The trouble with Christianity is Christians.
— God (@TheTweetOfGod) October 2, 2013
[T]he Family Research Council announced a new group of speakers for the annual Values Voter Summit in Washington DC, one of the nation’s leading conferences for social conservative activists. Among the featured guests: Failed Texas senate candidate and recently-canned college football analyst Craig James, who sued Fox Sports for wrongful termination last month, arguing that his firing over anti-gay comments constituted religious discrimination.
I’m thankful that we live in a time when rampant homophobia is rapidy becoming socially and morally unacceptable. Most decent, respectful bipeds can accept that humanoids have the right to live and love as they see fit. They recognize that love is not a one-size-fits-all collar than can, should, and does fit all of us.
And there are those who, for whatever reason, still cling to their religious beliefs as a justification for their ignorance, fear, and hatred. Enter Craig James, a legend in his own mind, and thoroughly convinced of his own moral rectitude and righteousness. No reasonable person would deny James his right to his opinions. If he thinks homosexuality is an abomination, that’s his right in a free society. What he seems to be forgetting is that the same rights he demands for himself also apply to those who think, believe, live, and/or love differently. He’s free to live in a moral world of his own definition; what he’s not free to do is to expect that making his prejudice public won’t result in substantial blowback.
James makes for an unlikely martyr for conservatives, if only because he was an enormously unpopular broadcaster to begin with—the kind of on-air personality that would compel college football fans to make his name synonymous with quintuple homicide. In 2011, Sports Illustrated’s college football writers unanimously selected him as their least-favorite analyst on television.
James has the right to live in his lily-white, Right-wing, homophobic, hyper-Christian world. Unfortunately for him, in attempting to air his views, he’s discovered that those who might employ him may not want to be associated with a bigot and homophobe. Television networks generally recognize that their potential audience covers a wide range of beliefs and lifestyles. Someone who espouses hatred and bigotry in the name of “religion” isn’t a great way to appeal to a wider audience. That James feels wronged and that he’s the victim of “religious discrimination” only serves to proves how self-righteous and intolerant he is. His biggest problem is that he’s a truly objectionable human being. James made a career out of being a former Texas high school and college football legend…and not much else. A former member of Southern Methodist University’s famed “Pony Express,” James’ grew to manhood being treated as if he was something special. Unfortunately for him, it seems he came to see that special treatment as his birthright. When you grow accustomed to people greasing the skids for you, it’s easy to believe your press clippings and view yourself as no mere mortal.
Being an über-Conservative Right-wing Christian in a red state not exactly famous for a “live and let live” morality, James looked at the political landscape and decided that politics was his next logical career move. He’d been successful at everything else in life, so it probably seemed reasonable to assume that politics would be no different. Then he discovered that politics isn’t at all like football or broadcasting. He tripped himself up early and often, and it became easy to revel in the Schadenfreude trainwreck that was his Senate campaign. James pulled all of 4% in the same primary won by another miserable excuse for humanity, Ted Cruz.
Call me silly, but I’d have to think that a ham sandwich would garner more than 4% of the votes in a Republican primary.
Having been canned by both ESPN and Fox Sports, James is now dealing with the reality that his views make him, if not a pariah, then certainly a potential liability for anyone who might consider employing him. I find myself not exactly despondent over James’ fate…something about karma keeps coming to mind, don’tchaknow??
(Oh, and while I’m thinking about it: Did James kill five hookers while he was attending SMU? Inquiring minds would like to know.)
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