It's a bit of a shame when a public figure, famous for some career or deed, feels the need to use their position in the spotlight to spout bigoted, hateful, and excessively divisive ideology. We've always had to endure such people - witness for example Charles Lindbergh's statements on behalf of Nazi ideology. Lindburgh will be remembered as a great American and aviation pioneer - but his unfortuante political stance will forever marr his image. However, the fact that such people will always exist and that they certainly have the right to think and say whatever they want does not automatically mean that the rest of us have to sit and listen passively - and this remains true when the beliefs being espoused have a religious basis.
In the our recent case, we find Reggie White of the Green Bay Packers football team choosing to endorse bigoted religious beliefs rather than the typical shoes or beer one finds other sports players hawking. This should not come as a surprise, as Mr. White has something of a history with unusual religious statements and activities. He may have singlehandedly begun the new "tradition" of football players praying before and after each game - he even specifically thanked his god for help in winning the Super Bowl. Personally, I did not know that The Almighty was a Packers fan - or even a football fan. But now that we know that His Godhood personally speaks to Reggie White, perhaps we shouldn't dismiss the possibility that The Really Powerful One fixed the game for the Packers (I wonder if he told anyone which way to place bets?).
You didn't know that Reggie and the Ultimate Mystery are on a first-name basis? It's true - Reggie had retired, but while taking a bath one day (an odd place for a mystical communication, but I guess it worked for Archimedes), His Godliness politely informed Reggie that he'd be better off playing football instead of staying in retirement. I suppose that Heaven just wouldn't have been the same if the gang couldn't watch Reggie scare the devil out of some more passers. Reggie, of course, dutifully complied with Yahweh's wishes, but neither he nor The Lord has yet disclosed the terms of the deal. I hear that The Lord might start representing other sports stars in their contract negotiations, but that rumor is unconfirmed. Mr. White has also advanced some odd conspiracy ideas more properly suited to the most extreme right-wing religious rags, like that there is no real effort to cure AIDS, since the disease makes money for people. Maybe he hit his head too often?
Some people might be tempted to speculate that Reggie's un-retirement might have something to do with the most recent flap he caused - the one where he made a speech before the Wisconsin State Assembly and explained that:
1. The nation would be better off if it submitted to God's will and authority (Reggie, being in regular communication with His Omnipotence, would naturally know what His Will would be);
2. Denounced homosexual relations and heterosexual sex outside of marriage as sinful (thereby giving Trent Lott the idea, I guess);
3. And ran on about the supposed "natural gifts" of different races, like how Native Americas are good at "sneaking up on people," blacks are "gifted worshippers," and whites are "good at tapping into money" (as long as we're talking racial stereotypes here, isn't that last characteristic supposed to be applied to Jews? Did they get a new one or something?).
It had been reported that after retirement he would be up for an announcing job at CBS, but that obviously dried up quickly. CBS wasted no time in explaining that it didn't condone such absurdity - and other major networks quickly followed suit.
Of course, America is a country where everyone is quite free to say and think whatever they want - no matter how hateful or silly. But let's be honest: who really cares what sorts of prejudices and religious bigotry Reggie has hiding in his closet? Very few, I'll wager. People also probably aren't interested in the prejudices of Howard Stern, but at least he is entertainging about what he says.
The more Mr. White has done in the name of football, the more self-indulgent he has become and the more blatantly he has worn his religion on his sleeve, like some sort of antisocial merit badge. As Jim Litke, AP Sports Writer, put it: "But he ought to remember the reason he was invited into everyone's living room for 18 or so weekends every year was because of how quickly he could turn a Cadillac quarterback into a crumpled Volkswagen. And not because of what he believes about everybody else." Mr. Stern, however, is invited into people's cars during the morning commute precisesly because of how entertainingly he describes what he believes about everbody.
And Reggie White is no Howard Stern.
Just because he has the right to say something, it doesn't automatically follow that what he has to say is civil, true, or even interesting.
An ever odder aspect to this whole situation has been the reaction by some on the Religious Right. Well, in one sense it hasn't been so odd: they support Reggie wholeheartedly. But what has been odd is their amazing conversion to civil libertarians and free-speech advocates. Gary Bauer, President of the Family Research Council, stated at a luncheon in Washington, D.C., that: "Discrimination based on the expression of deeply held, morally sound convictions is reprehensible. Those who have caused White to suffer should repay damages and restore him to his original status."
Bauer and his friend Don Wildmon of the American Family Association have spent quite a bit of time in efforts to repress the speech of others - in particular Howard Stern. The AFA has been active in a nation-wide campaign to harass the sponsors of Howard Stern's radio show, of the Infinity Broadcasting Network (who air the show), and anyone connected with Stern. They have even recently begun moving against Jerry Springer and his show. Can we count on Gary to call upon Don to repay Howard Stern and Jerry Springer damages for all that they have done? Somehow, I doubt it.
(This is, in fact, yet another instance where religionists are attempting to adopt the lanaguage of critics and recast it in their own terms. I intend in a later essay to explore how the dominant religious ideology engages in such tactics in an effort to maintain dominance and engage in a subtle form of repression.)
The clue as to why this was said is in Gary's statement: "...morally sound convictions..." In other words, it in wrong to discriminate against people who agree with Gary, but discrimination against those who disagree with Gary is presumably quite fine. This shows how, in appropriating the language of the opposition, Bauer is perverting its meaning into something new, different, and sinister.
Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to have occurred to poor Gary that no one has actually tried to stop Reggie White from expressing himself. I guess he doesn't care.
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