Sports Idiot of the Week

Professional athletes and officials are an intellectually and politically diverse group of folks, just like the general population. The news has covered arch-Conservatives like Tim Tebow and Tim  Thomas, anti-homophobia spokesmen Brian Burke and Henrik Lundqvist, and the career of centrist goalie-attorney-author-member of Parliament Ken Dryden. Hall of Fame NHLer Peter Stastny is a career politician now, and Slovak countryman Zdeno Chara is also active when not leveling opponents. Folks like these may seem to be the minority of jocks, but they really are not, and the news media loves to get a quip from those who have attained the spotlight, regardless of whether it is profound or profane.

Enter boxing champion, musician, and Filipino congressman Manny Pacquiao.

It's no secret that PacMan's politics are shaped by his very literal adherence to Roman Catholic doctrine. His election was cemented on his hard-right views which have made him a darling of not only Filipino(a) Conservatives, but Spanish and American ones as well. Because he is not shy about his views, right-wing media outlets seek out the boxer as a source of inspiration; proof that you can be at the top of the sports world while championing conservative causes.

While most people know what to expect from the man who is currently on the anti end in the Phillipines' Reproductive Bill, his interview with the unabashedly racist, sexist, and homophobic National Conservative Examiner was destined to shock.

In a piece aimed at Barack Obama, the boxer spoke out against gay marriage to be sure, but also offered this direct quote from scripture that has caused reactions ranging from applause to revulsion.

In the piece he quoted Leviticus 20:13 verbatim, which reads as follows

"If a man lies with a man as one lies with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They must be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads."


and then added his further opinion

God only expects man and woman to be together and to be legally married, only if they so are in love with each other. It should not be of the same sex so as to adulterate the altar of matrimony, like in the days of Sodom and Gomorrah of Old.

Now, Pacquiao is not the first person to promote hatred of gays based on a book written over millenia by 70-odd different cave-dwellers and nomads. He's not even the first pro athlete to do it. However, what is different is the fact that it is a more modern era, and moreover, he stated the quote in such a way that one is led to believe that he really wants people not of his orientation to die. As in no longer living and creeping him and God out.

Because they always do such things, I expect the famewhores over at GLAAD to be all over this story, demanding an apology. But wouldn't any such entreaty be such an obviously artificial attempt for Pacquiao to save his massive endorsements from the likes of Hennessy and Hewlett-Packard?I don't actually expect the jerk to offer an apology, but if he did, it would be as much of a lie as the marital fidelity he claims to want to protect. (It's well-known that he's had a very public extramarital affair)

Pacquiao expects Obama and everyone else to read and obey Biblical law init's many contradictions when he is wearing proof that he doesn't himself. He's a guy who makes millions giving other people irreversible brain damage and promoting hard liquor, but moreover, he does it all while showing the world that he is violating Leviticus 19:28. You see, according do the book that Pac-Man holds so dear, possessing his variety of tattoos is as fatal of an abomination as sleeping with a dude. And not only does the boxer possess several tattoos, he even owns a tattoo shop in L.A. Talk about picking and choosing your commandments.

Needless to say, Many Pacquiao's obvious inability to read and comprehend the book that he uses to promote the death of other men while he flouts the rules himself  is what makes him a hypocrite and the sports idiot of the week.