Let’s hear it for the NBA’s Jonathan Isaac
These days, this takes great courage:
Jonathan Isaac of the Orlando Magic stood, while everyone else took a knee. He also did not wear a Black Lives Matter shirt.
After the game, Isaac faced a hostile press populated by reporters who played gotcha games with him. Note the wording of the first question to Isaac.
Reporter to Isaac: “So you didn’t kneel during the anthem, but you also didn’t wear a Black Lives Matter shirt? Uh, do you believe that black lives matter?”
Isaac, who is black, handled the ridiculously biased question gracefully.
“Absolutely. I believe that black lives matter. A lot went into my decision,” Isaac responded…
“My life has been supported through the Gospel, Jesus Christ” Isaac said, “and that everyone is made in the image of God and that we all fall short of God’s glory and that each and every one of us, each and every day do things that we shouldn’t do…I felt like we all make mistakes but the Gospel of Jesus Christ is that there’s grace for us. That Jesus came and died for our sins and that if we all would come to an understanding of that and understand that God wants to have a relationship with us, that we can get past skin color, we can get past all the things in our world that are messed up, jacked up. I think we need to look around. Racism isn’t the only thing that plagues our society, that plagues our nation, that plagues our world.”
The man has guts.
Bravo, Mr. Isaac. Seeing only skin color demeans everyone.
love his name.’
you’d think he were a frumishe yudin
Where others are known to kneel, Americans stand up to diversity. It is an American principle to not exercise liberal license to infer character based on low-information attributes (e.g. skin color, sex), construct color blocs. or indulge color judgments. Good.
Now…HIS jersey I might buy.
I especially appreciate his thoughtful careful witness to Jesus Christ. More of that from those who share his faith would go a long way in these troubled times.
Related (NFL version):
https://www.foxnews.com/sports/pittsburgh-steelers-star-defensive-end-stephon-tuitt-kneeling-anthem
“Be strong and of good courage…”
“More of that from those who share his faith would go a long way in these troubled times.”
MLB has at least one pitcher who’s a stand-up guy too: “San Francisco Giants pitcher Sam Coonrod was the only player to stand during a moment honoring the Black Lives Matter movement ahead of the season opener against the Los Angeles Dodgers, telling reporters after the game that as a Christian he ‘can’t kneel before anything besides God.'”
https://www.foxnews.com/sports/giants-sam-coonrod-kneel-black-lives-matter-faith-christian
Judge individuals based on their observed individual performances.
Reason about groups by observing and forming an informed opinion about the normally distributed characteristics across multiple dimensions of of members of these groups. Update beliefs by keeping eyes open and seeing how well model conforms to observed behaviors. Thank you, Reverend Bayes. And Yes, Virginia, there is a sound evolutionary basis for constructing Stereotypes.
Mr. Isaac is a Mensch. Although (pace Avi) no percentage of the gross for him until at very least he swaps the J with a Y 😀
I support Jonathan Isaac and anyone who stands up against the pressure to do what’s expected. I also support Colin Kaepernick and anyone who kneels against the pressure to do what’s expected. That’s America. The real issue is the media and either the left or the right making such a big deal out of it and demonizing athletes for doing what they want to do during the anthem.
We’re a totally healthy society when standing or kneeling for the anthem IS NOT AN ISSUE AT ALL.
Thank you,
Jonathan Isaac is a true Christian Gentleman.
Montage:
Survival of the NBA and the NFL will depend upon the patronage of people like you who can’t tell the difference between Colin Kaepernick and a Christian Gentleman.
Commie Colin’s story has changed since he first started his show or haven’t you been paying attention? I forgot, you don’t get paid to pay attention.
“The real issue…”
Actually, the real issue is respect.
Having said that, if the average major league sports fan is perfectly OK with players earning a hefty salary who insist on their right to visibly disrespect the symbols of the country while respecting a racial supremacist group whose stated goal is violence, arson, chaos, extortion and the violent overthrow of the country, then I guess one could say that major league sports is in a healthy and forward-looking place.
