I have so many issues with this discussion I had to make a complete blog post instead of just commenting on the video. First let's review. Manti Te'o recently came to national attention as a possible victim of "Catfishing." "Catfishing" is when someone pretends to be someone else and has a relationship with someone via the internet, and sometimes by phone. This can be a girl making a facebook page using an assumed name and pictures of someone else, or a guy pretending to be a girl or a girl pretending to be a guy. The list is endless in it's possibilities.
In this case Te'o claims to have had a two and half year relationship with a woman online and then she died. Turns out the girl existed but is very much alive. He claims he was Catfished, and there is some controversy whether he was a victim of a deception or this girl was pretending to be his girlfriend for some reason and then they decided she should "die" because one or both of them no longer wanted to participate in the deception. Why do we care? This 21 year old kid has made such a splash playing high school and college football that he is a first tier NFL draft pick. So whether he's a great football player is suddenly secondary to whether he participated in this deception.
So Secondly if you watch the video you'll see I commented on it. Let me expand my thoughts here. Now I get that in order for gay people to be treated like everyone else that more people in regular life and public life need to "come out" so people know we are everywhere, in every place, in every walk of life. That we are people, and sometimes we are good and sometimes we are bad, and sometimes you would agree with us and sometimes you wouldn't. Also, unlike other minorities, like Blacks or Asians, you can't always tell from outward appearance who is gay and who is straight. So it would help our cause of equality if people in the public eye, like Anderson Cooper, Andy Cohen, and Matt Bomer, were to come out. (Yes I just named 3 out celebrities as examples). A few of the last bastions were people are reluctant to come out publicly are Hollywood, the Music Industry, and professional sports. I get all this.
Now, what they don't get that you and I get, is no one gets to tell you when it's a good time for you to come out. No one should. You should never be forced, and yes you should consider your life and what's important to you. You have to feel comfortable with yourself. Many times this is a leap of faith and you just don't know how people will react and sometimes, you do. Even Dan Savage says, if you know your parents are going to cut you off when you come out, consider waiting until you can support yourself before doing so.
As I mention in my comment, in the 90s Barbara Walters interviewed Ricky Martin at the height of his fame. She was the first person to ask him directly if he was gay. He didn't answer the question. As he tells in his book "Me" every time he was interviewed or mentioned in the press, the question kept coming up. So often it sucked the life out of his one true joy, entertaining, and forced him to shy away from the public eye. He said this not blaming Barbara Walters, but to explain how hard it was for him, a South American Catholic, former Soap star and Entertainer, to deal with his sexuality.
For the 50th anniversary of Barbara Walters career in journalism, they had a panel discussion about it on the View. Someone pointed out that she was known for asking the questions others dared not to ask. They then asked if there was any question she regretted asking. She said she regretted asking Ricky Martin if he was gay because it took from him, for a brief time, his ability to experience the one thing in his life that brought him joy. So maybe the question needs not to be asked. Maybe we just need to let people come out when they are ready. Your life is not a political statement. You don't get retakes. It's all done live without wires or nets.
Secondly, what the one man said about Catholics, Mormons and the NFL. I can't say anything about the NFL but I can say, I've known quite a few Catholics and Mormons who I find quite tolerant people and do not include themselves with those who rally against gay equality. I do find it unfortunate that they are not the Catholics and Mormons in political service. Not that I haven't met the other kind. One of the most heartbreaking moments I've had was about 8 years ago. Virginia had on it's ballot not only a ban on gay marriage but a decision to get rid of common law marriages in the state so there would never be a back door. I won't go into how I feel about gay marriage cause well ... pick any of my previous posts and I'm sure you'll see how I feel. Anyway, a woman I considered a good friend came up to me on that election day and made it a point to tell me she had voted on the ban. Now, she could have just voted and not told me that, and I'll admit, being honest with me about it makes her in my eyes, not a hypocrite. It was the pride she showed me in that moment that brought tears to my eyes. If she had come up to me with some humility and told me and said something to the effect of I like you, but it's just what I believe, it would have hurt less. You can't fault people for standing up for what they believe in, it's when they attack you with it that there is a problem. Still that is about as strong of an effect as I've gotten from a Catholic. Even the Baptists, born again Christians, and Bible Church people, you can at least have an intelligent conversation with. Well, most of them.
Thirdly, since when has God connected him/her/itself to any religion? I mean seriously? When was the last time you saw an advertising campaign directly from God saying he/she/it supported Christianity or any other religion as the one true religion. Sure they all claim that to some extent, but as Marianne Williamson says "God doesn't appreciate your labels and categories, because he's beyond them."
I think it's time we started having an intelligent conversation about God. Most people think God is supposed to be something between Superman (I jumped out of a plane without a parachute, SAVE ME) and Santa Claus (Gimme) and some because he/she/it isn't like either, refuse to believe. Which is weird because there is evidence that even Neanderthal believed in some force greater than himself. Even most Quantum Physicists will tell you the universe itself is an intelligence. (One of the oldest of spiritual laws is the Law of Mentalism, which says if the universe started as an idea in the mind of God, in order for it to change and evolve it must still be in the mind of God and is therefore mental or intelligence.) So, yes people who pray for touchdowns should be laughed at, but not people who thank God for them.
So bottom line is, until we have evidence that this kid actually was part of the deception leave him alone. Even if he was we don't know why he did it and we'd just embarrass him in finding out. Maybe he is gay. Maybe he can't talk to girls. Maybe he's one of those guys that ejaculates in his pants the minute a girl touches him. Maybe he has a very small penis. Maybe he has an inhumanly large penis that scares women. Maybe he's a bedwetter. Who cares. He's good at football. Someone draft him.
This is the kind of B.S. the media comes up with and let me tell you it's just a distraction. See if you're thinking of Manti Te'o, or Lindsay Lohan, or the latest iPhone, or the fiscal cliff, you won't be holding the people in power accountable for the massive frack ups and deceptions they perpetrate on a daily basis in your name, or looking for your own solutions. They think you're dumb and you're making them right.
