This Sunday is the Feast of Pentecost, the anniversary of Jesus starting the church. Thinking on that, my strategic and sobering analysis is in agreement with Os Guiness. We are a nation struggling between the Revolution of 1776, and its foundation in the Hebrew covenant from Mount Sinai, and the French Revolution of 1789 and its collectivist surge against life. In a small microcosm of that conflict, as NFL training camps start to open, I’m one of those football fans who will not be watching them this season, either. They are hurtling deep into WOKE genuflection and politics, using their medium of entertainment as a ‘bully’ pulpit. As an old offensive lineman then soldier for 20 years, all I want to do is watch football, not receive lectures via commercials and players about diversity, inclusiveness, equity…
After leading troopers in combat, building data centers and fiber backbones in Iraq, and serving as the CTO and Chief Engineer in the J6 at NORAD-USNORTHCOM, professionalism to me is simple: Love your neighbor as yourself. The Lord blessed me with an amazing but tough year in the Horn of Africa and Southwest Asia, protection from rockets and mortars every 3 to 5 days, and most importantly, I did not lose a single trooper. I had a few wounded by shrapnel. A quarter inch under the surface of the skin, no matter the skin color, race, ethnicity, man or woman, we all bleed red and would die for each other. Life is so precious, a gift from our Creator. I KNEELED by their beds, held their hands in the Balad hospital, prayed with them, and thankfully, did not lose a single one.
I don’t need the NFL to fill my head with their WOKE crap. I already lived soldiering that was filled with life, liberty, and ‘loving my neighbor as myself’ in combat.
It’s fascinating that as the French Revolution sprinted into Fraternite, Equalite, and Liberte, they gave lip service to the first two, but harshly suppressed Liberte in their propaganda, applying the Guillotine - the ultimate ‘Cancel Culture’ effect. The NFL’s WOKE genuflection propaganda would have been very popular in the French Revolution.
That said, as we head into midterm elections, having just celebrated Memorial Day, and with D-Day anniversary Monday, 6 June… Here’s Ted Nugent’s 2018 message about Kneelers.
(Thank-you Dr. Lee Offner for sending this to me. The accompanying painting image made me weep for our nation.)
Jay
by Ted Nugent
Take a little trip to Valley Forge in January. Hold a musket ball in your fingers and imagine it piercing your flesh and breaking a bone or two. There won't be a doctor or trainer to assist you until after the battle, so just wait your turn. Take your cleats and socks off to get a real experience.
Then, take a knee on the beach in Normandy where man after American man stormed the beach, even as the one in front of him was shot to pieces and the very sea was stained with American blood. The only blockers most had were the dead bodies in front of them, riddled with bullets from enemy fire.
Take a knee in the sweat soaked jungles of Vietnam. From Khe Sanh to Saigon, anywhere will do. Americans died in all those jungles. There was no playbook that told them what was next, but they knew what flag they represented. When they came home, they were protested as well, and spit on for reasons only cowards know.
Take another knee in the blood drenched sands of Fallujah in 110 degree heat. Wear your Kevlar helmet and battle dress. Your number won't be printed on it unless your number is up! You'll need to stay hydrated, but there won't be anyone to squirt Gatorade into your mouth. You're on your own.
There are a lot of places to take a knee where Americans have given their lives all over the world. When you use the banner under which they fought as a source for your displeasure, you dishonor the memories of those who bled for the very freedoms you have. That's what the red stripes mean. It represents the blood of those who spilled a sea of it defending your liberty.
While you're on your knee, pray for those that came before you, not on a manicured lawn striped and printed with numbers to announce every inch of ground taken, but on nameless hills and bloodied beaches and sweltering forests and bitter cold mountains, every inch marked by an American life lost serving that flag you protest.
No cheerleaders, no announcers, no coaches, no fans, just American men and women delivering the real fight against those who chose to harm us, blazing a path so you would have the right to "take a knee."
You haven't any inkling of what it took to get you where you are, but your "protest" is duly noted. Not only is it disgraceful to a nation of real heroes, it serves the purpose of pointing to your possible ingratitude for those who chose to defend you under that banner that will still wave long after your jersey is retired.
If you really feel the need to take a knee, come with me to church on Sunday and we'll both kneel before Almighty God. We'll thank Him for preserving this country for as long as He has. We'll beg forgiveness for our ingratitude for all He has provided us. We'll appeal to Him for understanding and wisdom. We'll pray for liberty and justice for all, because He is the one who provides those things.
But there will be no protest. There will only be gratitude for His provision and a plea for His continued grace and mercy on the land.