True hero athlete. Day's theme: Challenge yourself [Pat Tillman]

San Francisco Chronicle ^ | May 3 2004 | Gwen Knapp

[Soundman4x4]

Tillman's youngest brother, Rich, wore a rumpled white T-shirt, no jacket, no tie, no collar, and immediately swore into the microphone. He hadn't written anything, he said, and with the starkest honesty, he asked mourners to hold their spiritual bromides.

"Pat isn't with God,'' he said. "He's f -- ing dead. He wasn't religious. So thank you for your thoughts, but he's f -- ing dead.''

What? This didn't happen for God, as well as country? A professional athlete turned soldier, and we're supposed to believe that he'd have no use for piety? Robbed of a cliche, where does that leave us?

[swarthyguy]

Oh, get real.

This is a story posted to comment.

What are you so touchy.

Pat TIllman's brother has the right to say this. You don't agree.,

What's so damn sacrosanct about this time and place that you feel I stepped over some imaginary line.

[MIchaelTArchangel]

"So Tillman's atheism makes it less of a sacrifice? What's the point of the article??"

Which Tillman's atheism? What evidence is there that Pat Tillman was an atheist? His brother sounds like one, but not being overtly religious does not make one an atheist.

[alisasny]

I think we ought to forgive him his angry grief stage.
I was broken up watching and I didn't even know the man.
I can't even imagine the pain this family is in.

Im sure he will calm down and move to the next stage of grief in a normal fashion.

[rintense]

Leave it to the SFC to assume that because someone isn't religious, they don't believe in God. Sorry to say, sounds like Pat's brother also made this conclusion. Only Pat truly knows what he believed.

[Mr. Mojo]

"He [Pat Tillman] talked about gays,'' Lyle Setencich, the former ASU assistant said. "He asked me, 'Could you coach gays?' "

Not exactly surprising that hit-piece on Tillman came from the SF Chronicle, nor is it surprising that the author attempts to portray him as "homophobic."

[RightWhale]

All we are is shooting stars

-Bad Co

[alisasny]

Did you watch the entire service? It was over 2 hours long and this family was in extreme pain.

[snooker]

"The audio cut out during this part of the ceremony. "

Could have been, I assumed it was just the mike cutting out because of the wind. I didn't think he was going to make it through his speech. I wasn't watching that close, just listening.

But I would definitely cut the guy some slack. He was in bad shape.

[The G Man]

Sounds to me like the kid was drunk. I suspect many people will agree with me.

[Maximilian]

What's the point of the article??

Clearly the point of the article was that Tillman was the kind of war hero that San Francisco can relate to -- a homosexual atheist. The real point was not the brother's "eulogy," but the hints about his orientation that are sprinkled throughout the article without coming out and saying it in so many words.

[threat matrix]

This is the younger brother who was drinking at the time..

[O.C. - Old Cracker]

What's the point? That Tillman's supposed atheism detracts from his sacifice? I pity Pat Tillman if he met death without knowing the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, but that would have been his choice as a human being.

[BSunday]

As far as I can tell, the point of the article, at least the first part of it, is Pat Tillmans brother is a flaming @$$hole.

[1Old Pro]

He's obviously upset, we should move on.

[F.J. Mitchell]

History has proven that there are no atheists on the field of battle. The punk arse brother is wrong!

[skeeter]

What's the point of the article?

To soften us up for the eventual appropriation of Tillman's image by the leftwing fringe loonies.

[BibChr]

...and if his idiot brother is correct about Tillman (which I hope he's not), here's what Pat would say about his brother right now:

"Then he said, "I beg you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father's house, for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, lest they also come to this place of torment.' Abraham said to him, "They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.' And he said, "No, father Abraham; but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent.' But he said to him, "If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead.'"
(Read Luke 16:19-31)

Dan
How Can I Know God?

[Semper Paratus]

Atheists hate death because that's the final 'lights out'.

[VisualizeSmallerGovernment]

What's the point of the article??

The article seems to imply that Pat Tillman was a gay atheist. As such, it is now OK for people in San Francisco to revere him and honor his sacrifice.

The author keeps repeating "challenge yourself", but by that she means that normal people should challenge themselves. When the Pat Tillman story first broke, it was challenging to the left-coast leftists. So they ignored it. A good liberal should Question Authority. But nobody should ever Question Liberal Authority.