:Reasonable Force

Super Bowl winning coachTony Dungy has taken a courageous stand for marriage and the family in accepting a reward from the Indiana Family Institute and announcing publicly his support for a proposed ban on same-sex marriage in Indiana.

From the IndyStar article:

Dungy told more than 700 people at the Indiana Family Institute’s banquet that he agrees with that organization’s position supporting a constitutional amendment that defines marriage as between one man and one woman.

“I appreciate the stance they’re taking, and I embrace that stance,” Dungy said.

Dungy’s comments came in the final three minutes of a wide-ranging, 20-minute speech that recounted stories from the Colts’ Super Bowl run, related his interest in prison ministry and described how he wondered whether his firing in Tampa was God’s signal for him to leave football and enter ministry. He also talked about his efforts to make the Colts more family-friendly by encouraging players to bring their kids to practice.

Local and national gay-rights organizations had criticized Dungy for accepting the invitation to appear at the banquet. The institute, affiliated with Focus on the Family, has been one of the leading supporters of the marriage amendment.

“IFI is saying what the Lord says,” Dungy said. “You can take that and make your decision on which way you want to be. I’m on the Lord’s side.”

The coach said his comments shouldn’t be taken as gay bashing, but rather his views on the matter as he sees them from a perspective of faith.

“We’re not anti- anything else. We’re not trying to downgrade anyone else. But we’re trying to promote the family — family values the Lord’s way,” Dungy said.

Pro-gay advocates were already getting worked up about this as far back as January when his attendance at this banquet was announced, and are decrying the association of such a public and popular figure to a group that opposes “marriage equality” and “gay rights.”

From the same article:

Bil Browning, managing editor of bilerico.com, a blog that focuses on gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender issues in Indiana, was surprised to learn of Dungy’s remarks.

“It is unfortunate that coach Dungy has chosen to align himself with the Indiana Family Institute,” he said. “The Colts were supported this season by all of their fans — gay and straight.”

Here’s a quote from another source from back in January, trotting out the usual misguided comparison of race with sexual orientation:

But, needless to say, I find this, if not surprising, nevertheless dismaying. Such attitudes are common enough among sports personalities, and football is surely the most conservative of the major team sporting cultures. And, there is clearly a common link between the kinds of religious professions that Dungy makes and this sort of homophobia.

But, to hear Dungy talk proudly about what he’s had to overcome as an African American, including the deep-seated prejudices that confronted him as he was growing up and then to turn around and lend his voice to an organization spewing similar kinds of hate-filled rhetoric – well it just begs the question in my mind: how does he reconcile these things? I know how he might answer, by reference to the bible, and God, and deeply held religious beliefs. But, there’s no way to read James Dobson as anything other than bigoted and hate-filled, and plenty of racists have justified their own anti-Black sentiments down through the ages by reference to their own deeply held beliefs about God’s intent, etc.

Surprisingly, I haven’t seen this story on ESPN yet, but I bet it’s coming. Granted, Dungy didn’t say anything on the order of Tim Hardaway’s use of the “H-word,” but to the gay lobby it amounts to the same thing. A statement of religious conviction regarding their sexual proclivities is tantamount to hate-speech and is certain to bring calls for apologies and for the Colts and NFL to distance themselves from such views.

In the present cultural climate, Coach Dungy has taken a genuine risk by openly stating his views. It’s unlikely that the Colts would fire the man that just brought them their sport’s biggest prize, but some pressure may be brought to bear by the league.

For my part, this just adds to my estimation of the caliber of man he is.

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Peter Glover, at his Global Warming Hysteria site, cites evidence that increased temperatures are being detected throughout the solar system, lending credence to the claim that increased solar activity is responsible for the slight warming on Earth rather than man’s wicked ways.

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Focus On the Family’s CitizenLink reports on the impact of abortion on college men:

There’s little research on abortion’s impact on men, but a study by Drexel University revealed 80 percent of men who were at the clinic the day their child was aborted called it one of the worst days of their lives.

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A few highlight paragraphs from the Iraq the Model brothers, Omar and Mohammed, writing at OpinionJournal:

The new strategy to secure Baghdad has been dubbed by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki as “Operation Imposing the Law.” After weeks of waiting and anxiety it is finally under way, and early signs are encouraging….

One difference between this and earlier–failed–attempts to secure Baghdad is the willingness of the Iraqi and U.S. governments to commit enough resources for enough time to make it work. Another important point is the insistence of the Iraqi government that political factions not interfere with the progress of military action. The commanders and the prime minister have made it clear that no one will be above the law, and that even places of worship and the offices of politicians will be subject to searches and raids if evidence of involvement in violence is found….

Military-wise, the results are not humble either; hundreds of militants have been killed, more hundreds arrested, and dozens of weapons caches discovered and destroyed. The frequency of attacks has declined drastically, and the terrifying scene of bullet-riddled bodies has become a rarer incident.

Our people want to see this effort succeed. We know it’s not going to be an easy fight. Rescuing all of Baghdad’s districts from the grip of militants and terrorists will require sacrifice and hard work. We hope the troops and the governments in Baghdad and America do not lose their resolve.

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