Last weekend Kansas City Chiefs Kicker Harrison Butker received a standing ovation for his commencement address at Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas — even though some pundits have oddly criticized his remarks as “controversial.”
Butker, 28, arguably is responsible for the Chiefs’ Super Bowl LVIII victory over the San Francisco 49ers in February. He is a devout Catholic, and he and his wife have two children.
During his commencement address, Butker discussed the many challenges that the Class of 2024 had overcome — such as graduating from high school and enrolling in college during the throes of the COVID-19 pandemic and “missing out on so many milestones the rest of us older people have taken for granted.”
What grabbed some people’s attention, however, was Butker’s willingness to criticize abortion, IVF, surrogacy, euthanasia, dangerous gender ideologies, and “a growing support for degenerate cultural values in media.”
Butker noted how President Biden often professes his Catholic faith, and yet strangely made the Sign of the Cross during a pro-abortion rally in April.
But Butker also pointedly criticized Catholic bishops who fail to take their calling seriously, and he urged ministers to lead in a Christlike manner.
Critics have seized on Butker saying women “have had the most diabolical lies” told to them, and observing, “Some of you may go on to lead successful careers in the world, but I would venture to guess that the majority of you are most excited about your marriage and the children you will bring into this world. I can tell you that my beautiful wife Isabelle would be the first to say her life truly started when she started living her vocation as a wife and as a mother.”
But Butker also challenged the men in the graduating class to pursue God’s calling on their lives, and he spoke bluntly about the damage that absentee fathers cause.
Most of his address focused on encouraging the graduates to stand strong in living out their faith. “A life without God is not a life at all,” Butker said, “and the cost of salvation is worth more than any career.”
Throughout the speech, Butker was interrupted multiple times by applause from the graduates and their families, and he received a standing ovation at the end.
But pundits have criticized his statements. The radical, pro-LGBT group GLAAD, for example, issued a lengthy press release calling Butker’s remarks “inaccurate, ill-informed, and woefully out of step with Americans.” The Today Show encouraged viewers to watch a rebuttal to Butker’s comments, and the anchors on Good Morning America seemed genuinely puzzled that Butker would receive a standing ovation from the crowd.
The fact is Butker’s speech didn’t appear remotely controversial with his audience. It was very well received, and there are literally millions of Americans who would strongly agree with what he told the graduates. Plenty of people have expressed opinions about what he said, but it seems odd that so many would try to mischaracterize his remarks as “controversial.”
It shouldn’t be shocking when Christians publicly share their convictions. All of this reminds me of something John Stonestreet said in 2022: “Culture is most powerful in what it normalizes, and when lies are normalized, the truth becomes shocking. Thank God for Christian ministers willing to ‘shock’ and speak truth.”
Articles appearing on this website are written with the aid of Family Council’s researchers and writers.
