#39 - The Pastor vs. The Patriots

As reported by Tim Funk of the Charlotte Observer a few days ago:

North Carolina-based evangelist Franklin Graham says the New England Patriots should be ashamed of themselves. His reason: The 2017 Super Bowl champions have announced they’ll be the first NFL team to sponsor the “Gay Bowl,” the national championship tournament for LGBTQ flag football teams.

Gay Bowl 17 will be held in the Boston area in early October.

In a Facebook post last Friday, Graham – CEO of the Charlotte-based Billy Graham Evangelistic Association – wrote that “I’m disappointed that a great team from such a wonderful area of the country would promote a sinful lifestyle like this. Shame on them.”

Graham even deputized Facebook followers to echo his latest venture into moral policing by contacting the NFL franchise: “Let the Patriots know that you don’t support this move.”

His Friday post was shared by nearly 8,000 people, and “liked” by about 26,000.

The Gay Bowl was created in 2002, and the Patriots have long shown support for the LGBTQ community and gay athletes.  In 2003, the team sent former player Andre Tippett to that year’s Gay Bowl to officiate over the tourney’s ceremonial coin toss. In 2015, the team as well as Patriots’ owner Robert Kraft signed an amicus brief supporting same-sex marriage. The Supreme Court’s subsequent decision legalized marriage between same-sex partners.

Kraft “was unequivocal in lending the support of the Patriots simply, he said, because it’s the right thing to do,”

When discussing Gay Rights, I do my best to be very respectful of any one's belief in their own God and in their own religion.  One of the founding principals of our country is religious freedom, and if someone tells me because of their religious beliefs that they disapprove of gays, I will acknowledge that they have their right to their opinion,  

And I have a right to my opinion as well, and I want to say that I completely agree with Robert Kraft who has lent his support to the LGBTQ community and gay athletes simply because  “it’s the right thing to do”.    My opinion is based on what I believe is right in my heart, my mind and my soul. When it comes time for God to judge me, I am OK with that.  

And, I am happy to say, that despite the efforts of Reverand Franklin Graham and his 8,000 homophobic deputies, Gay Bowl XVII will go on in Boston on October 6 to October 8.  

That’s the way WE ride, up here in the great state of Massachusetts.