Posted by:
T-Rex
(
)
Date: July 13, 2011 02:40PM
(not proof read, sorry in advance)
An interesting article in ESPN about Michael Irvin appearing in Out magazine in support of marriage equality. Setting aside the debate on marriage equality, I found Irvin's statements in the interview very intriguing.
For those that do not know much about Michael Irvin, he was know to be quite the ladies man and used drugs with some frequency; however, he has cleaned up his life over the last decade and a half, turning to a more liberal Christianity for inspiration.
In the article, Irvin speaks about how he wants to appear in front of Jesus Christ, not for winning super bowls but rather improving the world. I personally don't believe in the divinity of Christ but I respect people who practice what they preach and more importantly keep it simple and real.
Irvin also mentioned how he loved his gay brother unconditionally and remained close to his brother despite early concerns about the stigma of homosexuality.
Finally, Irvin also mentions the historical irony if American-Americans do not support equality in marriage.
Can Monson, the self-proclaimed only living prophet of God speaking directly with Jesus, make such claims. Oh, I suspect he would say he loves gay people unconditionally but simply does not support the gay lifestyle-whatever that means (debated ad nasium on his forum recently). But expressing unconditional love and demonstrating unconditional love are completely different. Further, loving unconditionally as an expression of faith is different that loving unconditionally in spite of your faith--in other words, Irvin expresses love through action whereas Monson expresses love more out of compulsion due to the commandant "love thy neighbor."
If by your works you know a person, Irvin in this particular arena appears to express his love for Christ--his Charity--much more than Monson.
Here is a link to the article:
http://espn.go.com/dallas/nfl/story/_/id/6760900/former-dallas-cowboys-player-michael-irvin-gay-magazine-equality