ByDAVIDMURPHY.com

You can argue about Jason Collins stature in the NBA (HE’S A JOURNEYMAN!), you can argue about his status as an active player (HE’S A FREE AGENT!), you can argue about whatever you think there is to argue about a gay athlete coming out of closet, because this is America, and in America we believe that if you have an argument, then dadgumit you have the right to a split screen and a clip-on mic (KEEP IT SHORT BECAUSE WE’RE GOING TO BREAK!). What you cannot argue is that some issues cannot be resolved by way of argument. Or, rather, that they cannot be resolved using the preferred argumentative format of our times: 30 seconds of opinion followed by 30 seconds of rebuttal followed by 15 seconds of simultaneous high-pitched screeching before a hard cut to an erectile dysfunction commercial. And that one potential complication of arguing such an issue via  the 30/30/15 format — or its written equivalent, Twitter — is telling the subject of the argument and, presumably, a few of your viewers that they are going to hell.

That, after all, is what Chris Broussard did when he told an ESPN audience that he believes that people who engage in sexual intercourse outside of marriage are sinners who are living in open rebellion of God. The reaction from the Internet was swift and fierce, and by dinnertime all of the blogs seemed to be unanimous in their judgment that Broussard is an asshole and everybody should move on with their news cycles. And that’s fine, because the Internet exists to render judgment and move on. But it also undercuts much of the potential good of Jason Collins’ decision to come out.

While our reaction to the Jason Collinses of the world offers us a chance to measure the enlightenment of our society, it is our reaction to the Chris Broussards that will dictate its future trajectory. Collins’ decision to share his sexuality is important because of the impact it can have on members of our society who might finally discover somebody with whom they can identify. But Broussard’s decision to share his theology is also important, because it is a theology that is shared by a considerable segment of Americans, and if you think a couple of snarky blogposts and a #FireChrisBroussard hashtag affect change within them,  then you haven’t been hanging out with enough conservative evangelicals lately.

You cannot use persecution to alter a belief system that exists largely because of persecution. You can, however, use reason, which was a favorite tool of that humble woodworker’s son they called Jesus of Nazareth. Like, for instance, that time at the Mount of Olives when the religious officials of the day had gathered to punish a woman who had committed adultery, and he responded by writing in the dirt that whichever of the officials had not committed a sin should be the first to cast a stone.

Of course, Jesus’ lesson that day probably would not have translated as well had he been forced to deliver it into a camera opposite a Pharisee wearing a Ralph Lauren blazer and designer frames. The 30/30/15 formula almost never equates to a net gain in understanding. This time around, ESPN had the misfortune of using it to discuss an issue whose debate as led to theological schisms in entire denominations over the years. It is the kind of discussion that needs to be held on a radio program that is hosted by a gentleman with an English accent who is twirling a snifter of brandy, not a cable sports program that is little more than vehicle for pharmaceutical companies to hawk boner pills.

All of this might make you wonder whether an athlete has the ability to affect social change in the current age, since whatever good he performs is likely to be overshadowed by the cranium-deep pontifications of whatever goober happens to be on air that day. But then you come back to the most telling piece of context that you read today, that it took Jason Collins 32 years before he felt comfortable sharing his sexuality with the brother who had been by his side since they were just a couple of embryos floating in the amniotic sea of life. That’s when you understand the greatest lesson of the day: It doesn’t fucking matter what Chris Broussard believes.

Being single has its advantages, like never having to attend a murder mystery dinner party on a Saturday night. But being single is most definitely not advantageous when dinner time arrives. It isn’t the cooking that’s the problem. Rather, it’s the eating. Our nation’s wholesalers simply do not package their food stuffs with single people in mind. I have to set an alarm to remind me to eat a banana every 12 hours so I can finish a bunch before it goes bad. To some folks, a package of hamburger buns signifies a cookout. For me, it signifies eight straight days of eating hamburgers.

