It isn’t my wish to offend anyone – never has been – yet I feel a need to express my opinion on a topic that has been in the news for several weeks. Yes, only this one topic, I suppose I could rant about many other things that have been in the news lately, but I’ll just tackle this one; that of kneeling during our National Anthem. I’ve drawn my conclusions and it may irritate some. I have read (not all articles, but many,) listened to and thought about many of the comments rendered during this debate. So, my opinion doesn’t come lightly. I fail to see how “kneeling” can be a disrespectful form of protest. After all, many kneel in prayer, and many have kneeled to honor a monarch – this was considered a form of respect. What I find disrespectful is the failure to honor our Constitution – which, in effect, shows a failure to have read it, much less understand it. This kneeling as a form of protest is a peaceful one, and is protected by our First Amendment. Forcing entities, even by suggestion (which is a form of bullying,) to comply with one’s wishes that go against this protected right is, in my opinion, disrespectful. Those in government leadership have taken an oath to preserve and protect our Constitution – I wonder if they understand this oath. In my mind, kneeling is a much better form of protest than marching with torches and weapons, and chanting obscenities…… this is disrespectful of humanity. As far as I know, there is no written rule that says citizens MUST stand for the Anthem. (There is a difference between “should” and “must”.) Thus, I fail to see kneeling as disrespectful.
Does anyone remember when there were cases of Flag burning as a form of protest? Many of us certainly thought this was a violent act, but it was protected and our Supreme Court ruled such. Once upon a time, we all held our Flag in high regard. We treated it carefully, never letting it touch the ground when it was handled, never copying it onto clothing, or any other article; it wasn’t supposed to be used for advertising purposes. So, where has that form of respect gone? Why do we now see our Flag transferred onto nearly everything one can imagine? I think I can answer that and understand why those who are wearing this symbol aren’t arrested for disrespecting the Flag. My main question then: why is there such an issue with kneeling during our Anthem? Kneeling isn’t going the same route as Flag burning. Complaining about this kneeling doesn’t display patriotism; it is simply a way to deflect from other issues and make it seem as if one is patriotic – yep, my opinion.
**This website hasn’t been updated since 2005; I include it for historical purposes: http://www.usflag.org/flagetiquette.html
Does anyone remember when there were cases of Flag burning as a form of protest? Many of us certainly thought this was a violent act, but it was protected and our Supreme Court ruled such. Once upon a time, we all held our Flag in high regard. We treated it carefully, never letting it touch the ground when it was handled, never copying it onto clothing, or any other article; it wasn’t supposed to be used for advertising purposes. So, where has that form of respect gone? Why do we now see our Flag transferred onto nearly everything one can imagine? I think I can answer that and understand why those who are wearing this symbol aren’t arrested for disrespecting the Flag. My main question then: why is there such an issue with kneeling during our Anthem? Kneeling isn’t going the same route as Flag burning. Complaining about this kneeling doesn’t display patriotism; it is simply a way to deflect from other issues and make it seem as if one is patriotic – yep, my opinion.
**This website hasn’t been updated since 2005; I include it for historical purposes: http://www.usflag.org/flagetiquette.html
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