Harrison Butker isn't just a placekicker for the Kansas City Chiefs; he's a cultural commentator who's kicking us awake with his piercing insights. His recent commencement address at Benedictine College isn't just a rallying cry—it's a full-on battle cry against the dissonance between proclaimed faith and public policy, a theme that resonates throughout this episode of Theory to Action. Equally, he decries not fulfilling our own vocation in life most especially in personal sanctity.
Let's give you an unflinching look at the controversial aftermath of a society dripping with progressive values, as seen through Butker's uncompromising lens.
Key Points from the Episode:
This episode promises a journey into the heart of integrity, or the lack thereof, in our leaders today.
Butker calls out high-profile Catholics, from the President to the clergy, for their inconsistencies between words and actions, and I dissect the implications of these contradictions.
We examine the challenging terrain where personal belief systems meet the public square, questioning the responsibility one holds when wielding influence.
Prepare to confront the realities of our cultural and moral landscape as we scrutinize the urgent need for authenticity and reform within our institutions and within ourselves.
Harrison Butker's message isn't just a reflection; it's a call for a revolution in accountability.
Want to leave a review? Click here, and if we earned a five-star review from you **high five and knuckle bumps**, we appreciate it greatly, thank you so much!
Harrison Butker isn't just a placekicker for the Kansas City Chiefs; he's a cultural commentator who's kicking us awake with his piercing insights. His recent commencement address at Benedictine College isn't just a rallying cry—it's a full-on battle cry against the dissonance between proclaimed faith and public policy, a theme that resonates throughout this episode of Theory to Action. Equally, he decries not fulfilling our own vocation in life most especially in personal sanctity.
Let's give you an unflinching look at the controversial aftermath of a society dripping with progressive values, as seen through Butker's uncompromising lens.
Key Points from the Episode:
This episode promises a journey into the heart of integrity, or the lack thereof, in our leaders today.
Butker calls out high-profile Catholics, from the President to the clergy, for their inconsistencies between words and actions, and I dissect the implications of these contradictions.
We examine the challenging terrain where personal belief systems meet the public square, questioning the responsibility one holds when wielding influence.
Prepare to confront the realities of our cultural and moral landscape as we scrutinize the urgent need for authenticity and reform within our institutions and within ourselves.
Harrison Butker's message isn't just a reflection; it's a call for a revolution in accountability.
Want to leave a review? Click here, and if we earned a five-star review from you **high five and knuckle bumps**, we appreciate it greatly, thank you so much!
Welcome to the Theory to Action podcast, where we examine the timeless treasures of wisdom from the great books in less time, to help you take action immediately and ultimately to create and lead a flourishing life. Now here's your host, david Kaiser.
Speaker 2:
Hello, I am David and welcome back to another Mojo Minute. Over this past weekend, we saw the horrific underbelly of a woke culture gone bad. Well, not just bad, but collectively out of its mind. I mean, they literally lost their minds. But what about, you might ask. Well, if you weren't looking at major media, you probably didn't know about it. But let's find out.
Speaker 2:
Harrison Bucker, the 28-year-old place kicker for the NFL Kansas City Chiefs, delivered the commencement address at Benedictine College in Atchison, kansas, on Saturday, may 11, 2024. You might say, okay, yes, and he said some god-awful things. Oh, what did he say? Well, searching out for the actual words that made the radicals lose their mind was harder than trying to find the keys to a Humvee. Okay, humvees don't have keys. Keys in case you did not get that joke. Okay, on to the speech. Well, I think the first trigger, as they say on the woke radical side of the equation, the first trigger was how dare he say this?
Speaker 2:
Bad policies and poor leadership have negatively impacted major life issues. Things like abortion, ivf, surrogacy, euthanasia, as well as growing support for degenerate cultural values in media, all stem from the pervasiveness of disorder. Hmm, well, that's all true. What's the problem? I mean we've been experiencing bad policies and poor leadership for some time in our country. In actuality, that's not a conservative or a liberal dichotomy, that's just an all over theworld thing. I mean, poor leadership is everywhere we look, but Butker goes on.
Speaker 2:
Our nation is led by a man who publicly and proudly proclaims his Catholic faith but at the same time is delusional enough to make the sign of the cross during a pro-abortion rally. He has been so vocal in his support for the murder of innocent babies that I'm sure to many people it appears that you can be both Catholic and pro-choice. He is not alone. From the man behind the COVID lockdowns to the people pushing dangerous gender ideologies onto the youth of America, they all have a glaring thing in common they are Catholic. This is an important reminder that being Catholic alone doesn't cut it. Well, that's true too. Our nation is indeed led by a man who has zero sense of his Catholic faith and what it demands of him. As we talked about last week, joe Biden is gunning for the worst president in the history of the United States. That's not hyperbole, that's demonstrable fact, objectively everywhere you look by every statistic. But let's keep going Back to the speech.
