Who Doesn’t Wear The Ribbon?!

Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Ivan Provorov refused to take a pregame skate last night in the team’s LGBTQ+ warmup jersey, citing his preference “to stay true to myself and my religion,” This is Russian Orthodox. “I respect everyone. I respect everybody’s choices,” Only one player refused to participate at Pride Night, he said.

You can imagine the hysterics Provorov’s apostasy sparked among the enlightened sports commentariat. TSN’s Pierre LeBrun claimed Provorov “obviously does not respect ‘everyone.’ If he did respect everyone, he would have taken part in warm-up and worn the Pride Night jersey. Don’t hide behind religion.”

The “don’t hide behind religion” Jibe is one the most ignorant and lazy smears. It’s a favorite of bullies who act like they can bore into the souls of the blasphemers. It’s bad enough that LeBrun contends that the only possible reason someone might be disinclined to celebrate same-sex marriage or the sweeping “+” (I wonder if Lebrun can explain it coherently?) deep-rooted bigotry. However, these amateur theologians claim that dissenters can be found in “hiding” behind faith, they’re not only arguing that religion is a mask for bigotry but that no genuine faith could possibly have a problem with the cultural norms he adopted about five minutes ago.

Many Orthodox faiths, such as Russians, Orthodox Jews and Catholics, Muslims, Lutherans and Muslims, believe same-sex relationships to be sinful. For centuries, their adherents believed it. An individual of good faith can “respect” others — they can even respect people for taking a stance — without celebrating their choices. In a truly open and diverse society, we don’t demand everyone abandon their tradition and critical thinking to skate lockstep in a rainbow flag. Dear Lord, it’s such vacuous virtue signaling.

Because it shouldn’t be forgotten that the LGBTQ+ movement encompasses an entire open-ended ideological agenda, not merely the ability of gay people to live in peace or marry. For example, some Flyers spent time celebrating The accomplishments of a “nonbinary” 13-year-old. Now, as an old-fashioned atheist, I don’t care who you sleep with, but I still cling to the antiquated notion that humans have immutable biological characteristics and that objective truths can’t be wished away. I believe that the 13-year-old child is a victim to a distorted, destructive and trendy pseudoscience. LeBrun and others like him will normalize this quackery, while still promoting the idea of “tolerance.”

Most of the National Hockey League press also groused that hypocrite John Tortorella, a long-time figure in the NHL, hadn’t suspended Provorov for his sins. Tortorella was the coach for the U.S. national hockey team and threatened anyone who refused the national anthem to be benched. A decision he regrettably regretted. The obvious difference is that those players weren’t asked to endorse the lifestyle choices of strangers, but were voluntarily representing the United States — and every person in it — at international tournaments. It is amazing that so many people cannot tell the difference between the