The Federalist
"Kneeling for the national anthem at sporting events used to be the occasional episode of player activism protesting the United States as an evil racist empire. Amid the new 21st century woke revolution however, kneeling has become a key signifier for players and teams to declare which side of the culture wars one sits on.
"It’s those who love America versus those who hate it, the latter of which despises the American flag and all that it represents as a relic of white supremacy that must be condemned.
"Those who still stand out of respect for the nation’s ideals and the uniformed men and women who protect it are now the outliers forced to defend themselves in a new age of no dissent, because dissent is racist, racism is oppression, oppression is violence, and violence is not to be tolerated, even if it isn’t real.
. . .
“ 'I feel like for me black lives are supported through the Gospel,” Isaac said. “All lives are supported through the Gospel… I feel like the Bible tells us we all fall short of God’s glory and at the end of the day whoever will humble themselves and seek God and repent of their sins that we could see it in a different light.”
"San Francisco Giants Pitcher Sam Coonrod also cited his Christian faith in his refusal to kneel even as each member of both teams took a knee, though Coonrod issued no support for Black Lives Matter.
" 'I’m a Christian, like I said, and I just can’t get on board with a couple of things that I have read about Black Lives Matter. How they lean towards Marxism and they’ve said some negative things about the nuclear family. I just can’t get on board with that,”
"Coonrod told NBC Sports, adding he “can’t kneel before anything besides God.”
"As kneeling becomes a universal practice among teams, those who dare remain standing are now the ones who must explain themselves while the legacy of today’s supposed reckoning on race declaring American society as irredeemably racist cements itself in the mainstream culture."
"It’s those who love America versus those who hate it, the latter of which despises the American flag and all that it represents as a relic of white supremacy that must be condemned.
"Those who still stand out of respect for the nation’s ideals and the uniformed men and women who protect it are now the outliers forced to defend themselves in a new age of no dissent, because dissent is racist, racism is oppression, oppression is violence, and violence is not to be tolerated, even if it isn’t real.
. . .
“ 'I feel like for me black lives are supported through the Gospel,” Isaac said. “All lives are supported through the Gospel… I feel like the Bible tells us we all fall short of God’s glory and at the end of the day whoever will humble themselves and seek God and repent of their sins that we could see it in a different light.”
"San Francisco Giants Pitcher Sam Coonrod also cited his Christian faith in his refusal to kneel even as each member of both teams took a knee, though Coonrod issued no support for Black Lives Matter.
" 'I’m a Christian, like I said, and I just can’t get on board with a couple of things that I have read about Black Lives Matter. How they lean towards Marxism and they’ve said some negative things about the nuclear family. I just can’t get on board with that,”
"Coonrod told NBC Sports, adding he “can’t kneel before anything besides God.”
"As kneeling becomes a universal practice among teams, those who dare remain standing are now the ones who must explain themselves while the legacy of today’s supposed reckoning on race declaring American society as irredeemably racist cements itself in the mainstream culture."