Speaker 2:
Our Catholic faith has always been countercultural. Our Lord, along with countless followers, were all put to death for their adherence to her teachings. The world around us says that we should keep our beliefs to ourselves whenever they go against the tyranny of diversity, equity and inclusion. We fear speaking truth, because now, unfortunately, truth is in the minority. Congress just passed a bill where stating something as basic as the biblical teaching of who killed Jesus could land you in jail. But make no mistake before we even attempt to fix any of these issues plaguing society, we must first get our own house in order, and it starts with our leaders. The bishops and priests appointed by God as our spiritual fathers must be rightly ordered.
Speaker 2:
There is not enough time today for me to list all the stories of priests and bishops misleading their flocks, but none of us can blame ignorance anymore or just blindly proclaim that is what Father said, because sadly, many priests we are looking to for leadership are the ones who prioritize their hobbies, or even photos with their dogs and matching outfits for the parish directory. Also very, very true. If we have more bishops and priests who didn't want to serve the church of nice, meaning just be nice and offer charity to everyone, we would be in a much better situation, especially culturally. But Jesus Christ did not found a church of nice. He did say love one another as I have loved you, but Jesus never allowed someone to remain in their sin. But Jesus never allowed someone to remain in their sin. He called sin as something that was actually real. You will remember he said For I did not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance. If you think about that and think about that phrase, it seems for many in the world they just want to call love as love as love. But Jesus called things for what they were. There were such things as sins. Our world gets that demonstrably wrong.
Speaker 2:
Now I will say that on the conservative side of the spectrum for this is who Bucker was speaking to at Benedictine College the conservative side of folks can get wrapped up more so in calling out people's sins all day and everywhere, and that is right and just. But and here is a big but Jesus also saw people with inherent dignity and value. We are all sinners and we all need to be reminded about that. But we also need to be reminded that everyone is created in the image and likeness of God. So to love your neighbor as yourself is to be able to tell them the truth in charity. For too long we have been willing to be the church of nice, and that's not the church of the truth, truth and charity. St Paul reminds us in Ephesians of this very fact. Or even to go back to Jesus. You will remember that Christ was invited to the dinner of the Pharisee and he reprimanded those Pharisees, and I'm guessing he didn't mind the human respect element when he did so. He didn't want to be just nice, but I'm also guessing that he wasn't invited back to that home of the Pharisee either after he reprimanded them. The truth is the truth. But back to the speech.
Speaker 2:
As Catholics we can look to so many examples of heroic shepherds who gave their lives for their people and, ultimately, the church. We cannot buy into the lie that the things we experienced during COVID were appropriate. Over the centuries there have been great wars, great famines and, yes, even great diseases. All of that came with a level of lethality and danger, but in each of those examples church leaders leaned into their vocations and ensured that their people received the sacraments. So I guess many on the left declare this paragraph to be against the government and its wishes. To all that I say I stand with Buckner on this one too. Render unto Caesar those that are Caesar's and render unto God those that are God's. And Buckner continues to speak truth to power and to our bishops. No, today our shepherds are far more concerned with keeping the doors open to the chancery than they are with saying the difficult stuff out loud. It seems that the only time you hear from your bishops is when it's time for the annual appeal, whereas we need our bishops to be vocal about the teachings of the church, setting aside their own personal comfort and embracing their cross. Our bishops are not politicians, but shepherds. So instead of fitting into the world by going along to get along, they need to stay in their lane and lead Amen.
Speaker 2:
I'm reminded when I was a kid and I had not been baptized and had not been confirmed and not had my first communion in the church, but I grew up with a father who was a fallaway Catholic from Vatican II. But I grew up with a father who was a fallaway Catholic from Vatican II, but in the 1980s most of the Catholic bishops were protesting the nuclear arms race. Now, as a child of 10 years old, I was very confused. What are they doing? Challenging and protesting the nuclear arms movement. How do they have any expertise in this? So perhaps if the bishops for a long time have, in the United States, been so out of character in leading their flocks, perhaps if they spent more time catechizing their flocks instead of protesting the nuclear arms movement, as just one example, and there's many I could cite we would be in a much better position with a Catholic lay faithful who is not properly catechized, properly catechized and truthfully. You know the bishops and the priests could say the same. You know about the Catholic lay faithful who have been suffering from 75 years of bad catechesis, most especially in Western society and in the United States and in Latin America. Plain and simple, and actually Bucker does say that.
