The
'National Anthem' and This Past Week's Football Owners Meeting: Why
I'll Be Taking a Knee With “Kap” This Coming Football Season
by Pastor
Paul J. Bern
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The
United States of America hasn't been winning very many popularity
contests overseas as of late. The last two presidents –
particularly Donald Trump – have stepped up military drone strikes
against Islamic extremists, but also those countries that have
numerous oil fields who are working to undermine the US dollar.
Countries such as Iran, Yemen, Somalia, Libya, Egypt, Pakistan and
Nigeria are currently in negotiations to collaborate using an
alternative currency to the US dollar, such as the Euro, the Chinese
Yuan or the Russian ruble, but these oil-producing countries are also
using gold as a form of currency. Resorting to such tactics by any of
the above countries constitutes a direct threat to US interests,
which has provoked the strong military response we are seeing in
today's headlines.
Here on
the home front, our cities are deteriorating due to a glut of boarded
up houses, long-dormant industrial sites and abandoned shopping
centers. Much the same has happened to many small rural towns for the
same reasons. The least common denominator to why this is occurring
is the lack of jobs that pay a fair minimum wage of, say, $15.00 an
hour. And then there's our police forces, who are supposed to be
protecting and serving the public. Instead, they have mutated into a
paramilitary apparatus equipped with military-grade weapons they
don't need, and many if not most of those police are a lot more
trigger-happy than they would care to admit. As of this writing, the
FBI, BATFE, NSA, DEA and the DHS have ordered a total of over 3.5
billion rounds of hollow-point ammunition. That's enough to kill
everyone in America 10 times over. So why did law enforcement
purchase such an enormous amount of ammunition knowing that it was
more than they would ever use? The purpose is evidently to deny
American gun owners access to ammunition by buying up the entire
supply. This enormous amount of ammunition has been purchased for the
same reason the police departments are acquiring military grade
assault weapons and armored vehicles. They are preparing for a mass
assault on the American people as an anticipated reaction to the
protests and possible rioting over food and fuel shortages that will
occur when martial law is declared. This could even mushroom into
another US civil war if things get out of hand.
It has
been my observation that there are far more clandestine reasons that
are carefully hidden underneath the surface for these things to be
occurring. The forces and enforcers of the status quo are the
same individuals who stand to lose everything when the US dollar
inevitably crashes and the Western world's capitalist debt-based
economic bubble finally bursts for good, as it eventually must. For
those who don't already know, this may occur even sooner than
expected. But it was Jesus who said. “Do not store up for
yourselves treasures on earth where it will rust or be eaten by
moths, or that thieves break in and steal. But instead, store up for
yourselves treasure in heaven, where moths don't eat up your clothes,
where nothing ever rusts, and where thievery is nonexistent.”
(Matthew 6: 19-21) When
that collapse finally does occur, it will bring the American,
Canadian, European, Japanese and Russian economies down along with
it. Even China's booming economy would come to a screeching halt in
such a case as that!
Here in
the USA, there are presently numerous individuals or entire families
who are engaged in activities known as “prepping”. Prepping can
generally be defined as making advance preparations for an expected
disaster, or for the declaration of martial law. I have begun to do
this very thing myself, mainly by storing plenty of nonperishable
food and lots of extra 1-gallon milk jugs of water. In a worst-case
scenario, I got a passport last winter, and it's good for 10 years.
What does this say about our country and the state of its people? It
looks to me like there are many saying, “We've had enough of all
this crap. The entire American political and economic systems are a
disaster area, and the government is also broken beyond repair. So
it's up to us to fix it ourselves.”
For a
long time now I have maintained that we need to reinvent government
as we know it. One replacement idea would be a Web-based paperless
government. Thanks to the global proliferation of the Internet,
hierarchical governments and other similar organizations ruled from
the top down will soon find themselves replaced with a Web-based
democracy featuring a horizontally administered command and
organizational structure. In effect, it would be a kind of laterally
managed organization that runs peer-to-peer, similar to a beehive,
or maybe like an ant colony, as the Bible describes it: “Go to
the ant, you sluggard; consider its ways and be wise! It has no
commander, overseer or ruler, yet it stores its provisions in summer
and gathers its food at harvest.” (Proverbs 6: 6-8). The main
thing will be organizing the peer-to-peer economic system that would
accompany such a lateral management structure. But this would not be
difficult to achieve due to the decentralized nature of lateral
management systems.
One
thing is certain; America is a hollowed out shell of what it used to
be. The job market is absolutely decimated – never mind all of the
propaganda that comes from the mainstream media about gaining 200,000
new jobs every month. They are almost entirely part time jobs
everywhere I look. It makes me glad I had to retire from the work
force, and even grateful for my small disability check. At first when
I became disabled I complained about how small my monthly check was.
