Mission America

Christian Commentary on the Culture

True Manhood Takes Another Hit-- On the Football Field

What is the mark of a real man?

First of all, a real man is grateful—to God, family and country.

Are we seeing appreciation among major sports’ figures right now? No, too many of these beneficiaries of American opportunity have decided their country is not worthy of respect or gratitude.

In heated campus discussions these days about “toxic masculinity,” we should first look at Exhibit A-- these spoiled little boys playing major league sports.

No respect for our flag and anthem? Feel free to emigrate to another country. Trump rightly rebukes these selfish athletes. Representing the father figures many of them never had, he’s telling them to go to their rooms until they can act better.

A boycott is appropriate of the teams supporting this atrocious behavior. Some, thankfully, stand for the anthem, like the Cincinnati Bengals.

If it’s about Trump as president, remember that at least half of our country still stood for the national anthem through eight years of the disastrous policies of Barack Obama.

There is no country on earth like America, despite our imperfections. Only the ignorant believe otherwise. And the foolish notion of “race” is an excuse for flagrant attention-getters. There is no nation on earth where people are treated more justly, including by law enforcement, no matter the color of their skin.

Why can’t we raise our sons better than this? The answers are not the solutions offered currently in our military or on campus.

Our armed forces now struggle with masculinity. Despite the good intentions of Trump to ban the expression of gender confusion, the generals are hemming and hawing and just agreed to six more months where “sex change” surgery will be subsidized.

Will males who want to be females never leave? Or women soldiers who desperately long to be men? As the old saying goes, possession is nine-tenths of the law.

But colleges approach destroying manhood in another way. Being a male is inherently “toxic,” as many university workshops tell their willing, self-flagellating participants.

This fall, more colleges than ever will encourage males to despise being male.

It’s the fight against “toxic masculinity” and “male privilege.” We can all sleep better knowing that among the pressing issues of our day, this one is being addressed—mostly by feminists and “queer” identifiers, of course.

Duke University is again this fall enlisting “male-identified” students in its Duke Men’s Project. The program started last year but apparently, with the election of Donald Trump, the opportunities to exaggerate the dangers of patriarchy and the “rape culture” have increased.

Wait—didn’t Duke get into hot water by believing concocted rape allegations  against lacrosse players who were eventually exonerated?

Whatever. The femino-evangelists just can’t stop their destructive witness against the repulsive idea of manhood.

If we want to fight a rape culture, how about fighting pornography in all its forms? Where violence against women and children do occur, pornography is often a factor.

The Duke workshops focus on “storytelling.” Yes, indeed.

At Gettysburg College last fall, incoming freshman boys were required as part of orientation to watch a video where they were told that the three most destructive words they hear are “be a man.”

For wackos who come up with this stuff, the three most constructive words they could hear would be, “get a life.”

University of North Carolina has conducted a similar program for several years. 

And we can always depend on the University of Wisconsin. A filmmaker last spring made a documentary called “Maskuline,” focused on “critical self-reflection” by recruiting “’…individuals assigned male-at-birth and male-identifying folks,’ some as young as 14, to write letters to themselves about the problems they experience with their masculinity, and then having them read those letters aloud in front of a camera.”

Brown University has several options for men struggling (or persuaded they ought to struggle) against the intrinsic destructiveness of manhood. “B Well” is the school’s student health website:

“BWell is investing in creating safe spaces for men to unpack all of the things they have learned about masculinity and what it means to be a man.”

Among the options for guys at Brown is more storytelling: “The Masculinity Storybook” and “The Men's Story Project: Looking Within and Speaking Out.”

Is any fellow at Brown allowed to speak out and tell these weirdos what a pile of garbage this is?

The homosexual/transgender activist community is on board with discouraging manhood, unless expressed by a gender-confused woman posing as a man.

And apparently the reason a mass murderer targeted an Orlando homosexual nightclub in June 2016 has been found. It’s not about the shooter’s adherence to the oppressive ideology of Islam, which supports violence toward multiple targets (Jews, Christians, women, homosexuals).

No, the cause, according to The Atlantic, is just being a man. The guy who targeted all these people was full of undefined “hate” created by “toxic masculinity.”  After all, since 98% of mass murderers are male (the author argues) it must be an aspect of maleness.

Well, what about the violence of abortion in this country? Activists and demonstrators for “abortion rights” are overwhelmingly female. Why do women advocate violence?

Could the real answer lie with inhumane ideas and beliefs, not one’s anatomy or gender identity? Or, a problem common to all humans—sin?

Feminists should line up and join arms with the NFL players in snubbing the national anthem. It’s one and the same message. They hate their heritage, they hate our founding fathers, they hate their own fathers.

There’s a commandment against this.

But possibly, the real hate is against God and His authority, period.