Why are the tears streaming down my face? For one reason because, as Jordan Peterson often points out, what made Alexander Solzhenitsyn wake up from being a Communist during his time in the Gulag were the Orthodox Christians who never lost their dignity and who never went along with the lies upon which the entire system was based. And something else that comes to hand – a statement from Confucius from an old book of my mother’s by Lin Yutang. “Truth does not depart from human nature. If what is regarded as truth departs from human nature, it may not be regarded as truth.”
The “woke” crowd will go to work on him just as they did on Drew Brees, and the managements of Chick-Fill-A, Wal-Mart, etc.
Barry Meislin,
That’s the price of freedom. But you’re making an assumption that all of those who support or are indifferent to athletes who kneel are somehow in agreement with your definition of what the Left and BLM and ANTIFA stand for and do. I would say that many athletes probably don’t really know the stated goals of the far Left therefore their kneeling is not an endorsement of the Left.
Many view kneeling as only a rather anodyne activity to show support for black people who have suffered because of police actions. You see a deeper problem because you read up on the issues and have a strong opinion. Yet that does not make your view the only view that is worth having – even if it may be the most accurate. Nor does it make those who kneel incorrect. The flag to many is a symbol and nothing more. Kneeling to many is also only a symbol and nothing more.
For this reason I see little reason to be upset by what athletes [legally] do that literally does not involve what they are paid to do – which is play sports and entertain us.
Many view kneeling as only a rather anodyne activity to show support for black people who have suffered because of police actions.
It’s not anodyne. It’s based on lies.
They will woke themselves out of business, If there is nothing to go to after college hoops who’s fault will it be? The racist non-BIPOC fans? Although it appears that there is a big hoops market in Winnie the Po land.
professional sports“It’s based on lies.”
Well, some people have absolutely no problem with that.
Too many people, actually.
Still, Montage does raise an interesting point:
Why not, after all, trash the country you live in? Trash its history and, its ethos and its raison d’etre.
And while you’re at it, trash the citizens of that country, who are proud, and grateful, to live there. Who may have even endured great hardships to arrive there and who were given the opportunity to work hard to make a decent life for themselves and their families.
Who may still be enduring great hardship…
Why not trample on their feelings and insult their intelligence, demand their deference, their sympathy, their dignity and their money?
And then intimidate them if they don’t acquiesce. (Or even if they do.)
And then threaten them if they still refuse.
As long as it’s not illegal.
And how could it possibly be illegal if half our elected representatives are in favor of it and encourage it (that is, when they’re not denying it’s even happening)? Even as those who support those elected representatives seem to be all for it, and then some…
What, really, could be more entertaining than that?
And yet…all the lying does still seem to be a problem (along with the accompanying violence, intimidation and destruction)—seems to irritate, to rub one wrong the way, BUT, it seems, only if you let it!….
So why earth shouldn’t we just “let it be” and allow ourselves to be entertained?
I guess that’s the crux.
Anyway, one possible answer…
https://spectator.org/farrakhan-admirers-hitler/
Oops, I think we can delete “earth”… (sorry to be so apocalyptic…).
Barry, what? You want to delete the Earth?!? 🙂
Jonathan Isaac, huh? I don’t follow basketball at all. He seems pretty young, right? And yet he can give a whole paragraph of a quote. Might be someone to watch!
(Oh, I take for granted that he’s a good basketball player, since otherwise he wouldn’t be on the roster of an NBA team, I assume. We have plenty of good basketball players in the world, but someone who can dunk and give a coherent press conference at the same time is special.)
Montage:
“Many” view a lot of things a lot of ways.
However, kneeling when the anthem is played shows disrespect for the country. There are other ways to protest that don’t disrespect the country and its symbols.
“…anodyne…”
https://capitalresearch.org/article/tides-is-the-tip-of-the-anti-police-spear/?blm_aid=73350
H/T Instapundit
Once again, the Overton Window has been shifted towards insanity and against the USA.
Whereas it was once expected to show respect to your nation, instead, you are supposed to show disrespect to your nation.
