THE WORST PERSON IN THE WORLD
(apologies to Keith Olbermann)
Craig James
Jets fans have long suspected that Satan is calling the shots in New England, and former Patriots running back Craig James has now confirmed their fears. During an interview Friday on Family Research Council president Tony Perkins’ radio show, James said he believes the devil himself inspired his former team to sign an amicus brief urging the United States Supreme Court to legalize gay marriage…. “If I were a current player in that locker room and my livelihood depended on me being quiet or losing it because of my belief system, I worry, I wonder,” James said. “So, that’s Satan working on us.”…. James also claimed the Patriots and other teams risk sparking a locker room “implosion” if they continue to voice support for gay rights.
So Craig James feels that inclusion and treating people…well, like people is just too much for good, God-fearing Christian patriots, eh? That modeling the love and tolerance taught by the Jesus Christ he purports to revere is “Satanic?” Not that anyone should give a damn about what James thinks- about anything- but if your religion is heavily rooted in denigrating and oppressing a minority class of people because of their sexuality, you have no religion. You’re a sociopath steeped in fear and bigotry while simultaneously lacking the self-awareness to recognize what a terrible excuse for humanity you truly are.
In James’ case, the fact that he’s on the wrong side of history, Christianity, public opinion, and the marketplace would seem as if it should be sufficient cause for him to reflect on the error of his bigotry. James didn’t succeed in one of the best backfields in college football history by stepping back from a challenge, and he seems determined to fight against marriage equality until the bitter end. It’s kinda pathetic, really- so much intelligence and charisma going to waste in the service of hatred, homophobia, and bigotry. Craig James is the kind of golden boy personality who’s been able to milk a stellar college football career with a passable NFL resume for years. He could have kept a steady gig as a color man on NFL and college football broadcasts and done quite well for himself. Instead, somewhere along the way he not only began to believe his press clippings, he believed that his brand of “kill-‘em-and-grill-‘em” Christianity entitled him to publicly pass judgment on those he viewed as apostates and heretics.
Classy.
James, who now works for FRC as Perkins’ assistant, has not been shy about sharing his anti-gay views in recent years. When he ran for the Republican nomination for a U.S. Senate seat vacated by Kay Bailey Hutchison in 2012, he attacked a rival, former Dallas Mayor Tom Leppert, for attending a gay pride parade. James also declared that gays and lesbians would ultimately “answer to the Lord for their actions.” He finished fourth in the nine-candidate Republican primary that year.
Many LGBT activists consider FRC a hate group.
That would be because the Family Research Council IS a hate group…the worst kind, in fact. They paper over their bigotry and homophobia by proclaiming to be followers of Jesus Christ…except that He never preached hatred, bigotry, and homophobia. Jesus Christ was about love, tolerance, and acceptance…things James and the rest of the FRC zealots wouldn’t know anything about.
His former NFL team, the New England Patriots, has joined 379 other companies in filing an amicus brief in support of marriage equality with the Supreme Court. There’s a wide range of views and background represented by those signing the brief, but the one thing they have in common is the conviction that marriage equality is and should be a basic human right. The State has no business determining who can or cannot marry. In fact, society benefits greatly from stable, long-term relationships- even those between members of the same gender. How can two people wanting to make a lifetime commitment to one another be a bad thing?
Love is love. It doesn’t recognize color, faith, creed, or any other qualifier. No person or government entity should have the right to determine who is worthy of the rights and benefits that accrue to married people. That someone may love differently is far less important than that they do love. That James is too blinded by hatred and homophobia to recognize this only establishes that he’s the worst sort of misguided cafeteria Christian.
As I’ve written many times before (and I suspect I will again), James has a very simple choice available: don’t marry someone of the same gender. Problem solved, eh? Neither he nor anyone else has the right to use their “religious beliefs” to prevent others from accessing the rights and benefits of marriage they take for granted.
Remember kids, taking away your right to take away the rights of others isn’t persecution, nor is it evidence that “Satan’s working on us.” Freedom is something that is, and should be, available to ALL Americans, not just those who believe their bastardized Christianity makes them one of the Chosen.
Craig James is certainly free to voice his opinions on marriage equality, and I’m free to call him out for the unreconstructed bigot and homophobe he is. I’ll continue to do that as often as necessary until there’s no distinction between “traditional marriage” and “same-sex marriage.” There will only be “marriage.”
That will be a wonderful day.
