Professional Athletes - Activism & Racism

[UNI88]

Huh? What if the human right in question is the freedom of religion, i.e. the freedom to worship Jesus.

That’s not what Warner was preaching for.

He was exercising that right not necessarily preaching for it.

He did appear in anti-abortion ads, which is a human right issue.

You can make that argument but that wasn’t the scope of that meme.

What meme? All I saw was an ad for MovieGuide.

Wouldn't a true liberal and progressive attempt to see things from the perspective of others and respect different perspectives regarding religion as a human right?

[kalm]

That’s not what Warner was preaching for.

He was exercising that right not necessarily preaching for it.

You can make that argument but that wasn’t the scope of that meme.

What meme? All I saw was an ad for MovieGuide.

Wouldn't a true liberal and progressive attempt to see things from the perspective of others and respect different perspectives regarding religion as a human right?

1). Missed that it wasn’t a meme. My bad.

2). When did I say religion isn’t a human right or don’t appreciate the views of others?

[UNI88]

He was exercising that right not necessarily preaching for it.

What meme? All I saw was an ad for MovieGuide.

Wouldn't a true liberal and progressive attempt to see things from the perspective of others and respect different perspectives regarding religion as a human right?

1). Missed that it wasn’t a meme. My bad.

2). When did I say religion isn’t a human right or don’t appreciate the views of others?

Did I misinterpret this?

Activism for human rights (legit, hypocritical, misguided or otherwise) is different than activism for Jesus (legit, hypocritical, misguided, or otherwise).

How is activism for human rights different than activism for Jesus?

[kalm]

1). Missed that it wasn’t a meme. My bad.

2). When did I say religion isn’t a human right or don’t appreciate the views of others?

Did I misinterpret this?

Activism for human rights (legit, hypocritical, misguided or otherwise) is different than activism for Jesus (legit, hypocritical, misguided, or otherwise).

How is activism for human rights different than activism for Jesus?

Oh. Well...I can see where I might have been confusing.

That's a great question honestly.

One difference would be quantifiable intended results. Is activism that leads to the emancipation of sex slave workers the same as providing them with eternal salvation? Despite the fact they may still remain a sex slave?

[UNI88]

Did I misinterpret this?

How is activism for human rights different than activism for Jesus?

Oh. Well...I can see where I might have been confusing.

That's a great question honestly.

One difference would be quantifiable intended results. Is activism that leads to the emancipation of sex slave workers the same as providing them with eternal salvation? Despite the fact they may still remain a sex slave?

Some believe that eternal salvation is more important than emancipation. You can disagree but it's a matter of opinion and priorities.

[GannonFan]

Oh. Well...I can see where I might have been confusing.

That's a great question honestly.

One difference would be quantifiable intended results. Is activism that leads to the emancipation of sex slave workers the same as providing them with eternal salvation? Despite the fact they may still remain a sex slave?

Some believe that eternal salvation is more important than emancipation. You can disagree but it's a matter of opinion and priorities.

Agreed. If you don't like religion, it's easy to pooh-pooh the eternal salvation angle - the whole "opium for the masses" quote comes to mind for folks with that perspective. Religion is always going to be tough like that, it doesn't fit nicely into the "quantifiable intended results" bucket.

[kalm]

Some believe that eternal salvation is more important than emancipation. You can disagree but it's a matter of opinion and priorities.

Agreed. If you don't like religion, it's easy to pooh-pooh the eternal salvation angle - the whole "opium for the masses" quote comes to mind for folks with that perspective. Religion is always going to be tough like that, it doesn't fit nicely into the "quantifiable intended results" bucket.

What about jihad? Or satanism? They should be judged the same as civil rights activism?

Osama bin Laden was just another Ghandi?

[AZGrizFan]

Agreed. If you don't like religion, it's easy to pooh-pooh the eternal salvation angle - the whole "opium for the masses" quote comes to mind for folks with that perspective. Religion is always going to be tough like that, it doesn't fit nicely into the "quantifiable intended results" bucket.

What about jihad? Or satanism? They should be judged the same as civil rights activism?

Osama bin Laden was just another Ghandi?

To the 2 billion Muslims, yes.

[Gil Dobie]

[AZGrizFan]

What they have a problem with is the blatant hypocrisy of criticizing America while simultaneously ignoring the obvious genocide and moral issues of China (where their paychecks come from, largely).

[Gil Dobie]

What they have a problem with is the blatant hypocrisy of criticizing America while simultaneously ignoring the obvious genocide and moral issues of China (where their paychecks come from, largely).

China has then NBA by the booboo.

[AZGrizFan]

Yep. And Lebron. And anybody else who deigns to pass judgement on America’s “faults” without being willing to discuss China’s in the same breath.

[Gil Dobie]

Yep. And Lebron. And anybody else who deigns to pass judgement on America’s “faults” without being willing to discuss China’s in the same breath.

