“Missed opportunities were never superficial wounds; they cut straight to the bone.” - Jodi Picoult, American Writer.
The American football player Harrison Butker, with the Kansas City Chiefs, has recently been in the public eye for all the wrong reasons. For those who missed the news, back in May, Butker was invited to give the commencement speech at the Catholic university Benedictine College. During the speech, he spewed a message that was homophobic, transphobic, anti-Semitic, anti-choice, and anti-diversity. He capped it off by telling the female graduates that the most important titles they could have would be housemakers.
I won’t point out all the errors in Butker’s views, for they are legion (to use a Biblical allusion). Many others have done that already. Even the nuns of Mount St. Scholastica publicly criticized his statement about women’s roles.
I want to do something different. In this post, I want to focus on how he could have handled this speech better, regardless of his beliefs.
American football has a history of remarkable personalities that he could have drawn upon. For example, there is a quote by the legendary coach Vince Lombardi, “Football is like life. It requires perseverance, self-denial, hard work, sacrifice, dedication, and respect for authority.” Being a successful football player, this quote would have been perfect. Butker could have built an entire inspirational speech around this without touching on religion.
Some may push back, saying that, as a Christian, he was obligated to “preach the gospel.” However, according to his own Bible, “To everything, there is a season and a time to every purpose under heaven.” (Ecclesiastes 3:1). To put it in less poetic terms, there is a time and place for everything. That includes when and where to express what he knew would be divisive and controversial.
But let’s say he still insisted on inserting religion into his speech. He could have worked in that you should treat others as you want to be treated (Matthew 7:12) or the importance of being gracious (Colossians 4:6). Today, when there’s so much rudeness, anger, and strife, those passages seem appropriate. I don’t have to be a Christian to know that these are universal virtues that build up rather than tear down.
Unfortunately, Harrison Butker missed the opportunity to be remembered as one who builds up others.
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