I thought it was the best commencement speech ever. From The National Review:
Butker addresses the audience with encouragements on motherhood and fatherhood (which has been woefully disregarded in the discourse online). He then spoke about how his wife has fulfilled the vocation that she
was called to. He emphasized the goodness and importance of motherhood
and noted that it has been attacked in the culture for quite a long
time. While speaking about his love and admiration for his wife, he
choked up. He also spoke extensively about the need for fathers in the
home and the importance of men fulfilling their duties as fathers. The
Catholic Church teaches that men and women are called to fatherhood and
motherhood, either spiritually or physically.
The graduates of Benedictine have
been equipped with substantial knowledge of Catholic Church teachings
and ethics. Many have a degree in theology and are able to parse
Butker’s speech to assess what in it is true and what might need
clarification.
His speech was not given to
evangelize or to change minds, but rather to encourage Benedictine
students on their paths forward. As a student at Benedictine, I was
never discouraged from getting my degree, finding a job, or having
ambitions and dreams. I was in Gregorian Fellows, a leadership program
whose goal is to create men and women leaders equipped to go out into
the world. We were taught about the greatness of family life as well as
the importance of evangelization. (Read more.)
Tucker joins the fray. From The Vigilant Fox:
“If you’re sending girls to fight your wars, you’re disgusting!”
Carlson says doing so is “violating the most basic agreement there is,” which is “the man protects.”
He
added, “If there’s a home invasion at your house at 3 in the morning,
you’re like, ‘Honey, I dealt with the last time. Go, go defend us.’ I
hope that she leaves you, and she will.”
These comments followed
Carlson recalling a past conversation in which a general described how a
soldier and mother of three children, who had her legs blown off and
died in Iraq, had made “the ultimate sacrifice for America.”
As you can imagine, Tucker was furious. Take a listen to how that conversation went down. (Read more.)
From Catholic Vote:
Benedictine
College is unapologetically Catholic. This shouldn’t be a shock to
anyone who has spent at least 30 seconds looking at their website or
Instagram. There has never been any attempt to hide or shy away from our
identity. Rather, the college is proud to nurture traditional Catholic
values.
As a
young woman and a Benedictine student, I am proud of my college for its
unashamed faith. It is a haven for young people, like me, who have not
always felt accepted for what we believe and who often have to defend
our views.
Knowing
this about my school, it didn’t come as a surprise to me when
Benedictine asked Harrison Butker, an outspoken traditional Catholic, to
give the commencement speech at this year’s graduation.
What did come as a shock to me was the firestorm that followed.
Butker
began his speech by addressing the hardships the graduating class has
faced throughout their educational journey. What stuck out to me in his
introduction, however, was the intense call to action he gave the
audience.
He stated that we as Catholics must have more courage in speaking openly about our beliefs.
“We need to stop pretending that the Church of Nice is a winning proposition,” he said.
For
many, including me, this is a terrifying suggestion. It is one thing to
go into the upper room and pray behind closed doors, but it is something
else entirely to show my faith openly to the world. My faith is what I
cherish most and it scares me to think of opening it up to ridicule from
others. Butker recognizes that fear, yet still lives a boldly Catholic
life. (Read more.)
From Carrie Gress at The Washington Examiner:
Despite the local audience who gave Butker a standing ovation and the fact that his #7 jersey is selling
like hotcakes, Butker’s remarks have not been well received by the
cultural elite. The NFL has distanced itself from him, with Jonathan
Beane, the NFL’s senior vice president and chief diversity and inclusion
officer, telling NPR, “Harrison Butker gave a speech in his personal
capacity. His views are not those of the NFL as an organization.”
Jason Page at MSNBC had
perhaps the most eyebrow-raising response. Page said that members of
the political Right “sit idly by, or even worse, may applaud the
ignorance of a kicker telling women to stay at home and pop out babies
in a subservient manner while worshipping their husbands. The misogyny
at play is staggering.”
What is staggering is that anyone actually believes this anymore.
What the intelligentsia doesn’t yet realize is that the winds have
changed, and the blather about women popping out babies and worshiping
their husbands just doesn’t land the way it did 50 or even 10 years ago.
Feminism fatigue has set in: Women who have been groomed for three
generations to crave power and control at the expense of family are now
reprioritizing.
The girlboss is out — she has been replaced with the likes of the
“softgirl” or the “tradwife,” to name two of the latest trends. These
new monikers reveal that ’70s feminism is losing its grip. Women,
particularly younger women, have lost their stomach for the corporate
ladder grind and its requisite sacrificing of husbands and children. (Read more.)
Share