The Voice Of One Crying Out In Suburbia

This "editorial" is a prime example of what happens when sports writers try to pontificate on social issues (as evidenced by Bill Simmons, the Sports Guy, whenever he writes about politics). The writer, Jeff Pearlman, throws this out there:

In many ways, it'd be overly simplistic to merely blame the athletes
without searching a bit deeper. For many African-Americans, a disapproval of
homosexuality comes with the racial territory. Being gay is looked upon as
something ... weird. Something ... just not right. It stems from grandpa. And
grandpa's grandpa. As rapper Kanye West noted last year, it's hypocritical for
African-Americans to complain about bigotry when they apply their own form to
others. From a young age, West noted, you're taught that gays aren't normal.
Aren't righteous. It's not an easy cycle to snap.

Personally, I have a much harder time grasping the locker-room Bible
thumpers; those myriad competitors who attend daily chapel, speak of love and
outreach and togetherness – then damn gays to an eternity of hell. I've rarely
heard a born-again Christian athlete openly complain about a teammate's vulgar
language, or a teammate's blowing off autograph seekers, or a teammate's
cheating by taking steroids. Factually, never has a born-again ballplayer
refused to play with someone because he committed infidelity. But I promise you
– in the spirit of Jackie Robinson and Pee Wee Reese – that when the first
active athlete does come out, there will be trade demands from devout
Christians.

Using Kanye West as your moral baromter? I love that he throws in a Jackie Robinson reference there. I wonder what Mr. Robinson would say to the idea that his struggle to overcome racism in Major League baseball is analogous to homosexual "rights"? Not only is Mr. Pearlman guilty of making huge leaps to link two disparate issues, he is clearly ignorant of even the most basic of Biblical knowledge. Hint, Christian atheletes don't condemn anyone to hell, our own sinful nature does unless atoned for by Christ.

Perhaps the reason that homosexuality has always been looked at as an aberration is that it is just that, an unnatural and disordered activity. Perhaps it makes people uncomfortable because it is something that SHOULD make people uncomfortable. Western civilization has recognized the inherent disordered nature of homosexuality for thousands of years. It is not a sign that we have progressed by our slow embrace of homosexuality, it is a sign of moral laxness and intellectual laziness.

Mr. Pearlman is correct that more devout Christians need to speak out against other forms of immoral behavior in sports, but that shortcoming does not mean that their criticism of homosexuality is wrong, just incomplete. I imagine that he has never taken the time to sit and seriously discuss just what the root of Biblical condemnation of homosexuality stems from, otherwise he would recognize that it is not something spoken of in “obscure” passages but a theme that runs throughout the Bible.

It is nice to see that Mr. Pearlman feels free to indulge himself in the only acceptable form of bigotry in America, at least among the pseudo-intellectual elites, unreasonable disdain and outright hatred of Christian in particular, and anyone who holds strongly to a faith system in general. Whenever an ESPN.com writer strays from writing about sports and gets into political or social commentary, they invariably come across like little kids trying to act like grown-ups. Stick to sports Mr. Pearlman and quit embarrassing yourself.