April 30, 2013 by David K. Sutton
ESPN’s Chris Broussard Says Jason Collins Is ‘Openly Living In Unrepentant Sin’
This is the talk of religious lunacy. Nobody says things like “unrepentant sin” unless in the context of God and the Bible.
I’m sure you heard about NBA star Jason Collins’ bold decision to become the first openly gay athlete in a major American professional sport. For most Americans who are tolerant, this is a big story, but it’s not shocking. The collective reaction is, “it’s about time!” But for those who mask their bigotry in scripture, yesterday was a sad day for professional sports and morality in America. In their view, gays and lesbians are an affront to God.
“Personally, I don’t believe that you can live an openly homosexual lifestyle or an openly — like premarital sex between heterosexuals. If you’re openly living that type of lifestyle, then the Bible says ‘you know them by their fruits.’ It says that, you know, that’s a sin,” said ESPN’s Chris Broussard. “And if you’re openly living in unrepentant sin, whatever it may be, not just homosexuality — adultery, fornication, premarital sex between heterosexuals — whatever it may be, I believe that’s walking in open rebellion to God and to Jesus Christ. So I would not characterize that person as a Christian because I don’t think the Bible would characterize them as a Christian.”
If you include his entire list of offenses, then there are probably a lot of sinners in the NBA who are in “open rebellion to God.”
Later in the day, Broussard “clarified” his earlier statement by saying, “I offered my personal opinion as it relates to Christianity, a point of view that I have expressed publicly before. I realize that some people disagree with my opinion and I accept and respect that.” Uh, no. You don’t. I trust your first statement is a more accurate representation of your true feelings. And your feeble attempt to save face is nearly as ridiculous.
This is not a matter of “opinion.” Broussard’s “point of view” is the definition of intolerance. What he calls his beliefs are nothing more than bigotry cloaked in religious dogma to make it more palatable to a mass audience. Except there’s a small problem, anti-gay rhetoric, the kind of overt hatred that was acceptable in past decades, is no longer tolerated today by a majority of Americans. We recognize it for what it is — bigotry.
