“It’s
funny to hear a female talk about ‘routes.’ It’s funny.”
Oops.
Cut to the same Cam Newton last
Thursday, after social media erupted over his “sexism” and at least one of his
corporate sponsors went off in search of greener pastures:
“I
sincerely apologize … I’m a father to two beautiful daughters and at their age
I try to instill in them that they can do and be anything that they want
to be.”
You know, I kinda liked
Cam better before he apologized.
“If You Are a Person Who Took Offense ...”
Furthermore, I bet Cam liked Cam better before he caved in and decided the relentless stream of
vitriol being spewed in his direction by the fake-aggrieved media was too
much to endure. That all-too-familiar penitent language sounds like it was pounded
out in haste around a boardroom table by the committee of legal remoras that risk
going to the bottom with the Good Ship Newton, or at least fear losing
their meal ticket.
And even if he meant
every word of his apology (an unlikely event given that the odds of Newton having
processed and internalized his feminist re-education in a mere 24 hours
are approximately that of a ball of compacted slush surviving a blast furnace),
not one of the sports radio pundits who seized on his faux pas with the gusto of a pack of slobbering Dobermans was
remotely prepared to entertain the possibility Newton was being sincere. For
all that he accomplished by apologizing, he may as well not have bothered. (And
truly, an apology that begins with “If you are a person
who took offense …” is no apology at all. It’s just boilerplate
genuflecting to the PC gods and everyone knows it.)
Ritual Seppuku
In fact, I bet Newton’s
wife liked him better before he commenced ritual seppuku, even if she was the one who convinced him to do it. No woman worth her salt is
comfortable watching her husband humiliate himself in public. Further, I bet the
vast majority of his fans liked him better too when he was just an NFL
quarterback reacting with ease and candor to only one question out of the dozens
he must answer every day of his life, as opposed to the chastened puppy at the
press conference on Thursday, mouthing platitudes to which he surely doesn’t
subscribe.
Because there was
nothing outrageous about Newton’s original comment, and I’m not just saying
that because it’s remotely possible Newton is a fellow believer.
It’s Her Job
I find it immensely
unlikely that his surprise at Jourdan Rodrigue’s question was an act, or that he intended to
belittle her, let alone “countless other women” who pursue similar careers. Much more
likely it was simply the predictable product of two decades of football experience
during which he has encountered few women interested in the mechanics of how a
receiver gets himself open downfield in hope of being the lucky recipient of a
completed pass. If this wasn’t a first for Newton, it was at least unusual. His
response was genuine, his tone was not nasty, and if Rodrigue
had simply responded by laughing and replying, “Well, expect to see more of it,” she
could easily have made her point and moved on, win/win.
Instead, she took to Twitter, complaining, “I
don’t think it’s ‘funny’ to be a female and talk about routes. I think it’s my job.”
Upon which the Internet apparently
exploded.
Some people are just bound and determined
to be offended, and even more determined to make sure everyone else is offended on their behalf.
Holding a Microphone for the Sisterhood
But whether it’s offensive or not, I don’t
believe we make the world a better place by telling people what they want to
hear rather than what we actually believe. Contrary to feminist happy talk, Cam
Newton’s little girls cannot do and be anything they want to be, nor are they likely
to be happier following their dad’s advice to live as if they can. Having a
father who pulls in $13 million plus annually may give you a head start in
life, but the world is chock-full of miserable celebrity offspring that never
realized their potential and never achieved their goals. That’s just reality. Further,
all the huffing and puffing in the world won’t change the fact that men and
women are fundamentally different in both their design and in their deepest desires.
Many women have no desire to be Jourdan
Rodrigue. No insult intended.
Now it may turn out that some rather
unusual women like Jourdan find their greatest happiness holding up microphones to preserve for posterity the random musings of overpaid athletes possessing IQs two standard deviations below their own, and bravo
to them if that’s their highest aspiration. In our society they are free to
pursue that goal with all their energy. But even in an incredibly self-centered
culture that insists we always please ourselves first, it seems the majority of
women eventually discover what they really want is a husband and a family. There is evidence both scientific and anecdotal to that effect, though naturally it is hotly disputed by career women.
In any case, telling little girls blatant lies
about what they can achieve in life is not a kindness.
Reasons to be Truthful
It’s abundantly clear in the New Testament
that Christians have a fundamental obligation to be truthful. The truth is to
be spoken lovingly, absolutely. But at the core, what comes out of the Christian’s mouth must
conform to reality, not be molded and modeled to suit the wishes of those whose
ears it’s going into:
“Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor.”
Reality is the best thing for the neighbor.
It’s the best thing for Cam Newton’s girls. It’s even the best thing for Jourdan
Rodrigue, who may find one day that being that go-for-the-jugular career woman is
not all it’s cracked up to be and begin to wonder if she’s maybe missing out on
something. There are lots of men who could hold that microphone she had in her
hand, and none of them came equipped with the ability to do most of the things
Jourdan can do just by virtue of being a woman.
Frankly, I admire a person whose worldview
is sufficiently robust that it never enters his mind to play politics with
every public conversation he engages in. We should all be that way. Christians
are to be careful not to give unnecessary offense, but that doesn’t mean we walk back every
little bit of truth or reality that might occasionally slip out in an
unguarded minute. The world is out to get us, I agree. But when it does, I
suspect the godly thing to do is to look it in the eye and repeat what we just
said for the camera, with explanation if required.
Wednesday’s Cam Newton just went ahead
and said what he thought, and paid the price. There’s something cool about that.
I’m less sure about Thursday’s Cam Newton.
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