Sometimes the person on the street has more wisdom than the cultural elites. That’s because the person on the street is dealing with everyday life while the cultural elites are often dealing with abstract theory. Never has this been truer than with the subject of males who identify as females competing in women’s sports.

Once, while serving as a visiting professor at a leading evangelical seminary, I spent time with a Korean American pastor who had earned his doctorate in Buddhist studies. His doctoral thesis analyzed different methods of evangelizing Buddhists and proposed what he felt would be the most effective method.

I asked him with real interest, “What success have you found using your method?”

He replied, “I don’t know. I haven’t met a Buddhist yet.”

I kid you not.

Academic theory, not fleshed out in real-life experience, only goes so far.

When Academic Theory Did Nothing to Help Bud Light

Just ask Alissa Heinerscheid, vice president of marketing for Bud Light, who took a leave of absence following the massive and costly boycott of the brand after the disastrous Dylan Mulvaney ad campaign.

As noted by Amanda Holpuch for the New York Times:

Before the boycott, Alissa Heinerscheid … said in an interview that the brand needed to be more inclusive.

“The brand is in decline,” Ms. Heinerscheid said on the ‘Make Yourself at Home’ podcast in March. “It’s been in decline for a really long time. And if we do not attract young drinkers to come and drink this brand, there will be no future for Bud Light.”

This was spoken before the disastrous campaign.

So much for what Wharton and Harvard, from which Heinerscheid graduated, know about beer sales.

Ask the Women Who Face Male Competitors

As for men who identify as women competing against other women, after a male golfer who identifies as a woman won a tournament, Martina Navratilova, herself a lesbian, said, “This needs to end, male bodies do not belong in women’s sports.”

What could be clearer than that?

An athlete can make a far better decision on issues like this than some “enlightened” bureaucrat sitting in an ivory tower.

It is even worse when those charged with making decisions about “transwomen” competing against biological females haven’t even studied the issues.

This came to the fore during a recent Senate investigation when Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT) questioned NCAA President Charlie Baker:

Sen. Lee: Has the NCAA assessed the physical, emotional, psychological harm of its transgender inclusion policy on female athletes? If so, what are the findings? If not, why not?

Pres. Baker: The NCAA has not conducted any research related to the current transgender policy.

Seriously? How can this possibly be, especially given the massive resources that the NCAA has at its fingertips? They haven’t even studied the ramifications of their foolhardy policy?

Ask an MMA Fighter

That’s why, in cases like this, it’s best to talk to the competitors themselves, the people in the trenches, the man (or woman) on the street in the world of sports.

Sometimes, in their often blunt manner of speech, without any concern for being politically correct, they can present the strongest case of all.

That’s exactly what mixed martial arts fighter Julian Erosa did last Saturday night after defeating his opponent. (For those not familiar with MMA, while it requires tremendous athleticism, multiple skill sets, and lots of courage, it is an exceptionally violent sport.)

Erosa said:

I don’t know how you guys feel about this whole situation, but I don’t like cheaters and so I wanted to call out Lia Thomas [who was not a strong athlete as a male swimmer but became a record-setting champion when competing against women]. I wanted to encourage him to transition from women’s swimming into women’s MMA and then I’ll transition into becoming a woman, and I’m gonna beat that dude’s a**. That’s what I wanted to say because it’s all about getting a little bit of shock value.

But I mean in the world that we’re living in, there’s no common sense anymore. It’s becoming a bit ridiculous and obviously that’s one of the big things that’s kind of going on now. And I just don’t agree with men in women’s sports, you know even the whole Fallon Fox thing [a biological male who competed against women in MMA], guys that are fighting in women’s MMA and knocking them out. It’s a bad look.

Thankfully, even though, to quote Erosa, “there’s no common sense anymore,” plenty of people do resonate with common sense when they hear it, especially from the man (or woman) on the street.

Well said, Mr. Erosa. At some point, sanity will prevail.

Dr. Michael Brown is the host of the nationally syndicated Line of Fire radio program. He is the author of more than 40 books, including Can You be Gay and Christian?; Our Hands Are Stained With Blood; and Seize the Moment: How to Fuel the Fires of Revival. You can connect with him on Facebook, X, or YouTube.