A Jaden Ivey religion conversation is taking place on sports shows across America, and in living rooms, as well as lighting up social media. The Chicago Bulls guard has been released by the team after just four games, and it’s not because of poor shooting and defense. In fact, his release has nothing at all to do with basketball, but with his outspoken religious beliefs.
There won’t be any blowback or lawsuit related to his release, since the team can say it did not release him for his religious beliefs, but for creating negative buzz that they don’t want to deal with as an organization, which is perfectly legal. They could also say he was released for openly criticizing his employer, which is something that would get most anyone, in any job, fired.
Ivey appears to be new to Christianity, or at least, newly devout. This has caused him to speak out several times in recent weeks. In response to a DNP-coach’s decision, Ivey said he was no longer the player that he used to be. Ending his rant with, “I am alive in Christ no matter what the basketball setting is.”
Ivey’s faith is not something he needs to keep secret, and if it makes anyone uncomfortable that he is a Christian, that’s a problem for them to deal with in therapy. It shouldn’t be his burden to make people feel comfortable. Where he overstepped in expressing his faith, and where he crossed an extremely clear and understandable line, was when he criticized the NBA for celebrating Pride Month.
“The world proclaims LGBTQ, right? They proclaim Pride Month, and the NBA does too. They show it to the world. They say, ‘Come join us for Pride Month to celebrate unrighteousness.'”
Acceptance And Understanding
Athletes don’t get raked over the coals just for being Christian, though. There may not have been a more outspoken player in any sport than Tim Tebow when he was actively playing. The public didn’t call for him to be silenced or cancelled, but rather, embraced him and rooted for him to have incredible success. Even the most staunch atheist pulled for Tebow to win games, especially if they were a Denver Broncos fan in round one versus the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The difference between Ivey and Tebow, though, is that the latter is an incredibly likeable guy, who in the course of preaching his love for god and the messiah, does not feel the need to preach anger, hate, and condemnation. Tebow has actually said, “So, when did disagreeing on something become the worst thing?…We’re not called to condemn. We’re called to have a relationship. We’re called to love. We’re called to serve. We’re called to help.”
It’s this sort of all-inclusive, even Christ-like attitude about acceptance and inclusion of our fellow human beings that endeared Tebow to fans of all faiths. It’s also an attitude quoted ad-nauseum by non-believers to Christians. “Jesus said, ‘ Whatever you do to the least of my brothers, you do to me.’ So when you call a gay person the f-word, you are calling Jesus that. When you scream at a pregnant teen or a teen getting an abortion because they don’t want to be pregnant, you are actually screaming at Jesus.”
In this circumstance, Jesus’ teachings are used against his followers to point out their hypocrisy, but this in and of itself is hypocritical. The world should follow the golden rule, which predates the existence of the alleged son of God, which is “Treat others how you want to be treated.” If a person wants to be an atheist or engage in anti-biblical behaviour, but wants to be left alone by the Christians, then that same person should leave Christians alone when they want to practice their faith.
Jaden Ivey Religion: Who’s Right And Who Is Wrong
To look at it from Ivey’s perspective, he sees something he believes and his religion believes is wrong, not only being accepted by the masses, but being promoted. Showing up to a kid’s birthday party high on drugs would be unacceptable to both religious and non-religious people. Imagine how a non-religious person would feel about their employer promoting, celebrating, and encouraging people who want to get high before the birthday party to do so.
Is it safe to say that even though it’s none of their business, people would speak out loudly about it? Of course it is. People need to understand that’s how some devout religious folks feel about any entity celebrating and encouraging the LGBTQ community. It’s important to understand another person’s perspective, even if you disagree with it. They aren’t right, and they aren’t wrong, because there are no such things as right and wrong, only perception of what is right and what is wrong.
That may be a philosophical topic for another article. As for my personal take on all this, I think we should celebrate Pride Month, but I also understand why Ivey feels the way that he does. I disagree with him, but it’s not my job to judge or condemn him. It’s my job to love him like my brother, and I hope that his newfound Christianity fills him with love, understanding, and acceptance, and not hate.
