Paul Tuns:
Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker is a conservative, Latin Mass Catholic, who was asked to deliver the commencement address at this year’s graduating ceremonies at Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas. His speech raised the ire of feminists and liberal Catholics.
On May 11, Butker, who has won three Super Bowls in the last five seasons, told the graduating class, “We must always speak and act in charity, but never mistake charity for cowardice.” He said, “Our Catholic faith has always been countercultural,” noting that many moral teachings of the Church are out of fashion. He said of abortion and birth control, ‘let’s be honest, there is nothing good about playing God with having children – whether that be your ideal number or the perfect time to conceive them.” He criticized “people pushing dangerous gender ideologies onto the youth of America.”
He also criticized President Joe Biden: “Our own nation is led by a man who publicly and proudly proclaims his Catholic faith, but at the same time is delusional enough to make the sign of the cross during a pro-abortion rally. He has been so vocal in his support for the murder of innocent babies that I’m sure to many people it appears that you can be both Catholic and pro-choice.”
Butker had a special message for the female graduates. He said: “I want to speak directly to you briefly because I think it is you, the women, who have had the most diabolical lies told to you,” identifying, “the promotions and titles you are going to get in your careers,” yet it would be through marriage and parenting that they would find their true calling. He urged them to “embrace one of the most important titles of all: homemaker.”
Butker talked about his own wife, Isabella, “the primary educator to our children” and “the one who ensures I never let football or my business become a distraction from that of a husband and father.” He reminded the audience that the role of each spouse is to get each other and their children to heaven.
To the men in the audience, he said they, too, have been told a lie, “that men are not necessary in the home or in our communities.” He said, “As men, we set the tone of the culture, and when that is absent, disorder, dysfunction and chaos set in.” He urged them to “Be unapologetic in your masculinity, fighting against the cultural emasculation of men. Do hard things. Never settle for what is easy.”
Butker also spoke in favour of the traditional Latin Mass and against the relegation of “our sacred traditions.” He urged the graduates to pray for “vocations and our priests.”
He said that when graduates are looking for a new job, to consider the local bishop and availability of reverent Masses that are much more important than the cost of living or other considerations given to moving to a new city.
He concluded, “I know that my message today had a little less fluff than is expected for these speeches, but I believe that this audience and this venue is the best place to speak openly and honestly about who we are and where we all want to go, which is Heaven.”
A group of liberal nuns at the college issued a statement lamenting, “Instead of promoting unity in our church, our nation, and the world, his comments seem to have fostered division.” The NFL officially distanced itself from Butker’s comments saying “his views are not those of the NFL as an organization,” which is “steadfast in our commitment to inclusion, which only makes our league stronger.” There was a petition launched urging the Chiefs cut Butker from the team.
The Tavia and Gracie Hunt, the wife and daughter respectively of the Chiefs owner, came out in defense of Butker, as did his teammates and coach, and former Notre Dame football coach Lou Holtz. Andy Reid, the current coach of the Chiefs, said he respected a diversity of views on the team and that the larger public should, too, while Chiefs star quarterback Patrick Mahomes attested to Butker’s “good character.”
Speaking after the controversy, Butker said, “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.”