But, having the time to sit back and watch the implosion of the
American job market from 2011 up until now, I stopped complaining a
long time ago. In fact, it was sinful of me to have done that, and so
I confessed that sin to the Lord and begged His forgiveness and he
fully restored me (hallelujah!). He wants to restore us all, so
confess your sins and Jesus will forgive you too. It doesn't matter
how bad you have been, or what you did and when,or what your past has
been like. The blood of Jesus washes it all away.
This
past week, the 32 billionaire owners, or their designated
representatives, met right here in Atlanta to discuss what to do
about players who 'take a knee' when the National Anthem is played
just before games begin. Sports Illustrated had this to say about the
meeting:
“ATLANTA — The owners had been locked in
discussion for almost three hours, and momentum was starting to build
toward a resolution to be voted on. This, in certain circumstances,
would be when NFL commissioner Roger Goodell would take command of
the room. But not this time. The national anthem has been the most
sensitive issue the league has dealt with over the past two years; so
instead, Goodell stopped the open forum and called for the owners to
go around the room and, one by one, make their points. This is where
the league’s anthem policy was born, amid two common themes
consistent among the 32 takes.
1) The NFL needed an enforceable policy on the anthem.2) The NFL needed to respect players who weren’t comfortable standing for it.
Everything would have to fall around those two
things, as the owners saw it. And as that consensus became clear, NFL
EVP Jeff Pash was scribbling out a five-point plan, which Goodell
read to the room after the “All 32” exercise was complete to cap
the meeting. Another privileged session (primary owners and family
only....)” You can read the entire article here.
Everyone
knows by now the source of this entire controversy. Depending on who
you believe, it was started by San Francisco quarterback Colin
Kapernick as a public statement against police violence, or by law
enforcement due to their seemingly indiscriminate killing of unarmed
Black men. As could be expected, this form of public dissent has been
met with a mix of confusion, consternation and contempt. Wasn’t
this just another example of our traditional values being trampled by
the unrelenting march of political correctness? What sort of ingrates
object to our nation’s anthem, anyway? Fluffy-headed campus
philosophers? Lazy latte-sipping liberals? It also caused widespread
concern and confusion among the supporters and, yes, donors - many of
whom felt like playing the anthem compromised Christian values.
Instead
of compromising their core convictions about racism and violence at
the hands of the police, I foresee hundreds or even thousands of
conscientious men and women this coming football season who will
choose to adhere to their conscience. Moreover, I have resolved to
join “Kap” and other like-minded individuals, even though we may
find ourselves mocked by 'friends' and neighbors, beaten down by
angry mobs or waterboarded by rednecks. It is also entirely possible
that all the high school kids who are fed up with gun violence will
join Colin Kapernick and his contemporaries in 'taking a knee' this
football season. Although there certainly are diverse viewpoints
among equally diverse individuals today, all continue to advocate for
an end to gun violence. That’s because we recognize only one nation
that is bound together by a living Constitution and a faith in a
living Savior rather than by man-made, blood-soaked prejudices of the
past.
Jesus
called his disciples to love their enemies and he loved his enemies
all the way to the cross and beyond. Following Jesus and the martyrs
before us, we testify with our lives that freedom is not a right that
is granted or defended with rockets’ red glare and bombs bursting
in air. True freedom is given by God, and it is indeed not free. It
comes with a cost, and that cost looks just like a cross, not a flag.
How do we plug ourselves into the unlimited power of the cross of
Calvary? First, it is imperative that we all believe that Jesus
Christ was the Son of God. For me at least, this is non-negotiable.
Next, we must all repent of our evil ways and dispense with our bad
habits, for the world cannot know of its brokenness and hopelessness
without a Savior to show them a superlative way of life. There needs
to be more people practicing the ways of peace while putting away
their childish arguments. The world cannot know that there is an
alternative to violence and war without a people of peace making
peace. The world cannot know that the weak and the vulnerable are
cared for by God without a people practicing an economy centered on
sharing and mutual aid, not individual gain. Let us ask ourselves
this basic question – if I die in my sleep tonight, what kind of
legacy will I leave? However you ask yourself this question, let's
all make sure the answer will be a thoughtful one. The only way to
peace is to worship the Prince of Peace.
The
world cannot know the immeasurable worth of a human life without a
people who consistently work to protect it – in the unborn, in the
convict, in the immigrant, in the homeless, in the soldier, in the
retirement homes, in the mental hospitals, and on the streets of
America. These protests against police violence do not reflect
ingratitude or hatred for our country, or toward those who enforce
its laws. Rather, they reflect a deep love for justice and peace.
After all, it is written: “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they
will be called the Sons of God.” I love my country, but I sing
my loyalty and pledge my allegiance to the Prince of Peace and him
alone. This is because our souls and our Savior are all that's going
to be left.
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