Harrison Butker’s commencement address, and the reactions to it, are an excellent cultural temperature gauge
If you’ve been on social media at all in the last ten days, the most persistent topic (now that the Spring semester has come to a close and campus protests have died down to a smolder), centers around the commencement address delivered at Benedictine College by Kansas City Chief’s kicker Harrison Butker.
Here’s just a sample:
Our own nation is led by a man who publicly and proudly proclaims his Catholic faith, but at the same time is delusional enough to make the sign of the cross during a pro-abortion rally. He has been so vocal in his support for the murder of innocent babies that I’m sure to many people it appears that you can be both Catholic and pro-choice.
Before going any further: it’s incredibly refreshing to hear a public figure offer such a bold pro-life message that rightly excoriates Joe Biden for acting in conflict with the teachings of the Roman Catholic Church, of which he is somehow a member in good standing.
People on the Right often get scolded for getting overly excited when a celebrity in the entertainment industry says openly Christian and/or right-wing things. And I understand that sentiment. But we need bold truth-tellers in every facet of public life, and we should celebrate them where we can get them.
But the abortion comments aren’t what landed Butker in hot water. No, it was his promotion of traditional gender roles that (predictably) lit the left on fire:
For the ladies present today, congratulations on an amazing accomplishment. You should be proud of all that you have achieved to this point in your young lives. I want to speak directly to you briefly because I think it is you, the women, who have had the most diabolical lies told to you. How many of you are sitting here now about to cross this stage and are thinking about all the promotions and titles you are going to get in your career? 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 that her life truly started when she began living her vocation as a wife and as a mother. I’m on the stage today and able to be the man I am because I have a wife who leans into her vocation. I’m beyond blessed with the many talents God has given me, but it cannot be overstated that all of my success is made possible because a girl I met in band class back in middle school would convert to the faith, become my wife, and embrace one of the most important titles of all: homemaker.
She's the primary educator to our children. She is the one who ensures I never let football or my business become a distraction from that of a husband and father. She is the person that knows me best at my core, and it is through our marriage that, Lord willing, we will both attain salvation.
I say all of this to you because I have seen it firsthand how much happier someone can be when they disregard the outside noise and move closer and closer to God’s will in their life. Isabelle’s dream of having a career might not have come true, but if you asked her today if she has any regrets on her decision, she would laugh out loud, without hesitation, and say, 'Heck, no.'
I think you can see why this is getting the attention that it is. First of all, he’s not saying that women can’t or shouldn’t pursue careers outside of the home. In fact, he acknowledged that many of them will do that. What’s he’s doing is calling attention to the beauty of the God-ordained roles of wife and mother.
Raising a family and spending a lifetime in a single, committed marital relationship are the societal pillars that many on the left have been attempting to destroy. Young women today are discipled by society that “they don’t need no man,” and that marriage and motherhood are barriers to what they can become in the world.
There is, of course, a spiritual component to this that often gets overlooked, especially by the growing number of secular right-wingers: this leftist break with tradition isn’t just about shunning old ways and pursuing progress: it’s actually a rebellion against the created order.
This of course has never been more manifest than it is in contemporary leftist views on biological sex itself. They’re not ultimately pushing the trans agenda to help people “be their true selves.” They’re doing it, whether they realize it or not, out of rebellion to God.
In response to this, some on the right embrace traditional gender roles in ways that are unnecessarily restrictive by stating or implying that a woman should always and only be a wife, mother, and homemaker. That’s steering too far in the other direction. I want my daughters to have career opportunities if they decide to pursue them. I also want them to know that they’re loved by God, and that being a wife and mother is a wonderful thing.
While Butker’s comments directed at women have been getting most of the attention, he had some direct comments for the young men in the audience as well:
To the gentlemen here today: Part of what plagues our society is this lie that has been told to you that men are not necessary in the home or in our communities. As men, we set the tone of the culture, and when that is absent, disorder, dysfunction and chaos set in. This absence of men in the home is what plays a large role in the violence we see all around the nation. Other countries do not have nearly the same absentee father rates as we find here in the U.S., and a correlation could be made in their drastically lower violence rates, as well.
Men need to be devoted to their wife and family. They need to set a good example for their children, their sons in particular. And most of all they need to be devoted followers of Jesus. These things stand in contrast to the various secular definitions of masculinity, which frequently revolve around promiscuity, pursuit of money and worldly power, and domineering over women.
Harrison Butker’s speech shined a light in the face of deep darkness in our society. Like Gandalf before the Balrog in the Mines of Moria. More of this kind of right-wing rhetoric please.