I have become increasingly concerned over the past week about the ritualistic and almost religious nature of the actions of the “Black Lives Matter”(BLM) and ANTIFA movement. CNN showed a video of a white lady being ordered to her knees and coerced into confessing her sin of “white privilege”. Social media has been deluged with coercive threats against white people who don’t confess their “white privilege”.
Drew Brees the future Hall of Fame Quarterback originally expressed his patriotism and belief in standing for the National Anthem out of respect for his two grandfathers who both served in WWII. He was then forced to back down and then apologize for his original statement. Posts on social media several from his own teammates said that he wasn’t “woke” enough. Pete Carroll of the head coach of the Seattle Seahawks said yesterday that the NFL owes a great debt to Colin Kapernick.
Where do I start? Do you have to be white to be the recipient of “white privilege”? There are, unfortunately, situations where race, gender, ethnicity, or religious preference provide an “entre” to opportunity. For example, pretty young girls working in restaurants make 35% more in tips than young men of the same age. Maybe if you are a smart women—pretty blond and a lawyer you have a better chance of being employed by FOX NEWS than you would be if you were a fat short balding middle-aged man.
Black men and women in Idaho have a far greater opportunity of being exposed to opportunities in education than similar black people in any other place in the world. A black child growing up in the North End of Boise has a far better opportunity of being upwardly mobile and going to college than the same child growing up in an inner-city ghetto with only a mother as a parent or maybe no parent.
Any person growing up in this country, in a family is privileged no matter what their skin color. They have opportunities available to them that are not available to any other group of people on earth no matter their social class or station, sex, or skin color. It is important to not confuse disparities in opportunity with discrimination.
The Knee: When Jesus washed the feet of his disciples it was a voluntary act of humility, condescension, and reverence. It was the high reaching humbly down to the low. It was God the servant—not leveraging a position of power or authority, but demonstrating supplicance and piety. When another person forces a fellow human into a position of obedience and submissiveness it is the opposite of what Jesus was demonstrating to his disciples.
Coercive bowing of the head is not an act of “free will” but rather an act of capitulation of “free will”. Attempts throughout all of history to justify slavery and indenturhood require that the .master deny the humanity of the slave. Slavery and the dehumanizing of Native Americans is a stain on the American Conscience, but of all the civilizations of the world dating back 15,000 years, only our own Declaration of Independence-“All men are created equal” and the British Abolition Act of 1833 authored by William Wilberforce made it the business of government to abolish slavery. In the American case, 500,000 white people died to uphold that principle. As we confess our national sin, we should also rejoice in the accomplishments of self-government and capitalism and how they have lifted everyone out of the bounds of grinding poverty and servitude.
I will never take a knee for any man. I will never swear an oath before any man my Quaker upbringing does not allow me to swear before a court or a magistrate though I willingly use my own “free will” to affirm my word. I will pray before God with anyone and under only those circumstances will I kneel with them in reverence to God—not to man. Otherwise, I would be committing an act of idolatry and encouraging the worshipping of a false god.
I would encourage Drew Brees to reconsider his position.
