Twenty First Century ‘Courage’ is So ‘Gay’

Alongside “gay”, “queer” and, most recently, “marriage”, another once perfectly serviceable word appears primed for hijacking by the homosexual movement’s supremacist forces.

For a couple decades now, allusions to “courage”, or one of its cognates, sashay out every time a celebrity of whatever stripe “comes out of the closet”, officializing his/her same-sex preference.  (Come to think of it, toss in “closet” as another term being co-opted for service to the Lavender Legion.) 

Last week, pro basketball veteran/former Washington Wizard Jason Collins publicly announced in Sports Illustrated ( May 6 issue): “I’m a 34-year-old NBA center. I’m black. And I’m gay.”

The reaction from 2013’s homosexual-smitten pop culture was wearyingly predictable: news outlets 
breathlessly reported the “historic” story; fellow NBA players, the Wizards’ front office and league commissioner David Stern swooned over the 7-footer’s move. Michelle Obama, Bill  Clinton and daughter Chelsea gushingly chimed in. And, of course, our terribly busy President scrabbled together time to phone him immediately and offer three paragraphs praising Collins the next day at a White House presser: “I told him I couldn’t be prouder …” .

An administration official confirmed the Chief Exec’s call, saying the president wanted to relay to him that “he was impressed by his courage.” White House spokesman Jay Carney and Milwaukee Bucks guard J.J. Redick seconded the sentiment: “[W]e … commend him for his courage,” informed Carney. “He showed a lot of courage”, opined Redick.

Indeed, many a headline prominently blared paeans to the soon-to-be Free Agent’s “courage”.

Funny thing —  while a bracing outburst of genuine “courage” did emerge from this “NBA-Player-Is-Gay” melodrama, it wasn’t from the fellow over whom the trendily compliant celebrity set are swooning. The real profile in bravery here, ironically, is one of the rare public figures who had the crust to suggest homosexuality might not be all that fabulous, after all. 

When asked what he thought about Collins’ revelation, ESPN commentator Chris Broussard answered frankly: “I’m a Christian. I don’t agree with homosexuality. I think it’s a sin.”

Strike up the howls of outrage, the ritualistic registering of indignation. Fellow opinion-makers denounced Broussard. His sports-mongering employer made it clear they endorse, not the forty-four year old basketball analyst, but Collins’ homosexual predilections: “ESPN is fully committed to diversity and welcomes Jason Collins’ announcement.”

One particularly snotty reaction oozed from Yahoo!sports’ Kelly Dwyer who groused about “ha[ving] to sit through ESPN reporter Chris Broussard as he re-stated his dismissive take on homosexuality … [which] served no purpose on this particular program … it’s infuriating.”

Dwyer, however, makes a quick beeline to what is the nub of his — and so many others’ — snarling objection to the ESPN personality’s candid disapproval of sodomy: Broussard’s convictions are anchored in a commitment to Biblical Christianity, and that is flatly unacceptable to a no-boundaries, if-it-feels-good-do-it society. Hissing at the Bible as “the centuries-old influence that created this line of {anti-homosexual] thinking”, Dwyer retreats to the stale and inaccurate holy-writ-also-forbids-eating-shellfish trope — aiming, I suppose, at puncturing its instructive authority altogether.  

It’s not just that Broussard took issue with same-sex couplings — but that he professedly draws his moral cues from the Old and New Testaments. “Sportscaster comes out as a Christian, ” drolly trumpets American Spectator‘s George Neumayr, “but then is told to go back into the closet.” He continues penetratingly,
“Christians, unless they change their thoughts, don’t belong in public life according to America’s ruling class.” 

Understand? Orthopraxy (correct practice/behavior) is offensive enough to a prickly, licentious elite. With mounting regularity, it deems orthodoxy (correct belief) equally unacceptable . When it comes to influencing Civilization 2013, the fashionistas are blunt: serious Christians need not apply. Proponents of “alternate lifestyles” monopolize all the positive press. 

Aficionados of the wonders of “fisting” or “anal sex”? Lionized, hoisted through the town square on contemporary culture’s collective shoulders.. Enthusiasts of the wisdom  of the apostles and prophets? Duck! Brickbats incoming.