At the conclusion of a recent college basketball game, the eventual losing team's fans from the University of Arizona serenaded the winning team off the court with chants of F*** Mormons. The winning team, BYU, is the flagship university of the Church of the Latter-Day Saints, more familiarly called the Mormons.
In truth, the referees had made some questionable calls, and the disappointed home fans were noticeably unhappy. (Several players remained testy after the final buzzer and milled around for minutes. It was ugly.)
The fans probably bought tickets and were simply expressing their displeasure—like the crude and vulgar yahoos they were.
Fans have always been brutal, though the crudeness has risen greatly in this century. Blaming it all on the mandatory philistinism of the MAGA crowd is an oversimplification. Yet, no one will deny that a presidential candidate who sounds like a middle-schooler who has just learned to swear may affect society's norms, especially if said vulgarian has no regard for the children in his audience. His winning adds credibility.
But this isn't solely about one toxic influencer—it's about the apology issued by U of A athletic director Desireé Reed-Francois :
"On behalf of the University of Arizona Athletic Department, we apologize to BYU, their student-athletes, coaches and fans. The chant is not reflective of who we are and should not have happened."
Wrong, Ms. Reed-Francois; it is reflective of precisely who you are and what we have all become. It ain't pretty, is it?
The right to speak or not speak is something we should cherish—there are many out there eager to take away that freedom. But that freedom, like all freedom, carries with it responsibility. We lost that piece long before some basketball game in the desert.
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