The controversy over Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker espousing Christian beliefs at a Christian university continues to bubble nearly two weeks after the commencement address he gave at Benedictine College.
As RedState reported, Butker delivered tearful praise to his wife during the speech, noting the importance and value of women who choose to become homemakers and mothers. He also directly defended the pro-life movement, noting that it was delusional for Joe Biden to give the sign of the cross at an abortion rally.
Naturally, outrage followed, with Butker being compared to the “Handmaid’s Tale.” That’s especially ironic given it is the far left that is currently pushing women to be surrogates for mentally ill men who think they are women who want to buy children like commodities. They always do what they accuse others of.
On Friday evening, Butker finally responded at an event in Nashville. He didn’t do so by lashing out, though. Instead, he did something far more impactful.
BUTKER: Our love for Jesus, and thus, our desire to speak out, should never be outweighed by the longing of our fallen nature to be loved by the world. Glorifying God and not ourselves should always remain our motivation despite any pushback or even support. I lean on those closest to me for guidance but I can never forget that it is not people, but Jesus Christ I’m trying to please.
(…)
For if heaven is our goal, we should embrace our cross, however large or small it may be, and live our life with joy, to be a bold witness for Christ.”
Butker could have responded in anger. Doing so would have been giving his opponents exactly what they wanted, though. By showing the love of God and his devotion to something greater than himself, he made his critics look small and pathetic.
Of note is that Butker never told the audience at the commencement speech not to have careers or to forgo their passions. What he did was explain how the pursuit of one’s present self-desires (which will inevitably change) isn’t always the most fulfilling path. There is nothing wrong with promoting motherhood alongside or even above being a cog in the economic machine. That it caused such a collective freak-out is an indictment of just how insane our society has gone.
Still, Butker isn’t backing down nor should he. It should not be taboo to be a Christian in America, and the more people stand up, the less effective the critics will be.
