False claims about Harrison Butker’s controversial speech
A host of false claims have been made about Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker’s controversial graduation speech at Benedictine College.
Ask columnist Jason Williams anything — sports or non-sports — and he’ll pick some of your questions and answer them on Cincinnati.com. e-mail: [email protected]
message: As a die-hard Bengals fan, it kills me to say it, but Harrison Butker is the real deal. He is really a great person. As a practicing Catholic (I try hard to be religious), how great is that to hear?
to reply: It’s amazing how this overblown, social media-driven “controversy” is still being discussed nearly two weeks after the Kansas City Chiefs player gave his commencement speech at a small private Catholic college in Kansas.
Butker is a devout Catholic. He spoke about his traditional Catholic family values with Catholic school graduates. He praised his wife.
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it’s his The first amendment is correct To share about his faith and values. Also, a person has a First Amendment right to say that he disagrees with what he said. As Chiefs coach Andy Reid said: “That’s the great thing about this country.” Good news, big man
But calling for Butker to be removed — or as some say “cancelled” — by leaders for sharing his beliefs is laughable. Butker’s soaring jersey sales — and the sold-out women’s style of his No. 7 jersey — in the past few weeks are perhaps a small example that most Americans are tired of fake outrage on social media about things like this.
What about Reid and Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes? Super Bowl Champions. First Amendment heroes too.
We need more people who are not afraid to publicly defend someone who shares their faith or political views. I’m talking about defending a person’s right to share about it, not necessarily agree with the message. That’s what Reid and Mahomes did. They have used their platforms to help people understand that it is okay to love and support people who may not have the same beliefs as you.
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Most of us grew up — and still live — in a world outside of social media, where people from different backgrounds can find common ground and coexist.
Mahomes’ response to a reporter’s question about Butker’s speech was particularly insightful, because the quarterback shared something truly beautiful about sports. Sports unite people of all races, religions and political beliefs – whether inside the locker room or in the stands.
“I’ve known him for seven years, and I judge him by the character he shows every day. That’s a good guy,” Mahomes said. “This is someone who cares about the people around him, cares about his family, and wants to be a good influence in the community.”
“When you’re in a locker room, there’s a lot of people from different walks of life and they have a lot of different points of view on everything. We’re not always going to agree. There are certain things we have to agree on,” Mahomes continued. He said I don’t necessarily agree with him, but I understand his personality, and he’s trying to do everything he can to lead people in the right direction.
Talk about awesome.
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