Simple question: If you think this place is REALLY so bad, WHY ARE YOU HERE?
Go the eph somewhere you think better, and stop trying to screw this place up.
Neo,
It’s only an agreed upon opinion among some Americans to say that kneeling disrespects the country. If we decide that kneeling is disrespectful then it is. If we decide it is not then it is not. But there is nothing innate to the human experience that says kneeling before a symbol that we have created is bad.
It’s been interesting [and a bit crazy] to see the way that kneeling in a matter of three years went from something that was bad and could get you fired for doing in professional sports to the complete opposite and now athletes who didn’t kneel for the first game were questioned about their loyalty to equality for black lives, etc.
THAT is exactly why I don’t care if they kneel or stand. The political winds shifted fast over a symbolic gesture and the athletes are caught in the middle! That should not happen in America.
“…kneeling when the anthem is played shows disrespect for the country. There are other ways to protest that don’t disrespect the country and its symbols.” – Neo
Both true, but dissing America is a feature, not a bug.
Your ellipsis omitted this part of Isaac’s statement, which is very important.
“..kneeling while wearing a Black Lives Matter t-shirt don’t go hand in hand with supporting black lives.”
Charles Barkley also gets it.
Take your pick of pundits.
https://townhall.com/tipsheet/bronsonstocking/2020/07/30/charles-barkley-if-people-dont-kneel-theyre-not-a-bad-person-n2573485
https://www.redstate.com/mike_miller/2020/07/31/hall-of-famer-charles-barkley-defends-players-who-refuse-to-kneel-and-twitter-just-can%e2%80%99t-deal/
(All of that symbol-blather is just an apostrophe for can’t)
If we decide that kneeling is disrespectful then it is.
It was Kaepernick’s whole point to be disrespectful. He was explicit about it.
You’re not good at this.
Montage:
It is always a consensus opinion as to what shows disrespect; there is no other standard. And there is no universe in which kneeling for a national anthem doesn’t show disrespect. It is not something that “Americans” just came up with.
It’s also a consensus opinion that pissing on the American flag shows disrespect. I suppose there could be a group who does it and says it shows veneration. But that would be absurd.
Nor do the people kneeling right now claim that their kneeling for the anthem doesn’t show disrespect.
I’m sure many on the Left are gleeful that Isaac tore his ACL over the weekend and will probably miss the next two seasons, if not mean an effective end to his professional career. I’m sure that there are hundreds of “where’s your god now?” and “don’t take a knee, so we’ll take your knee” tweets out there.
Ouch. That’s terrible luck.
Whatever they do, they CANNOT take away his dignity or his courage.
Hope he bounces back quickly.
‘“Many” view a lot of things a lot of ways.’
A broader, comprehensive view of the current hostilities:
https://www.bookwormroom.com/2020/08/02/america-is-engaged-in-a-religious-war/
H/T Instapundit.
Young Mr. Isaac has been knocked out with an ACL injury. BLM is celebrating with all of the nasty gusto they can muster.
Basketball, although it appears gracefully executed, is almost always an extremely physical and bruising game.
Simple question: If you think this place is REALLY so bad, WHY ARE YOU HERE?
They are here to get rich off of you slaves. There is no other place better than this to do it, because other places have been leeched dry. Have you seen Venezuelans dig through garbage bins for food yet?
America still has food, at least.
Nor do the people kneeling right now claim that their kneeling for the anthem doesn’t show disrespect.
An easy test is to see if they kneel “respect” other nation’s anthems.
Easy, but not something Americans hav ethe IQ to do.
It’s been interesting [and a bit crazy] to see the way that kneeling in a matter of three years went from something that was bad and could get you fired for doing in professional sports to the complete opposite and now athletes who didn’t kneel for the first game were questioned about their loyalty to equality for black lives, etc.
Tim Teebow? Teebowing?
Young Mr. Isaac has been knocked out with an ACL injury.
He is being tested by the Divine Counsel. If he passes, he will graduate to something far better than an NBA contract.
Ymar – agreed on the test & promotion. Window, door sort of thing.