Unless you were sedated in May, you would have heard the outrage over Kansas City senior kicker Harrison Butker's commencement speech at Benedict College, a small, conservative Catholic private school in Kansas.
Butker said a lot of controversial things in his speech, and a lot of things I disagree with. And then there was the predictable overreaction. This is not meant as a criticism. That's healthy, just as it's healthy for Butker to be able to express his views. But the Butker discourse actually became very popular. Many people seemed shocked to learn that many professional athletes are conservative and seem to think that the NFL sideline is not a hotbed of DEI.
At some level, who cares? This is a special kind of school, and an NFL placekicker's view of the world has little influence on the way he likes his coffee in the morning. (Yes, I know he's done a few different things in life, but you wouldn't have heard of him if he couldn't play football effectively under pressure.) But in 2024, there's still no gathering for people who don't like him. I didn't like the speech and I didn't like the hysterical reaction. Or who didn't care, the “Silence is Violence” crowd was okay with it. You can't panic about everything.
Marcus Aurelius reminds us that we may not have opinions. “There is no need to get upset or torment your soul over things that are beyond your control. “These things do not require your judgment,” he wrote.
But there was one line buried in the address that didn't get as much attention as the part about the marriage role, but it stood out to me and made me think Harrison Butker was probably some kind of idiot. This was it,
I am sure the AP reporters could not have imagined that their attempts to berate and embarrass a place and people like the Benedictine here would be met not with anger, but rather excitement and pride. It is not a pride like a mortal sin that requires devoting an entire month to sin, but a true, God-centered pride that cooperates with the Holy Spirit to glorify God.
I don't care if he believes this. Of course it's disappointing. I would like to suggest that that is not what Christianity is all about. And he suggests that we should see for ourselves a 21st-century America where people can live their lives the way they want. It's great, fun, and he might even like it. At a graduation ceremony where 485 people received their diplomas, it was a useless, rude, and unnecessary thing to say. Even taking into account the specifics of these schools, one has to assume, based on average statistics, that there are gay students in those classes, and among the family and friends who come to see them receive diplomas and congratulate them.
Here too, you can channel Aurelius and say nothing. In ~ start. It seems almost certain that Butker, on one of the most special days of his life, made someone feel insignificant, bad, and left out even though he had no reason to do so, and he could have taken that away and made a broader point.* I It's not like that. They advocate safetyism, thought and speech policies, or other absurdities that infect public discourse. I just ask for manners and decency. For time and place.
To lower the temperature and debate over schools in this country, we need to acknowledge that people can believe what they want and allow them to do so as long as it does not trample on the rights of others. There is no need to bake a cake, nor should beliefs and expressions be forced upon anyone. This is a problem that has emerged in recent school laws. Harrison Butker says he must stand up for what he believes, as well as those who disagree with him. You don't have to be stupid about it.
*You can also see this version at some high school graduation ceremonies. It's nice to celebrate students who are doing really well. We must do that. But those who fail to do so can do so without feeling offended. This is especially true on graduation day. I recently attended a graduation ceremony where the superintendent grouped graduates based on GPA. Not much fun for people with low GPAs! And this at a school that proudly ditches class rankings and that kind of recognition. Almost exactly backwards.
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