"I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color. To me, this is bigger than football and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way. There are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away with murder."
This dumbass doesn't understand that in America, we are innocent until proven guilty. He is not the judge nor the jury. He is nothing but an obnoxious, ill-informed, race-baiting asswipe stirring up racial division and hatred of cops to serve his own radical leftloon ideology. And the reason people are burning his jerseys and telling the 49ers to get rid of him is also because he saw fit to wear his little "cops as pigs" socks. Most Americans are sick to death of these disgusting BLM-led cop killings. To have a spoiled, wealthy egomaniac using a football team to spew the same leftwing hate and lies they do is not acceptable. I think/hope that if the 49ers don't get rid of this jerk they will lose fans and money. And rightfully so. On Friday, September 2, 2016 at 10:17:38 AM UTC-4, MJ wrote: > > > > > *"If we wanted proof of the robustness of American civil religion -- with > its totem of a flag and hymn-like national anthem -- the public flare-up > that greeted Kaepernick’s dissent offers a powerful reminder." *AUGUST > 31, 2016 > > *WHY KAEPERNICK’S REFUSAL TO STAND WAS AN ACT OF RELIGIOUS DISSENT *BY > BENJAMIN E. ZELLER > > This past Friday night, San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick > made the audacious choice to remain seated > <http://www.businessinsider.com/colin-kaepernick-protests-national-anthem-2016-8> > > during the playing of the national anthem as a form of political protest > against police violence and racism in America. > > The response against him has been swift, angry, and in many cases ugly. A > series of commentatorsmostly in the athletic and political sphereslined > up to rebuke him. So did the general public. For a taste of the sort of > vitriol Kaepernick’s action inspired, simply scan the comments from online > news reports, which call him un-American, selfish, naïve, treasonous, and > dangerous. > > Donald Trump even laid into him > <https://soundcloud.com/buzzfeedandrew/trump-criticizes-kaepernick>, “I > think it’s a terrible thing, and you know, maybe he should find a country > that works better for him.” > > As a scholar of religion what interests me in this instance is the power > of the flag as symbolparticularly in the way that people have reacted. To > help understand this level of outrage, I turn to theorist of religion Émile > Durkheim (1858-1917) who foretold this sort of controversy over a hundred > years ago in his famous text, *The Elementary Forms of Religious Life* > <https://books.google.com/books/about/Elementary_Forms_Of_The_Religious_Life.html?id=oeRxqlTiAmsC> > . > > Rightly or wrongly, Durkheim centered his model of religion on the concept > of the totem, “the material representation of the clan,” which over time > becomes a sacred object and center of a tribal religion. > > Within this model of religion, the totem serves as the preeminent symbol > of the group. “Thus the god of the clan […] can be none other than the clan > itself, but the clan transfigured and imagined in the form of the plant or > animal that serves as totem.” What plants or animals did for ancient > societies, flags do today. The totemic symbol of America, the American > flag, represents the nation state as a sacred entityit serves as symbolic > referent point for the nation’s self-worship. > > From this perspective, what else is the national anthem but a hymn to the > nation, and what else did Kaepernick do but thumb his nose at American > civil religion <http://www.robertbellah.com/articles_5.htm> by sitting > down in church while the choir sung. > > For his part, Kaepernick was clear about why he opted not to stand. He > released > a statement > <http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000691077/article/colin-kaepernick-explains-protest-of-national-anthem>through > > the official NFL Media wing: > > I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that > oppresses black people and people of color. To me, this is bigger than > football and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way. There > are bodies in the street and people getting paid leave and getting away > with murder. > > In a very Durkheimian manner, Kaepernick intentionally violated the taboos > against sittingor if one prefers, the ritual of standingassociated with > the national totem. > > We can read the response through Durkheim too. This early nineteenth > century theorist warned of the power of the totem in massive social > settings wherein the people’s collective passions, what he called > “effervescence,” could lead individuals to act with emotional abandon, what > we today might call extremism. > > To threaten the totem, particularly in front of large groups (such as on > national television!), is to call into question the foundations of society. > “When a belief is shared unanimously by a people, to touch itthat is, to > deny or question itis forbidden,” Durkheim wrote. People kill or die for > their symbols. > > Durkheim wrote, > > The soldier who dies for his flag dies for his country, but the idea of > the flag is actually in the foreground of his consciousness […] Although > the country will not be lost if a solitary flag remains in the hands of the > enemy or won if it is regained, the soldier is killed retaking it. He > forgets that the flag is only a symbol that has no value in itself… > > Had Durkheim written today, he might have invoked the imagery of the raising > of the flag over Iwa Jima > <http://www.archives.gov/historical-docs/todays-doc/?dod-date=223>, one > of the most important iconographic representations of the American nation > state at heroic war; or he might have considered debates over flag burning > and desecration, and the uncountable dollars and hours of time spent in > court battles over what is “only” a piece of cloth. > > Or he might have invoked Kaepernick, who dared to challenge the meaning of > the flag and in doing so challenged the “reality” behind it. > > So as some wonder why Kaepernick couldn’t just stand up quietly during the > national anthem, or why the response to his actions was so heated and even > hateful, Durkheim’s theory of religion looms large. > > If we wanted proof of the robustness of American civil religionwith its > totem of a flag and hymn-like national anthemthe public flare-up that > greeted Kaepernick’s dissent offers a powerful reminder. > > > > http://religiondispatches.org/why-kaepernicks-refusal-to-stand-was-an-act-of-religious-dissent/?utm_source=Religion+Dispatches+Newsletter&utm_campaign=5d46ea8585-RD_Daily_Newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_742d86f519-5d46ea8585-42432413 > -- -- Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups. 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