Excerpts:
When Tim Tebow knelt on the sidelines of a football game in a defiant and public act of faith during his years as an N.F.L. quarterback, he was adored as a darling of the American church. When Colin Kaepernick knelt before games in protest of police brutality, he received death threats, was called a “traitor” and eventually, left unsigned by the NFL. Kaepernick is a devout Christian whose faith has turned him into an activist...
But as more than 200 NFL players joined the protest by refusing to stand for the national anthem this weekend, some Christians expressed their dismay, claiming that kneeling during the anthem is an unpatriotic and ungrateful gesture. This fissure in response to the NFL protests highlights key differences between white Christians and Christians of color. These groups tend to think differently about racial justice ― and what Christianity should look like when it’s called to action....
The Rev. Jacqueline Lewis, senior minister of New York City’s Middle Collegiate Church, told HuffPost that she believes that flag is a symbol of the freedoms that the country claims to uphold ― freedom to “drive, work, and live while Black. Vote while Black. Raise children while Black. Safely.” But America isn’t there yet.“I think the deeper issue is that for African Americans in this nation, that flag and that national anthem are only as sacred as the willingness of those who sing and salute to stand up for the lives of all Americans, to stand against white supremacy ― the white supremacy that built this land on the backs of enslaved Africans, after stealing it from first nation peoples,” Lewis said.
It is a worthwhile read!
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