Is Neely Correct – What Does “Entertainment” Really Mean?

What a week!

The Colin Kaepernick protest sparked all kinds of discussions in my household over the past week and as it should, spilled right on over into our homeschool lessons. Colin’s decision to not stand during the National Anthem, the comments by anonymous NFL owners, and the reaction by the public and the media, had us breaking it down to a few questions:

All of this reaction over a football player?
All of this reaction for not standing at the Anthem, at a football game, where many so-called fans reverence it so much, they stand with a beer in one hand and wandering minds like a 2-year-old in the adult church service?
Was he wrong?
Was he right?
Was he disrespectful to anyone?

To really summarize the five questions above, perhaps we are really asking if this is even important with all that is going on in the world and is his action worthy of all the emotional outrage?

In their English course work, all of the kids (grades 5th – 10th) are studying the work of Neely Fuller Jr.’s:

Now, these two books should be in everyone’s library, regardless of what “race” they are given. Those familiar with Neely’s work know that “race” is a made up term, as White Supremacy determines who belongs in what category, hence my use of the term, “given”. For example, at one time, Jews and Italians were not considered “white” in the United States. Mr. Fuller is also a military veteran and is part of what Tom Brokaw called, “The Greatest Generation”, for their resilience and patriotism. In the show below, Mr. Fuller even addressed the Colin Kaepernick protest and his position may surprise you.

So we started thinking…

Personally, I do not really celebrate any “Christian” holidays, as I looked more into their origins and separated fact from fiction. That doesn’t mean I’m not a Christian any longer (and I’m not hating on those that do and yes, my wife makes sure the kids have “Christmas presents”), but one that supports truth since I claim to believe there is Absolute Truth. If anything, the more I dig and find out, the more my faith gets strengthened.

Now I admit, I am learning quite a bit amidst this Colin Kaepernick discussion that I did not know about the Anthem. I would hope, like all Christians that support truth, all Americans are in full support of talking about the Anthem. We should be seeking to find out:

Why were the lyrics removed?

Who made this decision? Obviously, I’m seeing all of these videos of historians now explaining the history, so someone knew…

Why do we sing it before a sporting event that has no intrinsic value and is far less “important” than those we are to be showing honor to anyway?

Why do the players make more money than soldiers and are cared for better than the military?

Sometimes it just feels like the nation is sponsored by Nike and “Just Do It”. But if questions like these are answered, just as stated with my faith, shouldn’t it just make us more united and patriotic? Only lies confuse and are fragile, truth unites and creates a firm and lasting foundation.

But let us remember, we are talking about a football player, playing a childhood game, for our entertainment. So why is this a national conversation that sparks emotion among Americans of all “colors”?

We may have found one of the answers in Neely Fuller’s Word-Guide, when we looked at the definition of so-called “entertainment”.

Neely notes, that in a Racist system, those who do choose to participate in the practice of racism “do nothing for ‘entertainment’, that is not intended to help maintain, expand, and/or refine” racism.

Perhaps our “entertainment” IS carrying a message. Judging by the reaction of so many this week, the message is loud and clear.

So the question the kids must ponder and investigate is:

Is Neely correct?

The children are to evaluate everything they see on the Disney shows that they watch.

Evaluate the news media (as they often watch the TODAY show before beginning their work).

Evaluate any activity this world presents to them as “entertainment”, to test Neely Fuller’s definition.

I must say, I was happy to hear in my office this morning, an eruption when watching the TODAY show, and they reported that Colin Kaepernick did not stand for the Anthem or military ceremonies in the game against the San Diego Chargers. My children speculated that this was untrue, as we heard the prior day that he did in fact stand for the military presentation, but kneeled down during the Anthem.

Blind allegiance to our faith, our family and our country is not part of our core values in our homeschool. You investigate EVERYTHING and hold fast to that which is true. We try to follow the example of the Bereans:

Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. (Acts 17:11)

Also, one of our ancestors left us a saying that we still often use:

“Just because you say it, doesn’t make it so!”

Now, before you think I just typed and rambled (which is certainly possible and I’m sure I have or will do it in a post, but this time it was done purposely), I wanted you to think.

What do you think of Neely’s definition?

Does it fit the Kaepernick discussion?

What does it cause you to question?

May I throw out a few of my observations?

I do find it interesting that sporting events socially force the audience to display their patriotism to the flag. This is done from high school sports, to dirt track racing, to the Big Leagues.

Why is this done?

I do find it interesting that, the entire narrative has been on Kaepernick’s protest, but not on WHAT he was protesting about (again, I’m encouraging you to search a bit with your kids).

Why is this done?

I do find it interesting, that when I started watching a few “entertaining” videos, and I thought of Fuller’s definition, I watched them in a different light.

Much like the news anchors in this video: