Speaking in a video posted to Instagram on Sunday, May 19, actress and filmmaker Patricia Heaton took a strong stand in defense of Harrison Butker, the Kansas City Chiefs kicker who spoke in a controversial speech at Benedictine College in which he spoke about his wife’s decision to be a homemaker helped make their family a stronger one.
As background, during the speech, Butker encouraged the women present to see the importance of being a homemaker, saying, “For the ladies present today, congratulations on an amazing accomplishment. You should be proud of all that you have achieved to this point in your young lives. I want to speak directly to you briefly because I think it is you, the women, who have had the most diabolical lies told to you. How many of you are sitting here now about to cross this stage and are thinking about all the promotions and titles you are going to get in your career? Some of you may go on to lead successful careers in the world, but I would venture to guess that the majority of you are most excited about your marriage and the children you will bring into this world. I can tell you that my beautiful wife, Isabelle, would be the first to say that her life truly started when she began living her vocation as a wife and as a mother. I’m on the stage today and able to be the man I am because I have a wife who leans into her vocation. I’m beyond blessed with the many talents God has given me, but it cannot be overstated that all of my success is made possible because a girl I met in band class back in middle school would convert to the faith, become my wife, and embrace one of the most important titles of all: homemaker.”
Butker also criticized President Biden, spoke strongly in support of the Traditional Latin Mass, spoke out against “dangerous gender ideologies,” and urged the men in the audience to “fight against the cultural emasculation of men.”
Commening on the speech in her Sunday Instagram video, Patricia Heaton noted that the audience clearly appreciated the speech, saying, “I don’t understand why everybody’s knickers are in a twist. He gave a commencement speech. The audience applauded twice during the speech and gave him a standing ovation at the end, so clearly they enjoyed what he was saying.”
Continuing, she noted that he wasn’t really focused in the speech on what he thinks women should be doing, saying, “He went after bishops much more than he went after women, or what women’s choices are or what he thinks they should be, so I don’t understand.”
Heaton, a Catholic, then spoke about her own experience with working as a mom and what she saw as God’s role in her family formation years, saying, “I am a Catholic woman who worked through my kids’ childhood, and I believe that God opened those doors for me. And thankfully, it was a schedule that allowed me to also be a full-time mom basically.”
She then again noted that she finds it odd that people got so offended, saying, “God has used my life, so, I’m just curious as to why people get offended. If you have made choices in your life, and you feel those are the right choices, and you’re comfortable, and they’re working out for you and your family – great.” Concluding, she said, “And if they’re different from his, that’s great. You do you, and he’ll do him and his family. Relax everybody.”
Watch her here:
Featured image credit: By mikemeck – originally posted to Flickr as Patricia Heaton, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4440169
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