They probably would discuss China, but that could be a career ender for the lesser players and a big money loss for the league, if Lebron spoke up.

[AZGrizFan]

Yep. And Lebron. And anybody else who deigns to pass judgement on America’s “faults” without being willing to discuss China’s in the same breath.

They probably would discuss China, but that could be a career ender for the lesser players and a big money loss for the league, if Lebron spoke up.

And thus, they are willing accomplices in the genocide going on in China and Hong Kong.

Yet they have NOOOOOO problem criticizing police in this country, because they know THAT won’t impact their paycheck. So they’re really only as “committed” as it impacts their standard of living. Real heroes, those guys.

I have way more respect for Colin Kirkpatrick. He literally gave up his career for something he believed in. Every NBA player is nothing more than a Chinese shill.....

[Gil Dobie]

They probably would discuss China, but that could be a career ender for the lesser players and a big money loss for the league, if Lebron spoke up.

And thus, they are willing accomplices in the genocide going on in China and Hong Kong.

Yet they have NOOOOOO problem criticizing police in this country, because they know THAT won’t impact their paycheck. So they’re really only as “committed” as it impacts their standard of living. Real heroes, those guys.

I have way more respect for Colin Kirkpatrick. He literally gave up his career for something he believed in. Every NBA player is nothing more than a Chinese shill.....

There is stuff I can't say on social media, because it would be a career ender. A fellow employee brought up a sensative topic and was fired.

[kalm]

They probably would discuss China, but that could be a career ender for the lesser players and a big money loss for the league, if Lebron spoke up.

And thus, they are willing accomplices in the genocide going on in China and Hong Kong.

Yet they have NOOOOOO problem criticizing police in this country, because they know THAT won’t impact their paycheck. So they’re really only as “committed” as it impacts their standard of living. Real heroes, those guys.

I have way more respect for Colin Kirkpatrick. He literally gave up his career for something he believed in. Every NBA player is nothing more than a Chinese shill.....

We are all willing accomplices when it comes to China. At least they’re getting paid for it.

[UNI88]

And thus, they are willing accomplices in the genocide going on in China and Hong Kong.

Yet they have NOOOOOO problem criticizing police in this country, because they know THAT won’t impact their paycheck. So they’re really only as “committed” as it impacts their standard of living. Real heroes, those guys.

I have way more respect for Colin Kirkpatrick. He literally gave up his career for something he believed in. Every NBA player is nothing more than a Chinese shill.....

We are all willing accomplices when it comes to China. At least they’re getting paid for it.

Some more than others. At least Trump stood up to China rather than making their puppet his Secretary of State.

Lebron when responding to Zlatan's statements about his activism - "I speak from a very educated mind." Lebron when responding to Morey's statements about Hong Kong - "I don’t believe Daryl Morey was educated on the situation at hand, and he spoke. So many people could have been harmed – not only financially but physically, emotionally, spiritually.”

People in Hong Kong were being harmed "not only financially but physically, emotionally, spiritually”. Why did Lebron not only not speak up for them but actually speak out against someone who did? Did he prioritize his financial interests over other people's lives? Did he not care because they weren't his people?

[kalm]

We are all willing accomplices when it comes to China. At least they’re getting paid for it.

Some more than others. At least Trump stood up to China rather than making their puppet his Secretary of State.

Lebron when responding to Zlatan's statements about his activism - "I speak from a very educated mind." Lebron when responding to Morey's statements about Hong Kong - "I don’t believe Daryl Morey was educated on the situation at hand, and he spoke. So many people could have been harmed – not only financially but physically, emotionally, spiritually.”

People in Hong Kong were being harmed "not only financially but physically, emotionally, spiritually”. Why did Lebron not only not speak up for them but actually speak out against someone who did? Did he prioritize his financial interests over other people's lives? Did he not care because they weren't his people?

We are still all willing accomplices. Speaking of the Trump admin and Chiiina, how about Elaine Chao?

[UNI88]

Some more than others. At least Trump stood up to China rather than making their puppet his Secretary of State.

Lebron when responding to Zlatan's statements about his activism - "I speak from a very educated mind." Lebron when responding to Morey's statements about Hong Kong - "I don’t believe Daryl Morey was educated on the situation at hand, and he spoke. So many people could have been harmed – not only financially but physically, emotionally, spiritually.”

People in Hong Kong were being harmed "not only financially but physically, emotionally, spiritually”. Why did Lebron not only not speak up for them but actually speak out against someone who did? Did he prioritize his financial interests over other people's lives? Did he not care because they weren't his people?

We are still all willing accomplices. Speaking of the Trump admin and China, how about Elaine Chao?

So there are differences in riots (Capitol vs BLM/AnTiFa) but when it comes to China, everyone gets lumped together? Why aren't there nuances for both? If there aren't, does Morey get lumped in with Lebron despite being vocal in defense of Hong Kong? Does everyone getting lumped together absolve Lebron of hypocrisy?

