Eighty-thousand evangelical Christian men are gathering for a Promise Keepers (PK) rally in Dallas July 16-17 to “mainstream hate speech.” They’re cloaking bigotry as religious freedom.
These are the absurd charges of Mike Freeman, a far-left extremist who writes for USA Today sports. He claims that by allowing the rally in the football mecca of AT&T Stadium, the Dallas Cowboys “are helping to mainstream hate speech.”
Freeman calls PK an Evangelical Christian organization “that opposes same-sex marriage and champions that men should head the household." He assailed the remarks of Promise Keepers director Ken Harrison for his remarks on “an extremist right-wing show.”
"One of the things they're doing to make their agenda happen is destroying the identity of the American people, and if they can get Christians, especially Christian men, to sit down, be silent and be passive, then they can be effective,” Harrison said on that show, adding:
"It's working. Christian men are not standing up for what's right. I mean, you think about how quickly we went from homosexual marriage to men putting on dresses, being called women, and playing on women's basketball teams. Where are the Christian men?"
Freeman speculates that Harrison is indicting some combination of the “HollywoodLiberalEliteLeftistSocialistsCommunists” and comments like Harrison's have no place anywhere near an NFL team. Because, you know, the “National Felons League” and its ridiculously long list of domestic assaulters are such paragons of virtue.
In an email to Harrison, Freeman tried to get him to admit he regrets his “hate speech.” Instead, Harrison said the lines of sexual identity are being blurred:
"Look, today’s culture is blurring the lines when it comes to sexual identity. Both Promise Keepers and I subscribe to a Biblical worldview when it comes to male and female, and that’s one of the religious freedoms we celebrate in our nation. Sometimes we agree with culture, and sometimes we don’t.
"The irony of defining my words as hate speech is that is exactly the opposite of what we teach. All people everywhere are welcome to come to our rally to celebrate and be unified around the fact that God forgives the sins of all who believe in Jesus."
Those comments just angered Freeman all the more. He called them offensive and inaccurate and said the notion that Christianity is under siege is folly.
“His hateful words continue a trend of right-wing leaders and lawmakers attacking the transgender community,” Freeman said of Harrison. “There are a number of anti-trans bills popping up all across the country. This is just bigotry. There's no other way to say it.” Those bills are trying to erase transgenders in the name of religion, and the fight to protect trans people is one of 'the great civil rights battles of our time.' ”
It’s not even anti-Christian to expose bigotry, Freeman alleges. And men like Harrison should not be allowed to use mainstream symbols like football as vessels to “circulate hatred.”
Additionally, President Joe Biden is “extremely religious, and his faith doesn't stop him from seeing trans people as human beings,” Freeman goes on. Biden said he has the back of transgenders.
Founded in 1990 by former Colorado University football coach Bill McCartney, Promise Keepers is calling men of integrity to fulfill their destinies as godly husbands, fathers and leaders. There are several young men working in football stadiums on fall Sundays who would do well to heed such a message.
