A Maryland mother defended comments made by NFL player Harrison Butker in his commencement speech at a Catholic college.
Butker praised traditional gender roles and motherhood, saying women had been misled about these roles’ value.
While his remarks sparked controversy, the mother said they resonated with her experiences.
“The fact that a professional athlete showed the courage and the conviction to speak truth in an age when eyes are blinded and ears are shut against it, was deeply encouraging to me,” mother Dawn Duran said. “What did surprise me is that people were shocked that a traditional Catholic speaking to a Catholic audience believes things that Catholics have proclaimed for thousands of years.”
“The so-called successes I had in my life — I was a college athlete, I was selected as a Rhodes Scholarship finalist. I directed a physical therapy clinic, I rehabbed Olympic athletes. I was a college professor — they all paled in comparison to my most prized role of wife and mother,” she said.
“Some of you may go on to lead successful careers in the world, but I would venture to guess that the majority of you are most excited about your marriage and the children you will bring into this world. I can tell you that my beautiful wife Isabelle would be the first to say that her life truly started when she began living her vocation as a wife and as a mother,” Butker said.
She disagreed with critiques that Butker declared all women must be homemakers, saying he merely inspired those seeking that role.
The mother believed the backlash stemmed from Butker speaking truths that contradict contemporary views disrespecting traditions.
“I did not hear him declare that every woman must be a stay-at-home wife and mother. Instead, he was merely inspiring women who recognize that as their highest calling to embrace it. He was encouraging them that they didn’t have to buy into society’s depiction of a successful woman,” Duran said.
“I think that his great sin was that he dared to say something that is obviously true in public. We live in a world that routinely rejects God, rejects its creation order. And Harrison Butker called our attention to the fact that absolute truth does, in fact, exist, despite our culture’s best efforts to deny it,” Duran said.
“But unfortunately, our culture devalues the family and the work of mothering to the extent that this became the issue that it has become,” she added.
Nonetheless, some felt Butker’s remarks disparaged other lifestyle choices.
