Several professional athletes with Major League Baseball (MLB) and the National Basketball Association (NBA) have stood for the National Anthem while the majority have gone along with the herd mentality of kneeling in protest of racial injustices. Orlando Magic’s Jonathan Isaac was the first NBA player to stand for the anthem prior to the league’s “bubble” games where painted on each side mid-court in all caps, “BLACK LIVES MATTER,” everyone on the sidelines is wearing T-Shirts that say “Black Lives Matter,” and players no longer have their names on their jersey’s, but rather sayings like “Equality,” “Say Her Name,” “I Am A Man,” etc. Isaac, however, stood without the T-shirt, during the anthem.
Bleacher Report quoted Isaac, a black man, as saying, “I do believe that Black lives matter, but I just felt like it was a decision that I had to make, and I didn’t feel like putting that shirt on and kneeling went hand in hand with supporting Black lives. I believe that for myself, my life has been supported by gospel, Jesus Christ, and everyone is made in the image of God and that we all forge through God’s glory…I think when you look around, racism isn’t the only thing that plagues our society, that plagues our nation, that plagues our world, and I think coming together on that message that we want to get past not only racism but everything that plagues as us as a society, I feel like the answer to that is gospel.”
Miami Heat’s Meyers Leonard, a white man, said he believes “Black lives matter,” but he also supports the military as his brother and others who have fought for the country. Leonard said, “I am a compassionate human being and I truly love all people. I can’t fully comprehend how our world, literally and figuratively, has turned into Black and white. There’s a line in the sand, so to speak: ‘If you’re not kneeling, you’re not with us.’ And that’s not true.” San Francisco Giants relief pitcher Sam Coonrod, a white man, stood based on his Christian beliefs, saying, “I’m a Christian. So, I just believe that I can’t kneel before anything besides God.” He disagrees with the Black Lives Matter organization, saying, “How they lean toward Marxism, and they’ve said some negative things about the nuclear family. I just can’t get on board with that.”
These athletes are making good points AND they are not getting ripped apart by the media and the radical left. Maybe it’s how they are making their case. Their teammates support them while at the same time disagree with them. It shows respect. Beyond the National Anthem, Isaac and Coonrod look to their faith as to why they are not kneeling. Isaiah 45:23, in his prophecy to Cyrus, the Lord God said, “I have sworn by Myself; The word has gone out of My mouth in righteousness, And shall not return, That to Me every knee shall bow, Every tongue shall take an oath.” This is also referenced and repeated in Philippians 2 and Romans 14. These athletes didn’t attack people. They respected others opinion while disagreeing. They stated their standard, which is far higher than the anthem of any nation. A good example on how to stand.
