Wapo sports' columnist roasts religious critics of Jason Collins homosexuality:
Jason Collins’s religious critics need to practice what they preach
With Jason Collins clearing one of big-time team sports’ last barriers to equality, it’s time to extend an olive branch to some of the other people who also came out Monday: Let’s give it up for the heterosexual religious zealots, some of whom let us know their true, authentic selves.
It takes a lot of Old Testament moral certainty to have such strong conviction against a 7-foot NBA journeyman’s sexuality, especially after Collins had the guts to become the first active male athlete in a major team sport to say he’s gay — which, by the way, is so universally accepted it took just 38 years since a former Redskin named Dave Kopay became the first gay player to come out after he was retired.
While many voiced support for (or at least tolerance of) Collins in the aftermath, some used his historic announcement to call homosexuality a sin and an open rebellion toward God and otherwise trumpeted their bigotry under the guise of “religious beliefs.” To them, we say this: We don’t think you will burn in the eternal hellfire of damnation just because you think gay people will. We know that God loves you, too, and we await your healing and your delayed entry into the 21st century.
It’s true that we choose our religion and can decide how to treat others in ways that no one chooses his or her sexual orientation (because, really, given the environments in most locker rooms, what athlete would choose to be gay?) And because we’re free to make those choices, all people are entitled to their own interpretations of the Book of Leviticus. They’ll all be allowed to watch games like any paying customer. If some choose to wear their straightness on their sleeves by participating in the mixed-sex-only KISSCam, it won’t change our feelings: We will still embrace them — but not, like, long enough to make anyone uncomfortable.
We don’t all have to see the world from the same perspective; we don’t even have to interpret religious writings the same way. But let’s at least be consistent: If the outrage at Collins is all about religion, where was the contempt for Shawn Kemp’s and Antonio Cromartie’s serial fathering? Really, why is an openly gay athlete evoking such fervor while a womanizing athlete is just one of the fellas?
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More: http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/wizards/jason-collins-religious-critics-need-to-practice-what-they-preach/2013/04/30/3129e752-b1df-11e2-9a98-4be1688d7d84_story.html
Ha!
= new reply since forum marked as read
". . . the contempt for Shawn Kemp’s and Antonio Cromartie’s serial fathering? Really, why is an openly gay athlete evoking such fervor while a womanizing athlete is just one of the fellas?"
Why, indeed? One does not have to be an unbeliever to see the double standard (hypocrisy?) here.
Yeah, what about all those young children fathered out of wedlock who (in practical terms) have no father in their lives? Is this not socially destructive (not to mention the hurt inflicted upon the kids themselves)?
Perhaps one reason is because the coming out of gay athletes gives the lie to the masculine mythology of the sports culture. Those athletes who do come out are likely to be deeply resented in some quarters of the sports crowd for that very reason, and this view really has nothing to do with religion. At least that's my opinion. When a stereotype is shattered, those who have a vested interest in maintaining that stereotype are not likely to react in a very kind manner.
I'm referring to the popular cultural view directed against certain boys: nonathletic = effeminate = unmanly = inferior = deserving of contempt. The truth is that supposed "effeminacy" is irrelevant. Men and boys simply are too diverse, even complicated.
Here's a truth I never would have been inclined to believe when I was a teenager: Some of the most rugged guys around are gay! As a heterosexual amateur bodybuilder, I wish I was as well-built as those guys! Of course, when I was a teenager, the accepted view (at least in Texas) was that all male athletes (especially those in rough contact sports) were straight and that physically weak boys lacking self-confidence were likely to be guilty of having "homosexual tendencies."
By the way, why has the religious right (or church leadership in general) been silent about the Steubenville scandal? This question is also relevant.
Yes, indeed, interesting questions for a Wednesday morning! 
