Greetings!
A short week after Labor Day makes for busy days. I hope you made it through like I did!
Here’s my thoughts on six timely topics in another edition of Doyle’s Half Dozen.
- Kaepernick continuum claims colleagues and criticism
I said in last week’s DHD that we will see if the talk continues about San Francisco’s backup quarterback Colin Kaepernick’s decision to protest against the National Anthem and the observance of the American Flag during pregame. It’s not going away.
In fact, it continues to grow in support and in opposition. More NFL football players are joining the observance, including Denver linebacker Brandon Marshall.
And it’s crossing over to other sports. Megan Rapinoe, a professional women’s soccer player, is now protesting the anthem and the flag. However, when her team was playing in Maryland, the home team pulled a fast one and played the National Anthem before the players were on the field, preventing Rapinoe from observing her protest.
The Washington Spirit said they moved the pregame ritual ahead of schedule in order to avoid Rapinoe’s “hijack” to be observed during pregame tradition, which would “subject our fans and friends to the disrespect we feel such an act would represent.”
Rapinoe responded after the game saying what the Spirit did was “distasteful.” I’m sorry, but I don’t see how she has any room to talk when she should know her protest is even more distasteful to multitudes of Americans across the country. If nothing else, she should consider what the Spirit did as a courtesy to her for not having to observe something she apparently objects.
This is at a ridiculous status. Unfortunately, it seems to be growing and not going away. More professional athletes will join the controversy, which will stir more confusion and less resolution.
- Russell Wilson is right on
Have you heard how Seattle quarterback Russell Wilson responded when asked about the national anthem and flag protest?
“For me, I love the flag,” said Wilson. “I understand what (Kaepernick is) doing. But at the same time for me, I can also think about where we need to go and where our thoughts need to be. It needs to be about love, about caring about one another. And that’s for every community, every situation, every socio-economic status. And if we focus on that, maybe something can be changed – and I think that’s important.”
Bravo, Russell Wilson! Bravo!
Wilson is definitely somebody to be considered as a role model. He and his wife were committed to practicing abstinence before they got married.
- Speaking of sexual purity
Check out Eric Metaxus’ article titled “Progressively Regressive Sexuality.” He makes a rather prophetic observation of how the sexual revolution has affected our culture.
“In just a few short years our society has fundamentally altered the meaning of marriage, embraced the notion that men can become women, and is now promoting the idea that grown men should be welcome to share a bathroom with women and young girls. Not unexpectedly, we’re also seeing movement toward the normalization of polygamy, pedophilia, and incest.”
Metaxus points out how these progressive views are actually returning to the immoral observances of the Roman Empire centuries ago. But he also states the importance of the influence Christianity had back then.
“The notions of self-giving love, sexual chastity, and marital fidelity were foreign, even shocking to the people of that time.”
Take note, my Christian friends. Though these are challenging times, they are not original.
- Moore on talking to children about this year’s election
Russell Moore has a great article this week on “How to Talk to Your Children About Election 2016.” I think it’s a great perspective even if you don’t have children.
Moore has taken some heat for speaking against Donald Trump and his presidential candidacy. Hopefully, though, even those who may disagree with his take on Trump would find the content of Moore’s article to be applicable and the right way to view today’s politics from a Christian viewpoint.
- Preview for an upcoming article
This week I wrote an article for the Baptist Messenger about First Baptist Church of Fort Gibson and their involvement with the Bacone College football team.
Bacone started as a Native American school in 1880. It remains to be a small college in Muskogee. But what God started through Steve and Sharon Dixon six years ago has impacted many lives.
Steve and Sharon decided to canvass Bacone’s campus, and they met a young man named Nathan who was a resident advisor. They invited Nathan to their church Fort Gibson, First. From there Nathan invited others from Bacone to attend.
There are other stories which includes L.C. Brown who was a defensive lineman from Southside Chicago. Brown was living in the dorms during the summer when everything was closed. All he had to eat was a jar of peanut butter and some bread.
One Friday evening, Brown was told somebody brought a bunch of food over. It was Steve and Sharon who had a box full of leftover hamburgers and side items from a cookout the church did for Vacation Bible School. They gave the box to Brown, and he was shocked. Because of his upbringing, he didn’t have a positive view of white people, and what the Dixons did was a total foreign concept for him. This was four years ago.
Today, L.C. Brown is the associate director of Baptist Collegiate Ministries for Muskogee area schools.
This is just a few of the stories from the ministry the Dixons and Fort Gibson, First have with Bacone College.
- Lankford lauds religious liberty
I close with a powerful speech from Oklahoma U.S. Senator James Lankford, which he made Friday morning at the Values Voter Summit. It’s 20 minutes, but it’s worth taking the time to watch. I watched it right before I finished this week’s DHD.