The BDN Opinion section operates independently and does not set news policies or contribute to reporting or editing articles elsewhere in the newspaper or on bangordailynews.com
Susan Young is the Bangor Daily News opinion editor.
Many people have criticized Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker’s graduation speech at Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas. Even the nuns from the order that founded the college denounced his comments for their divisiveness.
The football player said a lot of things that were offensive to a lot of people. I am not excusing any of that. But, we should remember that he was speaking to the graduates of a Catholic college, many of whom likely share his world view, flawed as I may believe it to be. He certainly had a right to say those things, but he also should be prepared for the criticism of a speech that included some hateful and, I believe, outdated and misogynistic views.
What struck me most about Butker’s speech, after the shock of his offensive comments about people I care about, was what he left out. He had lots of advice for the female graduates that many people rightly found offensive. To paraphrase: don’t be lured by the prospects of a career. Instead, being a good wife and mother is the highest calling.
His advice to men? Be men. Not much of a heavy lift there. Especially coming from a man who failed to acknowledge that the charmed life he encourages others to lead is made possible by the fact that he is paid $4 million a year to kick a football.
Although I am not religious and have not studied the Bible, I understand that there are many passages that speak to the roles of men and women, and that some of those passages make it pretty clear that women should serve their husbands.
But what of the dozens of other passages that call upon us as humans to be good to one another? To care for the least among us? To be good stewards of the Earth?
Butker didn’t mention any of these.
He essentially glorified the subjugation of women to the patriarchy, with a dose of hatred of people who are gay or transgender or who have an abortion. He also took confounding swipes at people who use in-vitro fertilization or surrogates to have children.
Instead of this divisive rhetoric, here is my advice to the class of 2024, loosely drawn from the same Bible where Butker found his divisive words. With a caveat: different versions of the Bible have different translations or wording, but the general ideas are the same.
First off, don’t judge other people. This one is pretty simple. It is not your place to demean other people and tell them what they should or shouldn’t do in any aspect of their lives, such as whether and how to have children or who to love, based on your narrow religious beliefs. Said another way, you should not impose your views, religious or otherwise, on other people. Live your life as you would like (without harming other people), but don’t demand or expect other people to follow your dogma.
“Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you,” begins Matthew 7.
Care for your friends, your neighbors, even strangers because someday you may be the one in need of help and support. Even if you never need that help, lifting up others instead of tearing them down is the right course every time.
Matthew 25 sums it up pretty well: “‘For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me … ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’”
Take good care of the Earth. Whether you believe that God created the Earth and its creatures or that it was the result of a big bang and evolution, we only have one home and we must endeavor to ensure that it is not destroyed. This is the essence of creation care, the intersection of environmentalism and many people of faith. It springs from Genesis 2:15 and the commandment to protect the Garden of Eden.
Sure, we may need to make some sacrifices and big changes in our lifestyles, namely burning less fossil fuel, but if we don’t our planet may become uninhabitable. It already has for some of our brethren, which brings up back to the lessons of Matthew 25 about caring for one another, including strangers.
This is by no means an exhaustive list, but it is a pretty good start on living a life full of love, goodness and stewardship. These principles, not division, judgment and superiority, should guide our lives.
