rams don’t have an obvious position for Sam to play. I was happy for Sam when he got drafted. He is, by all accounts, an incredibly hard worker and it seemed like a nice story that his hard work paid off.
Now the story is much less appealing. Does Sam know he is unlikely to play for the Rams? Is he trying to capitalize on his fame while it lasts? Is he trying to use the TV cameras to force the Rams to play him? Was this whole thing a PR stunt?
I would rather give Sam the benefit of the doubt and assume that this was a tone deaf mistake. But, even if he has the best of intentions, this is likely to mar his story. If Sam doesn’t end up getting to play, a fairly likely outcome, the TV show and therefore his NFL story is not going to have a happy ending.
I’ve never been interested in reality shows (my life is real enough). But he is far from the first to be criticised for hedging his bets.
I’m not sure what exactly you have in mind when you say “a player’s insistence on ‘outing’ himself”, but kissing his significant other in his home seems pretty tame to me. Like others have said, if he goes on to make a show of it in the context of football, it would be out of place. But he shouldn’t have to hide anything.
Based on the fact that he said “From last season alone, I should’ve been in the first three rounds. SEC Defensive Player of the Year, All-American,” I’m guessing no.
I’d bet most rookies overestimate their chances of making the team, you need a lot of self-confidence to reach that level in the first place.
You know what’s more significant than the fact that Michael Sam is gay? The fact that he’s black. Black culture is not terribly accepting of homosexuality, and hopefully some good will come of having a black gay NFL player. That said, I haven’t decided if I like Sam or not. He seems to be seeking attention more than anything else.
I don’t believe that Tebow’s overtness caused damage, nor do I think Sam’s overtness will cause damage, except for one thing – the mainstream media and political correctness. The MSM are against open Christianity, so Tebow’s overtness was promoted as “bad”. OTOH, the MSM are for open homosexuality, so Sam’s overtness will be promoted as “good”. Bottom line? Let ’em play.
We can say goodbye to Michael Sam as the young man he was because he is a cause now. Having been hoisted on the shoulders of both sport and media, whatever freedom he experienced by coming out merely earned him a cell in a different type of prison. In his heart he knows his chances of success in the NFL, and if he doesn’t make it he will privately acknowledge what he’s always known about the meritocracy of sport. How he’d respond in public would be the test of his character.
The working title of the show is “I’ll Sue If You Cut Me”.