USA TODAY Sports

On the one hand, NFL players DeMario Davis and Kirk Cousins say they would welcome an openly gay player on their teams. On the other, their religious beliefs cause them to equate homosexuality with being a prostitute, demon or a drunk.

Davis, a New York Jets linebacker, gave an interview to Seth Walder of the New York Daily News where he was asked about having an openly gay teammate:

“If someone was to come out on our team, we’re a team that’s about winning,” Davis said in an interview this week with the Daily News. “When it comes to the (Jets), I put my personal beliefs separate from the team.”

So far, so good. But then:

“According to the scriptures, and God’s law, homosexuality is wrong. The act is wrong,” Davis said. “I’ve got homosexuals in my family who I love to death. I’ve got drunks in my family. I’ve got people who have premarital sex in my family. And I don’t agree with any of those things, but I still love and respect those people.”

Then there’s Cousins, a quarterback for the Washington Redskins, who was asked the gay teammate question by Peter J. Wallner on MLive:

“I think we need to show love to every single person on this Earth,” he said. “Jesus showed love to everybody, and whether it was Mary Magdalene, who was a prostitute had seven demons inside her, he showed love to her, and he didn’t have a problem with her. …

“At the end of the day, anybody in our locker room who is struggling with something and isn’t perfect – which would be everybody in the locker room – my attitude would be that I want to show love to them in a way that shows them Jesus, and hope that they can encounter the same love that I encountered from Jesus that saved my life.”

It gets tiring arguing with ignorant people who disapprove of gays on the basis of religion, so I won’t go into a long diatribe. Besides, it’s time to drink, demonize and turn some tricks. The rest of you can have at them in the comments.

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