(Sigh) Yes. Harrison Butker Needs To Apologize.
But I know he won’t.
To maintain a tolerant society, we must actively not tolerate intolerance.
This is the Paradox of Tolerance, first brought forth by philosopher Karl Popper in the 1940s in an effort to comprehend the rise of Nazism in Germany. But why am I bringing this up in an article talking about the controversial commencement speech of a kicker for the Kansas City Chiefs?
Since Harrison Butker made his commencement address at Benedictine College in Atchison, KS, the response from both sides has been deafening. His comments about women, the LGBTQ+ community, COVID, etc. have angered many, while many others have defended his right to free speech and brought his jersey up amongst the Chiefs’ bestsellers. I don’t want to dissect his speech in this article. Enough has been written about the actual transcript. What needs to be processed is not just our response to it, but his.
So first, Butker’s response: he should apologize. And yes, I do believe in freedom of speech — but more on that later. I’m not alone in thinking that Harrison Butker espoused his beliefs at the wrong place, wrong time. It’s a commencement address. He was invited to inspire and congratulate the Class of ’24. Talking about a woman’s place in the household (and on that note: not a man’s) or what he believes is or isn’t a sin is not the point of why he was there — something that, honestly, I think should have been evident to him. I believe for that alone that Butker needs to issue an apology. Place and time matters, especially if you’re formally invited by an institution to bring new graduates out into the real world. This isn’t me digging at the Catholic faith: I have many friends and family members who are devoutly Catholic who I love dearly. Just like anyone in America, I want them to practice their religion freely.
If you ask your brother to be your best man at your wedding, and he uses his best man speech to talk about what people should think regarding women and minorities instead of…congratulating the bride and groom…that would be beyond inappropriate. Even if Uncle Ed in the crowd agrees with him.
Now, onto our response to Butker’s actions: us calling him out for saying and believing in what he does is not a violation of anyone’s rights. If anything, given his views, it’s a protection of rights. Before dissecting this, let’s examine the likes of Commissioner Goodell, who stated that “We have executives around the league that have a diversity of opinions and thoughts just like America does,” which is “something that we treasure,” and is “ultimately what makes us as a society better.” Right…from a broad view, I agree. And similarly, let’s look at how Chiefs leaders responded, like Patrick Mahomes:
“There’s certain things that he said that I don’t necessarily agree with, but I understand the person that he is, and he is trying to do whatever he can to lead people in the right direction…And that might not be the same values as I have. But at the same time, I’m going to judge him by the character that he shows every single day. That’s a great person, and we’ll continue to move along and try to help build each other up to make ourselves better every single day…”
Okay, a supportive teammate who, at the same time, is distancing his views from Butker’s. It’s an expected response from a team leader and something I’m not going to chastise him for. Coach Andy Reid was similar in his comments:
“Everybody is from different areas, different religions, different races. And so, we all get along, we all respect each other’s opinions — and not necessarily do we go by those, but we respect everybody to have a voice. [That’s the] great thing about America. And we’re just, like I said, a microcosm of that, and my wish is that everybody could kind of follow that.”
I’m going to call the responses of Goodell, Mahomes, and Reid as what they ultimately are: broad-stroked and enough to lower the temperature. They are right in a very general sense: we are a diverse nation, a diverse football league. There is a wide variety of life experiences, opinions, and points of view. This is important to recognize. Of course. And I wholeheartedly agree with that.
But, while I don’t expect their public responses to be any different than they are, we do have to recognize the biting irony. They are expressing the need to recognize the diversity of America — the different walks of life, the different opinions and viewpoints — in response to Butker’s opinions, which call for denouncing diverse ways of life. To connect them with Popper’s philosophy, they were tolerating intolerance. Just like anyone who comes to Butker’s defense with the “freedom of speech” argument.
We live in a diverse melting pot, whether or not people like Harrison Butker want to tolerate this. But so long as we defend his words with “free speech” and expect him not to apologize, these actions will continue to be tolerated and slip away.
