‘Stay in your lane!’ says Chiefs football player way out of his lane

Harrison Butker, an outspoken Catholic and Kansas City Chiefs kicker, has amassed an internet following of hundreds of thousands.

His Instagram feed features a collection of luxury clothes accompanied with Scripture quotations. This platform has helped him become a popular commencement speaker, having spoken at Georgia Tech last year and Benedictine College on May 11.

Butker’s favorite phrase is, “stay in your lane.” It was a frequent topic in his now-viral address at the Catholic institution in Atchison, Kansas, and it creates a strong irony.

The Kansas City, Missouri, football player begins his speech with a strong critique of “bad leaders who don’t stay in their lane.” His criticism swiftly spreads from President Joe Biden — whom he does not name but calls “delusional” — to all church leadership, particularly the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

His main worry with America’s political leaders is their “bad policy.” He specifically mentions abortion, surrogacy, IVF, and euthanasia as topics of concern. He is referring more broadly to the concept of “degenerate” values disseminated by “the media.” His use of the phrase “pervasiveness of disorder” is a direct reference to the catechism’s use of the term “disordered” in a section on homosexuality. He also mentions “dangerous gender ideology”.

However, Butker believes that the government’s response to COVID-19 is the most evident example of secular and religious leadership inadequacies. He regularly mentions the rejection of numerous US bishops to continue in-person Masses throughout the pandemic. Butker believes this communicates weakness and that “the sacraments don’t matter.” As a result, he believes that clerics lack public authority because they are both fearful and content. Butker claims that the average clergyman is overly reliant on lay authority while proudly pursuing “adulation.” Don’t they understand that’s what social media influencers are for?

Butker’s lecture contains a contradiction between the public and private aspects of spirituality. He believes that both clergy and laypeople must be more outspoken. However, he also claims that praying and fasting in secret yield far greater benefits than any public platform. His persistent attacks on the LGBTQ+ community and DEI (diversity, equality, and inclusion) measures raise the question of who is permitted to be public. Who and what are supposed to remain private?

We keep these questions in mind as Butker shifts to a discussion of gender. These words have catapulted his speech into the internet spotlight. He claims that women have been duped, and that while many female grads are certainly dreaming about careers and promotions, those are far inferior to the title of “homemaker.” Butker believes that the most essential thing a woman can do is support her husband in his professional aspirations while also reminding him of the value of family. He never says women should not work; he simply says that their employment should be subordinate to their marital responsibilities.

While the video’s virality highlights the tonal inconsistency of undervaluing women’s career pursuits during their own college graduation, this is not a novel idea. Catholic leaders are increasingly promoting “tradwife” principles. What particularly astounds me about this statement is the blatant hypocrisy of insisting on traditional Catholicism while weakening ecclesiastical leadership. He goes so far as to argue that the ordinary American bishop lives a “inconsequential existence.” Setting aside this contempt for inherent human dignity, wouldn’t a conventional Catholic viewpoint be to subject to your bishop’s catechetical authority?

Butker himself states that “it is not prudent for the laity to consume ourselves with becoming amateur theologians” unless, unlike Butker, who studied industrial engineering, you had studied theology in a Catholic university. Doesn’t he thus disqualify himself from his own endeavor? Are we to think that there was no qualified bishop or theologian available to deliver this address instead?

Butker is correct that a bishop’s obligation to form congregations in his territory receives insufficient attention. I laughed out loud when he asserted that nobody reads anything the USCCB publishes. However, the reason for this lack of respect stems from the nature of Butker’s own platform: the typical Catholic is considerably more likely to listen to people with online followership than those who have been particularly trained to accompany others and effectively convey theology. Expertise is essential.

In a religious hierarchy where clerical views vary but are organically accentuated, social media can highlight alternative specialists, such as women and laypeople. However, dismissing educated knowledge in influencer culture leads to problems like incorrectly associating the sin of pride with being proud of oneself (as witnessed in Pride Month arguments) or presuming that there is a single “biblical teaching” on any given complex topic.

Mr. Butker, the call is coming from within the home.

Butker has made it his mission to inspire listeners to focus on their own passions and stay on their own path. Isn’t it his own lane, football? Butker begins his address by declaring that “being Catholic alone won’t cut it.” Perhaps the board of Benedictine College will take Mr. Butker’s advice when selecting next year’s commencement speaker.