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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
Is all discrimination against gays a function of stereotyping? What if I hold that gays are by definition evil, because of my religious beliefs, and therefore refuse to hire them? Am I stereotyping or exercising freedom of religion?
I think your premise is off. The implication is that Tebow was shunned as a Christian. The NFL is first and foremost concerned with revenue. Winning brings revenue. If Tebow played at a winning caliber, his faith would not have mattered to any teams GM. Russell Wilson mentions Jesus all the time. Tebow was good with the Broncos, but not good enough to win a starting spot on two other teams. In the end, no team wanted to pay so much money for a so-so player who comes with a lot of negative media attention to boot.
The NFL is consistent in this regard. No team wanted to draft Sam. He was the second to last player drafted in the seventh round, even then only by Jeff Fisher who heads the competition committee who felt the pressure to do so. The reason no team wanted him is because he is a so-so player who comes with a lot of negative media attention. Now, the Rams are in the awful predicament of having to cut him in pre-season, suffering the resulting media wrath that all 31 other teams foresaw, and chose to avoid.
Zafar, Judaism and Christianity (I assume Islam as well, but I am not familiar enough with its doctrine to say for sure) do not hold that gay people are “by definition evil.” Some individuals may engage in prohibited acts, but we can celebrate other facets of those human being’s lives while recognizing that they engage in specific prohibited acts which our theology prevents us from celebrating.
As to the specific question you asked, that behavior could fall under both of the categories you mention. I don’t know of anyone that has claimed (in court) that her religious liberty prevents her from hiring a gay person in a general capacity. I don’t think any of the common religions contain such a requirement. But, if such a case were to arise the conflict would be determined based on state statutory and constitutional law.
I think your premise is off. The implication is that Tebow was shunned as a Christian. The NFL is first and foremost concerned with revenue. Winning brings revenue. If Tebow played at a winning caliber, his faith would not have mattered to any teams GM. Russell Wilson mentions Jesus all the time. Tebow was good with the Broncos, but not good enough to win a starting spot on two other teams. In the end, no team wanted to pay so much money for a so-so player who comes with a lot of negative media attention to boot.
The NFL is consistent in this regard. No team wanted to draft Sam. He was the second to last player drafted in the seventh round, even then only by Jeff Fisher who heads the competition committee who felt the pressure to do so. The reason no team wanted him is because he is a so-so player who comes with a lot of negative media attention. Now, the Rams are in the awful predicament of having to cut him in pre-season, suffering the resulting media wrath that all 31 other teams foresaw, and chose to avoid.
EThompson écrit: “I have minimal objections to SSM…I’m resigned to that”
Libertarianism unwittingly advancing statism. The only meaningful element of marriage is the male/female distinction, and if the natural family is not supported in law, then this is simply to say the state must be the primary center of social organization, not the family. (Codevilla fleshes this out p. 171, Character of Nations).
Contrary to D.C. McAllister from an earlier thread, if the federal government has the power (DOMA decision) to deny to states their ability, under states’ police powers, to restrict marriage to man/woman, then this means government truly has unlimited power, because it has the power to redefine reality. Contrary to D.C. McAllister’s claim (“government, in essence, cannot redefine something that is so ingrained in nature”) government can do violence to the family. History is replete with examples.