Harris begins his petition with this:
The harmful remarks made by Harrison Butker, kicker of the Kansas City Chiefs, during his commencement address at Benedictine College were unacceptable. His comments were sexist, homophobic, anti-trans, anti-abortion and racist. These dehumanizing remarks against LGBTQ+ individuals, attacks on abortion rights and racial discrimination perpetuate division and undermine human rights.These three sentences raise a lot of questions. How was what Butker said "harmful"? Did it hurt anyone physically or did it just make someone feel bad? Moreover, what is it exactly that Butker said that was racist? And what's wrong with being against killing babies? How did he dehumanize anyone?
And while we're at it, what does Harris base "human rights" on? Where does he think such rights come from? If they're just arbitrary conventions then what does it matter if they're undermined?
He goes on:
These comments reinforce harmful stereotypes that threaten social progress. They create a toxic environment that hinders our collective efforts towards equality, diversity and inclusion in society. It is unacceptable for such a public figure to use their platform to foster harm rather than unity.It's hard to see how commending Catholic doctrine to the graduates of a Catholic college is creating "a toxic environment." If someone outside the campus finds Butker's opinions offensive, why, they can just not read his speech. Harris is apparently all in favor of diversity, equality and inclusion except for those whose opinions differ from his. That kind of diversity and inclusion is evidently unacceptable for Harris, and people who hold those opinions should not be granted equal standing in the society that Harris would have us live in.
It's important to note that these types of discriminatory attitudes contribute significantly towards societal issues such as hate crimes which have been on the rise in recent years (source: FBI Hate Crime Statistics). Furthermore, they can lead to increased mental health issues among targeted communities (source: American Psychological Association).In other words, advocating traditional marriage and family contributes to hate crimes and mental health problems. How, exactly? What's the connection? Harris doesn't tell us. He just assumes that everyone knows that there is one.
We demand accountability from our sports figures who should be role models promoting respect for all people regardless of their race, gender identity or sexual orientation. We call upon the Kansas City Chiefs management to dismiss Harrison Butker immediately for his inappropriate conduct.It's significant, I think, that Harris doesn't include a single excerpt from the speech in his petition so that potential signers could see what was disrespectful and inappropriate. I wonder if Harris even read the speech himself.
Please sign this petition if you stand with us against discrimination and believe in fostering an inclusive society where everyone is treated with dignity and respect.Everyone is to be treated with dignity and respect, except, that is, those who hold viewpoints which conflict with those of Mr. Harris. Harris must have adopted a peculiar definition of "inclusive society" if his society excludes the opinions of probably the majority of Americans as well as excluding those Americans who hold them.
Anyway, almost 220,000 people have signed this petition. One wonders how many of these signers are fans of the Kansas City Chiefs' opponents fed up with seeing Butker's field goals deprive their team of a chance to beat the Chiefs. The rest perhaps are closed-minded, intolerant anti-Catholic bigots who can't abide anyone voicing any opinion that doesn't conform to or support their own group-think.
