Trading a catch for gay marriage?

Gay marriage is and probably will always be a hot topic, only getting hotter as the years go on. I think even the most eco-friendly tree-embracing liberal has more confidence in this issue heating up quicker than the Earth.

David Tyree, on the receiving end of perhaps the greatest catch, if not the greatest play (Eli Manning eluding a sure sack started the play) the Super Bowl has ever known, claims he would gladly give up that catch to stop gay marriage. He says:

“The catch was a gift, it’s not like I’d try to do it.  I couldn’t do it again so that was a miracle,” Tyree told Kenneth Lovett of the Daily News.  “There’s nothing worth more than [maintaining heterosexual marriage] right here for me.”

So we he trade the catch for, um, a block?  “Honestly, I probably would.”

Tyree then elaborated on his point.  “Nothing means more to me than that my God would be honored,” Tyree said.  “Being the fact that I firmly believe that God created and ordained marriage between a man and a woman, I believe that that’s something that should be fought for at all costs.

I think this a good example of caring about God's fame more than your own. Obviously you can't go back in time and trade your success, but his phrase, "Nothing means more to me than that my God would be honored," ought to challenge us all. More often than not we may pray "Thy Kingdom come," but what we want is "our Kingdom come." Instead of thinking about our success and God's honor reminiscently, we ought to think smaller thoughts toward our future success and desire "our God to be honored" more than personal accolades.

At the end of the article, Mike Florio dismisses Tyree's concerns and thoughts regarding marriage to the point of even saying,

"And regardless of where one stands on the matter (personally, I tend to be Libertarian on social matters, as if any of you care), it could be the last time any of us will ever be considering anything Tyree ever says or does."

Its amazing-although I don't know why I'm still amazed-when "open-minded" folks accept all opinions except those birthed from an ultimate religious allegiance (ignoring their own presuppositions). Sometimes when they disagree, the other is vilified or "stupid-fied" and put on what amounts to "talking probation." Seems fairly "closed-minded."

But it's also interesting that Tyree doesn't say anything much more than Tony Dungy or Tim Tebow would say. Yet neither of those two are dismissed. In fact, Mike Florio speaks positively about those lads. Perhaps their "body of work" has earned them more of a right to be heard? Or perhaps gay marriage isn't as primary in their off the field work like prison ministry, pro-family, or pro-life venues. Perhaps these are more socially tolerable?

Maybe there's another rational reason for Florio's take? Or maybe there's something else going on. Sometimes folks will like us when we are obedient (I Peter 2:12) and sometimes folks will hate us for our obedience to Christ (John 15:18). We can expect both. Perhaps the same folks will both like some Christians, and hate or dismiss other Christians.