Monday, January 28, 2008

Profiles in double standards.

About 2 ½ weeks ago, ESPN personality Dana Jacobson spoke at a roast for one of her colleagues, Mike Golic.

Jacobson, who was reportedly intoxicated during her speech, launched into a foul-mouthed tirade towards the University of Notre Dame, a Catholic institution and Golic’s alma mater. Said tirade included abhorrent references to Jesus Christ. So vile were the comments that I can’t bring myself to post them here, no matter how much they’re edited.

Naturally, this drew the ire of many religious leaders. And given this incident has the potential for being a high profile story, I’m shocked that two of the more publicity-hungry activists seem to be sitting this one out.


Oh, wait. The derogatory words were only aimed towards the Son of God, not any minorities.


The gospel according the Rev. Al Sharpton and Rev. Jesse Jackson says, "Thou shall not call any Rutgers Women's basketball players 'nappy-headed ho.'" To do so requires the immediate termination of the offender. Loss of income is divine absolution in the Al and Jesse gospel.

However, when a female sportscaster references the Son of God with a foul four-letter word, no sin has been committed in the eyes of Al and Jesse. In the eyes of these "men of the cloth," the use of such a verb is well within the mercy provisions of their doctrine.



ESPN seems to have a different standard as well. Jacobson was suspended one week for vile comments about Jesus Christ. She should consider herself lucky. I mean had Jacobson really crossed a line by questioning the mainstream media’s bias towards, say, a black quarterback, then the consequences would have been much more devastating.

------------------------------------------

3 comments:

W.B. Picklesworth said...

Speaking as just one Christian, I wouldn't want her to be fired for her remarks. More than anything, my heart goes out to her.

As for ESPN, I find it unfortunate that they caved to pressure to fire Rush for what were not fireable remarks. That is the very thin-skinned nature of America right now. Be that as it may, I do not want to become a member of a victim class. Christ has given us victory no matter what anyone else may do or say.

Brad Carlson said...

Ben, I couldn’t have said it better myself. And to be clear, I too am not interested in being victimized. Like you say, we’ve already won!

I guess my overall point is I’m intrigued by the logic employed by the likes of ESPN and Jackson/Sharpton. That is, how do they decide which groups are OK to ridicule and which are the so-called “sacred cows”.

Mr. D said...

Excellent post, Brad. Well said.