Nineteenth century poet Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr., wrote: “The sound of a kiss is not so loud as that of a cannon, but its echo lasts a great deal longer.”
The kiss last week between Michael Sam, the NFL’s first openly homosexual player, and his “boyfriend” continues to reverberate throughout our culture. In case you somehow missed the brouhaha, as Michael Sam was drafted by the St. Louis Rams, the 249th pick in the 7th draft, cameras were ready to capture the moment as Sam kissed his male lover. The image shot like a canon across the nation, praised by the proponents of the LGBT agenda.
However, not all who viewed the homosexual kiss had the same celebratory reaction.
Derrick Ward, former Super Bowl champion, tweeted: "I'm sorry but that Michael Sam is no bueno for doing that on national tv. Man U got little kids lookin at the draft. I can't believe ESPN even allowed that to happen."
Since that comment, Derrick Ward has received death threats and hate-filled diatribes against him and his children, as you can read here.
Ward replied to these attacks by tweeting: “I'll continue to speak my mind because it's my god given right and supposedly u can do it without being frowned upon here in America.”
It’s a good thing that Derrick Ward retired in 2012; otherwise he would find himself sent off to the “gulag” for re-education along with current Miami Dolphins player, Don Jones. Jones, who tweeted his personal reaction – “horrible” – to the airing of the Michael Sam homosexual kiss, was immediately fined, sent off for “sensitivity training,” and banned from Dolphins events until he finishes his “re-education” brainwashing.
While most sports commentators are rushing to condemn those who spoke out against the homosexual kiss aired over and over by media outlets, ESPN sports commentator Stephen A. Smith, while citing his personal support for same-sex marriage, criticized the public backlash against those such as Ward and Jones who hold a different view.
“It’s a very, very dangerous thing when people see something and they have a problem with what they’re seeing and they express themselves, and ultimately they’re fined,”he stated on ESPN2.
Smith went on to comment: “… when somebody is willing to stand up and say, ‘Excuse me, I was watching the NFL draft — I didn’t expect to see that, it just shocked me. Oh, and by the way, it was shown over and over and over again, and I wasn’t ready for that,’ is that wrong? Is that a crime? Is that something that warrants a fine, and being ostracized from team activities until training camp?”
Smith also made the point that many viewers have moral or religious reasons for taking issue with the kiss and stated that those pushing the homosexual agenda should practice the tolerance they preach.
Yet it isn’t tolerance that the LGBT movement wants – they want to silence those who hold a different viewpoint about their lifestyle. And the way they do that is by screaming “bigotry.” They claim those who do not celebrate Michael Sam’s homosexual kiss do so because they’re bigots. As Christians call their lifestyle “sin,” they state that we hate homosexuals and want to deny them a seat at the proverbial lunch counter.
However, banning Michael Sam from participating in the NFL is not the issue. I haven’t read one article claiming that Sam shouldn’t be allowed to play football because he engages in homosexual behavior. If he has the skills needed to compete in the sport, he has the right to play. However, that does not mean we have to condone his lifestyle. And that is what we are being asked to do.
Sadly, the NFL if rife with those practicing the “unrighteous” lifestyles listed in I Corinthians 6:9-10 – including the sexually immoral, adulterers, thieves, drunkards, revilers – and homosexuality.
However, unlike homosexuality, the difference is that those who engage in such practices don’t demand that we accept and praise those sins. I imagine some of the players drafted last week may have been sexually immoral, or have committed adultery, same may often be drunk, others may have stolen another’s property – yet none of these actions are lifted up by the NFL, ESPN, and the culture at large as practices to celebrate. We don’t send to re-education camps those who tweet their disgust with such behavior or condemn as bigots those who say such actions are morally wrong.
What infuriates those pushing for acceptance of the LGBT lifestyle more than anything is to label their behavior as what it is – sin.
Most people who commit adultery, or steal, or drink themselves into oblivion, will probably also admit those actions are wrong. Our culture has not yet advocated for the acceptance of such behaviors as “normal.” Yet in regards to homosexuality, those who don’t condone such behavior are labeled as “haters.”
In actuality, the refusal to celebrate homosexuality is the exact opposite of hate.
As Jonathan Parnell writing on desiringGod.org explains:
“As Christians, we believe with deepest sincerity that the embrace of homosexual practice, along with other sins, keeps people out of the kingdom of God. And if our society celebrates it, we can’t both be caring and not say anything. Too much is at stake. This means it is an oversimplification to say that Christians — or conservative evangelicals — are simply against homosexuality. We are against any sin that restrains people from everlasting joy in God … The issue is sin. That’s what we’re against. And that’s what should make our voice so unique when we speak into this debate. …”
Our culture will continue to silence us and attempt to “re-educate” us. We will still find ourselves the object of hate even as we are accused of being hate-filled bigots.
However, being cowed into silence and refusing to speak Truth to those dying without it is the ultimate form of hate.
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