Was Elaine Chao looking out for China's interests or her own (and her family's)?

[kalm]

We are still all willing accomplices. Speaking of the Trump admin and China, how about Elaine Chao?

So there are differences in riots (Capitol vs BLM/AnTiFa) but when it comes to China, everyone gets lumped together? Why aren't there nuances for both? If there aren't doe Morey get lumped in with Lebron despite being vocal in defense of Hong Kong? Does everyone getting lumped together absolve Lebron of hypocrisy?

Was Elaine Chao looking out for China's interests or her own (and her family's)?

I didn’t say anything about levels of hypocrisy or corruption. But face it, you and me are complicit...China lover!

[UNI88]

So there are differences in riots (Capitol vs BLM/AnTiFa) but when it comes to China, everyone gets lumped together? Why aren't there nuances for both? If there aren't doe Morey get lumped in with Lebron despite being vocal in defense of Hong Kong? Does everyone getting lumped together absolve Lebron of hypocrisy?

Was Elaine Chao looking out for China's interests or her own (and her family's)?

I didn’t say anything about levels of hypocrisy or corruption. But face it, you and me are complicit...China lover!

We may all be complicit but there are different levels of complicity. Morey is obviously less complicit than Lebron. Someone who calls out China for their abuses in Hong Kong or to the Uyghurs is less complicit than someone who doesn't. A Trump supporter is likely less complicit than a Biden supporter. Houndie likes to bring up Neville Chamberlain but he has the context wrong - we have a lot of Chamberlains running around trying to placate China rather than stand up to them.

[kalm]

I didn’t say anything about levels of hypocrisy or corruption. But face it, you and me are complicit...China lover!

We may all be complicit but there are different levels of complicity. Morey is obviously less complicit than Lebron. Someone who calls out China for their abuses in Hong Kong or to the Uyghurs is less complicit than someone who doesn't. A Trump supporter is likely less complicit than a Biden supporter. Houndie likes to bring up Neville Chamberlain but he has the context wrong - we have a lot of Chamberlains running around trying to placate China rather than stand up to them.

Sure. And I would speculate that most Americans could give a shit about China except when it makes the other side look bad.

EG: thread about Lebron, no mention of Chao in any thread.

Same can be said for bombing Syria. We pretend to care...sometimes...and depending on who’s hitting the button.

[UNI88]

We may all be complicit but there are different levels of complicity. Morey is obviously less complicit than Lebron. Someone who calls out China for their abuses in Hong Kong or to the Uyghurs is less complicit than someone who doesn't. A Trump supporter is likely less complicit than a Biden supporter. Houndie likes to bring up Neville Chamberlain but he has the context wrong - we have a lot of Chamberlains running around trying to placate China rather than stand up to them.

Sure. And I would speculate that most Americans could give a shit about China except when it makes the other side look bad.

EG: thread about Lebron, no mention of Chao in any thread.

Same can be said for bombing Syria. We pretend to care...sometimes...and depending on who’s hitting the button.

What thread about Lebron? This thread is about athletes in general. I started with Lebron and Zlatan because it was current and then connected Lebron to Morey. I added Jeremy Lin. AZ brought up Kap. You're free to mention Chao anywhere you think it's appropriate just like you did here. Chao isn't an athlete but is relevant to the direction the discussion went.

I don't think my position on China with regard to their ambitions and long-term threat to the US and the West has changed that much. I will admit that my position on the use of trade sanctions has changed not because I support Trump but because of the thought I've given to how we can and should be standing up to China.

I've been arguing that we should get the fvck out middle east and stop spending American blood fighting for people who don't appreciate it. Let's focus on our own problems before we try to fix the world.

[AZGrizFan]

Some more than others. At least Trump stood up to China rather than making their puppet his Secretary of State.

Lebron when responding to Zlatan's statements about his activism - "I speak from a very educated mind." Lebron when responding to Morey's statements about Hong Kong - "I don’t believe Daryl Morey was educated on the situation at hand, and he spoke. So many people could have been harmed – not only financially but physically, emotionally, spiritually.”

People in Hong Kong were being harmed "not only financially but physically, emotionally, spiritually”. Why did Lebron not only not speak up for them but actually speak out against someone who did? Did he prioritize his financial interests over other people's lives? Did he not care because they weren't his people?

We are still all willing accomplices. Speaking of the Trump admin and Chiiina, how about Elaine Chao?

I’m not a willing accomplice. Please explain.

[houndawg]

It’s mostly harmless theater.

Ali was inspirational!

Kap is a punk!

Lol. Ali most certainly was NOT inspirational at the time, for the vast majority of Americans. History has been very, very kind to him (and rightly so, I might add)...

He was the most admired man on the planet in his time.