Speaker 2:
Going back to the speech, I say all of this not from a place of anger as we get the leaders we deserve, but this does make me reflect on staying in my lane and focusing on my own vocation and how I can be a better father and husband and live in the world but not be of it. Focusing on my vocation while praying and fasting for these men will do more for the church than me complaining about her leaders Right on, right on. So yes, us Catholics, lay folk, we need to read and grow every day in our spiritual life, not just in our personal development or in the business world or in the physical and athletic world, but in our spiritual life too, and that starts with prayer. Going back to the speech For the ladies present today, congratulations on an amazing accomplishment.
Speaker 2:
You should be proud of all that you have achieved to this point in your young lives. I want to speak directly to you briefly, because I think it is you, the women, who have had the most diabolical lies told to you. How many of you are sitting here now about to cross the stage and are thinking about the promotions and titles you are going to get in your career stage and are thinking about the promotions and titles you are going to get in your career. Some of you may go on to lead very successful careers in the world, but I would venture to guess that the majority of you are most excited about your marriage and the children you will bring into this world. I can tell you that my beautiful wife, isabel, would be the first to say that her life truly started when she began living her vocation as a wife and as a mother. I'm on the stage today and able to be the man I am because I have a wife who leans into her vocation. I'm beyond blessed with the many talents God has given me, but it cannot be overstated that all of my success is made possible because a girl I met in band class back in middle school would convert to the faith, become my wife and embrace one of the most important titles of all homemaker.
Speaker 2:
Oh, that was the kicker. Oh that was the kicker. That was the line that sent the liberals raging off the deep end. Homemaker Important title of all Homemaker. Does he want to regulate women back to the 1950s and 60s, when men would come home from work and beat their wives? Is that what he wants? That's what one radical lib in a Reddit column I read during my research wrote, and then it went on to a 25-page argument back and forth between people.
Speaker 2:
Holy smokes between people, holy smokes. Well, for all of that, when you read the transcript and you watch the actual full video of Buckner's speech, you will see that the applause of the crowd lasted for 18 seconds after he finished that paragraph. I think that stands for the truth on this matter. Back to the speech in another quote. She is the primary educator to our children. She is the one who ensures I never let football or my business become a distraction from that of a husband and father. She is the person that knows me best, at my core, and it is through our marriage that, lord willing, we will both attain salvation. Right on, right on. Hubba hubba To the gentlemen here today part of what plagues our society is this lie that has been told to you that men are not necessary in the home or in our communities.
Speaker 2:
As men we set the tone of the culture, and when that is absent, disorder, dysfunction and chaos set in. This absence of men in the home is what plays a large role in the violence we see all around the nation. Other countries do not have nearly the same absentee father rates as we find in the US, and a correlation could be made in their drastically lower violence rates as well. Be unapologetic in your masculinity, fighting against the cultural emasculation of men. Do hard things. Never settle for what is easy. You might have a talent that you don't necessarily enjoy, but if it glorifies God, maybe you should lean into that over something that you might think suits you better. Yes, sir, do the hard things. Show up for your children each and every day.
Speaker 2:
Going back to the speech for our last quote, make no mistake, you're entering into mission territory in a post God world, but you were made for this and with God by your side and a constant striving for virtue within your vocation, you too can be a saint. Christ is King to the heights and with that, folks, that's the conclusion. I don't see anything wrong with Mr Buckner's speech. In fact, he's talking about living virtue within our vocations and that we too, with a lot of prayer and God by our side, we too can be saints. This fits right into the Mojo Academy, where we are trying to build a flourishing life by living the virtues. So again, I don't see anything wrong with the speech. He spoke the truth and that seemed to trigger the left and the radical left. But what am I saying? They are all anymore the radical left, the Scoop Jacksons and the Daniel Patrick Moynihans have left the stage long ago. They're all Bolsheviks now.
Speaker 2:
So in today's Mojo Minute I will put a link in the show notes to listen to the full speech if you'd like. I think it's one of the very good commencement addresses in a long time. I don't think it's flawless. It talks about the traditional Latin Mass. I'm not that big a fan of the traditional Latin Mass. You can say the Novus Ordo Mass just fine if it's done reverentially. But he is indeed right on the big things. We are living in mission territory and in a post-God and post-Christian world nowadays. So to live a flourishing life we will have to keep up our prayer life, we will have to live the virtues, we'll have to keep searching for the truth and, as always, we'll have to keep fighting the good fight.
Speaker 1:
Thank you for joining us. We hope you enjoyed this Theory to Action podcast. Be sure to check out our show page at TeamMojoAcademycom, where we have everything we discussed in this podcast, as well as other great resources. Until next time, keep getting your mojo on.