You know what they say, though. Adapt or die. So I figured I’d start a little segment on this here BLOG! that periodically details my culinary experiences. Today, I made Dave’s Famous Bachelor Casserole. While it is neither famous nor a casserole, it is tasty, cheap and, if you are willing to overlook the 1200 milligrams of sodium, relatively healthy (well, it has lots of protein and fiber, anyway). Continue reading →

One of the downsides of this new information age is that I often find myself swimming in a story without any idea of my original point of entry. This morning it was the Central Park 5, the documentary by Ken Burns, his daughter Sarah, and her husband. I’m sure the chain of progression went something like: 1. Unrelated story linked on Twitter, 2. Semi-related Wikipedia Entry, 3. Central Park 5 Wikipedia Entry, 4. Central Park 5 film reviews. Quick synopsis: in 1989, five youths from Harlem were convicted of the brutal rape and near-murder of a woman who became known as the Central Park Jogger. They were convicted on the basis of five sometimes incongruous confessions, in which each suspect admitted to participating in the rape as a part of a large, roving band of youth that was participating in an activity they allegedly called “wilding” — which essentially consisted of rampaging through public committing indiscriminate acts of mob violence for fun. Continue reading →

There are people who will argue that liberalism is little more than the political manifestation of a desire for cognitive ease. As a friend of mine once said, being a progressive is easy. It is easy to believe in equality. It is easy to believe in non-violence. It is easy to believe in intellectual freedom. In fact, it is easy to believe in the vast majority of the ideals that liberals espouse when advocating their policies. Much more difficult is the acknowledgment that a good idea does not always make for a good piece of public policy, and that even when it does, the process necessary to make it so is long and arduous and unsuited to reactionary swings in public sentiment. In an ideal world, life could be controlled by three clicks of the heels and a wish to go home. But as we were reminded last Friday, we do not live in an ideal world.

You say you want gun control. This is not a new desire. I recently saw a poll that said 57 percent of the country was in favor of gun control even before the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School. Of course, 57 percent of the country would be in favor of rivers that flow with chocolate and volcanoes that spew marshmallows and gold. The key to winning the gun control debate is not convincing the other side that a society without semi-automatic weapons is a safer society. The key is convincing the other side that such a society is both attainable and sustainable. And that is considerably more difficult. Continue reading →

I can’t stop looking at this picture:

For 48 hours, I tried my damnedest to avoid the media coverage of the tragedy that unfolded in Newtown, Conn. At home, I avoided Twitter. In the car, I drove in silence. At the gym, I chose the treadmills where I could best ignore the newscasts broadcasting live from the scene. The processing of tragedy is an individual thing. For whatever reason, my brain told me that it needed space, that it needed time, that it needed to breathe whatever fresh air remained in this real-time world. And so I afforded it all of the above. It did not need debate. It did not need closure. It did not need a monologue from Chris Berman telling it what it needed. Chris Berman may have needed it. I did not.

And yet here I am, 11:39 on a Sunday night, my television blank, the fourth quarter of a football game no longer relevant. All because of a picture. I cannot stop looking at a child who is dressed like a princess, ruby red slippers and pink stockings, chin resting on the knee of a man, a man who happens to be the leader of the free world but whose identity really does not matter, at least that is what her face tells me as it stares somewhere offscreen, her left arm draped across his leg. What is that expression? It is confused and vulnerable and perhaps a bit sad, but it is also safe, and it is surrounded by similar expressions, some of them shy and some them relieved and some of them curious, but all of them safe and comfortable and for a moment unencumbered by the situation at hand. I don’t know what any of it means, none of us do, and while we may begrudge those of us who pretend otherwise — because, again, the processing of these things is a matter specific to the individual — we are in a far better position to derive some meaning from it all than the children in this picture. How do we create a society that instills a sense of safety without the presence of the President of the United States and a police officer with his back against the wall?

While each expression in that picture says something different, the collective message is the same. The fundamental premise of any society is that some responsibilities are meant to be shared. The preservation of innocence is one.

A couple of days ago, I wrote a little bit about Nnamdi Asumogha’s comments after the Eagles’ atrocious loss to the Lions on Sunday. In that post, I referenced a play early in the fourth quarter in which Calvin Johnson broke off a 20-yard catch-and-run to set up a Lions touchdown. The coaches’ film that the NFL now makes available to subscribers provides a nice view of what happened on the play.

Let’s take a look at a few screenshots of the play unfolding…

Continue reading →