Hell’s Fury for Harrison Butker

“I, Sister Faustina Kowalska, by the order of God, have visited the Abysses of Hell so that I might tell souls about it and testify to its existence. The devils were full of hatred.” (Faustina’s Diary, 741)

In her October 1936 diary entry, Saint Faustina described the chilling behaviors she witnessed in her glimpse of the Netherworld. She was aghast, as were the shepherd children at Fatima when they were granted a vision of Hell in July 1917. The scenes were horrible, monstrous, terrifying. Fatima’s Sister Lucia later described the “shrieks and groans” they heard.

I’ve thought of these descriptions while glimpsing the hellacious reactions to Harrison Butker’s commencement speech at Benedictine College last weekend. Leave it to an NFL kicker to give the culture and Church a swift kick. The best, boldest commencement address of 2024 was delivered not by some politician or pointy-headed professor, but by a guy who kicks field goals for a living.

The response to Butker’s terrific oration has been downright terrifying. It was as if he lifted the lid to the roof of Hell. I would like to say that I’m not surprised by the furious condemnation, by the torrent of vitriol, by the streams of bile spewed at Butker. I’m rarely shocked when our culture’s snowflakes have spectacular meltdowns. This time, however, they’re not just hysterical, with the typical temper tantrums; this time they’re screaming at the top of their collective lungs, heads spinning feverishly. They instantly exploded at Butker’s speech and have continued with vicious, sustained, and escalating misrepresentations of what the man said.

Gosh these people are full of hatred!

The first example that I saw of that hatred, which prompted me to rush to Butker’s defense with a column last week for The American Spectator, was a “news” article promoted by Yahoo that claimed in its headline: “Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker bashes Pride Month, tells women to stay in the kitchen.” 

Needless to say, Harrison Butker obviously said nothing about women and kitchens. He urged young women to put their families and homes above their careers, and—crucially important—also urged young men to put their families and homes above their careers. He extolled the role of “homemaker” for women and men alike. [Butker] urged young women to put their families and homes above their careers, and—crucially important—also urged young men to put their families and homes above their careers. He extolled the role of “homemaker” for women and men alike.Tweet This

That message apparently had the hellions wailing and gnashing their teeth.

As for the assertion that Butker bashed Pride Month, he made a mere passing reference to the indisputably outrageous reality that our sick modern culture has elevated the first of the Seven Deadly Sins—pride—to the level of a month-long national celebration. It was such a fleeting reference by Butker that it was probably ad lib. Nonetheless, if the LGBTQ lobby doesn’t like it when we (including myself and many Crisis writers) note this painful theological fact about the vice they’ve converted into a month-long holiday, then maybe they should choose another label. 

You pick the sin and symbol of Satan’s rebellion against the Creator as your global slogan and expect religious people to approve?

It took no time for mobs to come after Butker with torches. In short order, the cultural revolutionaries at Change.org launched a petition calling for Butker to be “dismissed” by the Kansas City Chiefs. Incredibly, the petition went so far as to accuse Butker’s speech of “racism.” That itself was a crystal-clear sign that Change.org was blatantly misrepresenting his remarks, which made no reference whatsoever to anything that had anything to do with race. None. But then again, how many of those who rendered a knee-jerk online signature to the petition actually bothered to read the speech? 

If one takes mere minutes to actually watch the speech or read the brief transcript, one will see that Butker’s address was mainly about the Catholic Church, and particularly about bad clerics and leaders (with a reference to our bad Catholic president appallingly making the sign of the cross at a Planned Parenthood event). His targets were euthanasia, abortion, surrogacy, churches shut down during COVID, and other spiritual-cultural maladies in what he correctly called a “post-God world.” He also took aim at the “diabolical lies” told to young women and the “cultural emasculation” of young men, which no doubt enraged the woke who thrive on those lies and that emasculation. That one must have hit too close to home with them. He also took aim at toxic gender ideology, which actually puts him in the same company as Pope Francis.

In response, the post-God world fulminated in smoldering rage at Butker’s religious speech to a religious audience that gave him a standing ovation. 

The target audience for the speech, after all, was Catholics. Frankly, the speech ought to have elicited a shrug from non-Catholics who should view it as none of their business. But to the angry intolerants of cancel culture, everything and everyone is their business. Your business is their business. They will follow you, hound you, monitor you. They accept no dissent; they destroy those they disagree with. They howl. They start howling the moment they crawl out of bed and make coffee and flip open their laptop. They look for guys like Butker to destroy.

So, what’s their point with Harrison Butker? What, really, is their goal? Why did this speech by this NFL kicker rattle them so much? That’s actually a very good question.

I would like to say that this is merely another case of the hysterics reacting with their usual hysteria, of social-media mobs acting like mobs. Moreover, it’s obvious that there’s a definite diabolical response at work here. No, this isn’t their Church, but they’re nonetheless hellbent on destroying a man who is faithful to his Church. Their prejudice toward faithful Catholics is once again on full, fiery display. Bradley Devin and Nate Hochman have written on how secular progressives’ persecution of Harrison Butker is further evidence of their persecution of the Catholic Church. They’re clanging at the gates.

That said, I think their larger goal very much relates to Pride Month. They’ve shown us their cards with their massively outsized explosion over Butker’s bare mention of Pride Month. Consider: 

Their month-long holy day is coming up in just two weeks. Their attempt to shame and silence Butker is a shot across the bow of anyone daring to commit the heresy of questioning their religious-like reverence of Pride. Further, this is a direct shot at the National Football League and its teams and players to zip their mouths. To be sure, the NFL already has waved the white flag and hoisted the rainbow flag. You might know of the NFL’s “Football is Gay” campaign launched by the league in 2021.

The vitriolic reaction by the LGBTQ revolutionaries to Harrison Butker signals the preemptive blackmails and shakedowns they plan toward the NFL and any other organization whose star figures break ranks with Pride advocates. Maybe they’ll use this episode to try to force NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell to order a Drag Queen show at next year’s Super Bowl halftime extravaganza.  The vitriolic reaction by the LGBTQ revolutionaries to Harrison Butker signals the preemptive blackmails and shakedowns they plan toward the NFL and any other organization whose star figures break ranks with Pride advocates.Tweet This

Their message is unmistakable, and they seek to loudly reinforce it at every turn: If you speak out against the sacred cows of these self-proclaimed apostles of “diversity” and “inclusion,” you will not be tolerated. Predictably, the NFL’s “DEI” representative tossed “diversity” and “inclusion” out the window when it came to Butker. The DEI commissar’s statement prompted an evangelical friend of mine to ask: “Since when does the NFL have an official position on which Catholic doctrines their Catholic players can hold?”

Answer: when those tenets go against the LGBTQ lobby. Football, after all, is “gay.”

It remains to be seen if there are more men with chests like Harrison Butker willing not to be bullied by the cultural revolutionaries and their thuggish tactics. In fact, it appears there are, given that his jersey is selling like crazy right now. I’d suggest buying a few of his jerseys for family and friends (click here) and, while you’re at it, send a donation (click here) to Benedictine College to express your support and appreciation for a rare unwoke college that remains authentically Catholic. 

If you’re sick of the bullying thugs of cancel culture, then stand with Harrison Butker. Now they’re coming for Butker. Next, they’ll come for you.