QUARANTINE BLOG # 67

June 5, 2020

Don’t apologize Drew!  You said you were being insensitive.  The only thing insensitive about what you said, is from the people who don’t think you have the right to say what you believe.

If you haven’t heard the story, when asked for his opinion about players kneeling to protest police brutality once the NFL season begins this fall, Drew Brees had said he would “never agree with anybody disrespecting the flag.  And is everything right with our country right now?  No, it’s not.  We still have a long way to go.  But I think what you do by standing there and showing respect to the flag with your hand over your heart, is it shows unity.  It shows that we are all in this together, we can all do better, and that we are all part of the solution.”

After everyone who thinks the Free Speech part of First Amendment to the United States Constitution applies only to them and not to Drew Brees, rose up, their panties in a wad, and criticized the New Orleans Saints quarterback, Brees backed down and said he was being “insensitive.”

Buffalo biscuits!  I am sick and tired that the only ones who have the right of free speech are those who object to any opinion other than their own.

Whatever happened to “I disagree with what you are saying, but I defend your right to say it”?

If you want to protest police brutality – and I will join you in any peaceful, legitimate protest – do it in a way that does not disrespect the flag of the United States of America, and the men and women who died fighting under that Star Spangled Banner.  They died so that all Americans can say what they believe.  Even Drew Brees.

👉  A Star Wars fan pointed out to me yesterday that I missed a great example to play off of one of the most dramatic scenes in Episode 3: The Revenge of the Sith, and the title of yesterday's blog.  Well here it is from Quarantine Blog 66 to “Execute general order 66.”

👉  You know the story of Davy Crockett and the Alamo.  An old Spanish mission becomes the scene of a battle between fewer than 200 defenders including William Travis, Jim Bowie, and Davy Crockett, and the 5,000 man Mexican army of Santa Anna.  Although the defenders lost, “Remember the Alamo” became the battle cry in creating an independent Texas, and ultimately defeating the Mexican army.

In 1945 John Wayne began toying with the idea of creating a movie version of the 1836 struggle.  His 192 minute epic (Wayne would later cut 30 minutes out of the film) premiered in 1960.  Here is a link to the original trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYtguIsp2B8

Wayne was originally under contract to Republic Pictures who gave him the green light to write a script and begin production.  The two clashed over the proposed budget of the film – $3 million (laughably small in terms of today’s movies) – and Wayne formed his own production company, Batjac, so he could make the movie according to his own vision.

His original plan was to produce and direct the movie, but not act in it.  Prospective backers balked at the idea because John Wayne in a movie in the 50s and 60s virtually guaranteed financial success.  He tried to compromise by doing the small roll of Sam Houston, but when he was overruled, he became Davy Crockett.  His son, Patrick, and daughter, Aissa, appeared in the film (Aissa’s scenes were part of the 30 minutes later cut out).

Part of the musical score was “The Green Leaves of Summer” which was heard on the last night before the battle. I looked for the clip from the original release, but could not find one.  The version here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8zbVbgN2cg is dubbed, and I miss the drama of John Wayne’s voice, but the power of the scene is not diminished.  Davy Crockett was asked what he was thinking and replied, “Not thinking. Just remembering.”

Critics of the film say John Wayne was just looking for a platform for his anti-communist views.  Regardless of his motivation, there is an overwhelming theme of freedom and the right of individuals to make their own decisions.

👉 Another of the Walt Disney frontier television series was The Saga of Andy Burnett.  Buoyed by their success with Davy Crockett, ABC Television wanted more westerns from Walt Disney, so on October 2, 1957, Andy Burnett premiered.  Unlike Davy Crockett, the new show was not based on a historical person, but came from the historical fiction of Stewart Edward White first serialized in Saturday Evening Post.  Andy, from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, traveled west to become a mountain man in the Blackfoot Indian Territory.  Not approaching the popularity of Davy Crockett, only six episodes were produced.

Like all TV shows in those days, Andy had a theme song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JYox3Hbtiio Looking back to when I was only 10 years old, I remember this as one of my favorites (but my memory may be faulty because we did not get a TV until I was 12 – I guess I saw The Saga of Andy Burnett in reruns).

And here is the picture of the juvenile Davy Crockett I promised in yesterday’s blog and left out.  My pastor, Linda Birchall, sends out a daily devotion and her secretary didn’t send it until late last night.  Yesterday was one of those days.

👉  On this day in 1967 the Six Day War began.  Israel responded to a build-up of Arab forces along its borders by launching simultaneous attacks against Egypt and Syria.  In the six days of fighting, Israel occupied the Gaza Strip and the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt, the Golan Heights of Syria, and the West Bank and Arab sector of East Jerusalem, and reclaimed the Old City of Jerusalem from Jordan.

👉  On this day in 1968 Bobby Kennedy shot at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles after winning the California presidential primary.  Athletes Rafer Johnson and Roosevelt Grier accompanied Kennedy out a rear exit of the Ambassador Hotel, when Palestinian Sirhan Sirhan stepped forward with a rolled up campaign poster, hiding his .22 revolver.  He was only a foot away when he fired several shots at Kennedy.  He said that he believed Kennedy was “instrumental” in the oppression of Palestinians.  Bobby Kennedy died the next day.

👉  I don’t know how much you’ve thought about this, but faith isn’t natural for you and me.  Doubt is natural.  Fear is natural.  Anxiously wishing for change in things that you have no ability to change is natural.  Giving way to discouragement, depression, or despair is natural.  But faith simply isn’t natural to us.

In His grace, God gifts us to believe – “faith is the gift of God” (Ephesians 2:8).  I can’t think of anything more counterintuitive than faith in God.  We put our faith in a lot of things, but not in a God we cannot see or hear, who makes promises so grand they seem impossible to keep. 

God gives us the power to believe, and by grace He works in the situations of our everyday lives to mold us into people who live based on the radical belief that He really does exist and “He rewards those who seek Him” (Hebrews 11:6).

The next time you face a moment of difficulty you really don’t want to go through, remember that particular difficulty does not present a God who has forgotten you, but One who is near to you.  God is working within you so you will become a person who really does live by faith.

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