Tea at Trianon: Harrison Butker’s Speech

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Sunday, May 19, 2024

Harrison Butker’s Speech

I thought it was the best commencement speech ever. From The National Review:

Butker addresses the audience with encouragements on motherhood and fatherhood (which has been woefully disregarded in the discourse online). He then spoke about how his wife has fulfilled the vocation that she was called to. He emphasized the goodness and importance of motherhood and noted that it has been attacked in the culture for quite a long time. While speaking about his love and admiration for his wife, he choked up. He also spoke extensively about the need for fathers in the home and the importance of men fulfilling their duties as fathers. The Catholic Church teaches that men and women are called to fatherhood and motherhood, either spiritually or physically.
The graduates of Benedictine have been equipped with substantial knowledge of Catholic Church teachings and ethics. Many have a degree in theology and are able to parse Butker’s speech to assess what in it is true and what might need clarification.

His speech was not given to evangelize or to change minds, but rather to encourage Benedictine students on their paths forward. As a student at Benedictine, I was never discouraged from getting my degree, finding a job, or having ambitions and dreams. I was in Gregorian Fellows, a leadership program whose goal is to create men and women leaders equipped to go out into the world. We were taught about the greatness of family life as well as the importance of evangelization. (Read more.)

Tucker joins the fray. From The Vigilant Fox:

“If you’re sending girls to fight your wars, you’re disgusting!”
Carlson says doing so is “violating the most basic agreement there is,” which is “the man protects.”
He added, “If there’s a home invasion at your house at 3 in the morning, you’re like, ‘Honey, I dealt with the last time. Go, go defend us.’ I hope that she leaves you, and she will.”
These comments followed Carlson recalling a past conversation in which a general described how a soldier and mother of three children, who had her legs blown off and died in Iraq, had made “the ultimate sacrifice for America.”
As you can imagine, Tucker was furious. Take a listen to how that conversation went down. (Read more.)

From Catholic Vote:

Benedictine College is unapologetically Catholic. This shouldn’t be a shock to anyone who has spent at least 30 seconds looking at their website or Instagram. There has never been any attempt to hide or shy away from our identity. Rather, the college is proud to nurture traditional Catholic values.

As a young woman and a Benedictine student, I am proud of my college for its unashamed faith. It is a haven for young people, like me, who have not always felt accepted for what we believe and who often have to defend our views.

Knowing this about my school, it didn’t come as a surprise to me when Benedictine asked Harrison Butker, an outspoken traditional Catholic, to give the commencement speech at this year’s graduation.

What did come as a shock to me was the firestorm that followed.

Butker began his speech by addressing the hardships the graduating class has faced throughout their educational journey. What stuck out to me in his introduction, however, was the intense call to action he gave the audience.

He stated that we as Catholics must have more courage in speaking openly about our beliefs.

“We need to stop pretending that the Church of Nice is a winning proposition,” he said.

For many, including me, this is a terrifying suggestion. It is one thing to go into the upper room and pray behind closed doors, but it is something else entirely to show my faith openly to the world. My faith is what I cherish most and it scares me to think of opening it up to ridicule from others. Butker recognizes that fear, yet still lives a boldly Catholic life. (Read more.)

From Carrie Gress at The Washington Examiner:

Despite the local audience who gave Butker a standing ovation and the fact that his #7 jersey is selling like hotcakes, Butker’s remarks have not been well received by the cultural elite. The NFL has distanced itself from him, with Jonathan Beane, the NFL’s senior vice president and chief diversity and inclusion officer, telling NPR, “Harrison Butker gave a speech in his personal capacity. His views are not those of the NFL as an organization.”

Jason Page at MSNBC had perhaps the most eyebrow-raising response. Page said that members of the political Right “sit idly by, or even worse, may applaud the ignorance of a kicker telling women to stay at home and pop out babies in a subservient manner while worshipping their husbands. The misogyny at play is staggering.”
What is staggering is that anyone actually believes this anymore.

What the intelligentsia doesn’t yet realize is that the winds have changed, and the blather about women popping out babies and worshiping their husbands just doesn’t land the way it did 50 or even 10 years ago. Feminism fatigue has set in: Women who have been groomed for three generations to crave power and control at the expense of family are now reprioritizing.

The girlboss is out — she has been replaced with the likes of the “softgirl” or the “tradwife,” to name two of the latest trends. These new monikers reveal that ’70s feminism is losing its grip. Women, particularly younger women, have lost their stomach for the corporate ladder grind and its requisite sacrificing of husbands and children. (Read more.)