Anthem or Idol

The ruckus over the NFL and its debate over kneeling -vs- standing arm-in-arm -vs- staying in the locker room -vs- standing at attention has lost focus.

The protest originally started because of police shootings, and in general black Americans being treated differently (read more harshly) than white Americans.  Somehow - and I think it was intentional misdirection - the conversation became one of whether or not it is “patriotic” to kneel during the national anthem while it is played at a sporting event.

There are three issues here that I want to ponder.

First, what is “Patriotic”?  Is it really “patriotic” to stand with your hand over your heart when the song is played?  Is it really “patriotic” to face the flag with reverence? What if the nation represented by the anthem or the flag does not live up to or even attempt to embrace the values it claims?

Wouldn’t it be more patriotic to live up to the ideals of the constitution rather than get all worked up about whether one is kneeling quietly?  Wouldn’t it be more patriotic to make sure that every American is treated equally, that the poorest American can still wake up secure in knowing that they have a safe place to sleep, enough food to eat, and the dignity of not being treated like a pariah simply because they are poor?  

And what of the veterans who many say the kneeling disrespects?  Wouldn’t it be more respectful of them to make sure they get the education, the treatment for PTSD, the medical services they need in order to make it after their military service?  It is noteworthy, by the way, that many veterans have openly supported the kneeling players and even knelt themselves.

Second, what of the original protest?  Is criticism of this particular protest just a way of saying that in fact black people should never protest?  Trevor Noah had a great segment on this, noting that every single form of protest by black Americans has been criticized by large groups of white Americans who simply do not want to hear that anything is wrong.  They want them to shut up and entertain us.

After all, Kid Rock, a big critic of the NFL players and candidate for congress has cut holes in the American flag and worn it as a poncho without so much as a whisper from NFL critics.  Why not criticism?  Because he’s a white guy just entertaining - not protesting.  His behavior violates the flag code, but that never was the real issue, was it?  The real issue is, we don’t want black folks to raise a stink over their mistreatment, which we prefer to deny exists.  But denying something’s existence doesn’t mean it isn’t real.

Third, why are we singing the National Anthem at sporting events anyway?  This is a much more serious question than it sounds.  For one thing, what is so nationally significant about sporting events that they should be blessed with the anthem (or the singing of “God Bless America” as has become tradition during the seventh inning stretch at baseball games)?  Are sporting events more nationally significant than, say, the opening of the Mall each day?  Or before movies or plays?  What purpose does it play to have the anthem sung at these things?

One of the comments I heard from spectators who were interviewed is that they were so frustrated with athletes injecting politics into what should be a simple game, a piece of entertainment they attend in order to forget the division within the country.

But think of it - playing the national anthem IS ALREADY INJECTING POLITICS into the sporting event.  It is, by its very nature, a political action.  If the History Channel is to be believed, the playing of the anthem started in 1918 during the World Series between the Boston Red Sox and Chicago Cubs.  It was also during World War I.

Supposedly, the moment was spontaneous, and maybe it was, but during World War I, the government introduced sedition laws that made it increasingly difficult to voice criticism of the war.  Neighbors were encouraged to turn in neighbors who said anything anti-government, and many were turned in simply for not seeming enthusiastic enough about our war effort.

So it doesn’t really surprise me that, once key people started putting on patriotic displays in this very public venue, everyone else followed.  And after that, it was played at the rest of the World Series games.  It wasn’t until 1931 that the Star Spangled Banner was made the national anthem, however, and it wasn’t until World War II that the NFL commissioner required it to be played at every game.  Again - a political decision during a time of war.  A very public way to require people to show their patriotism.

Sadly, that sounds a little too much like the old Soviet Union or the Nazis that the Americans fought so bravely - and necessarily - against.  Forced displays patriotism is no patriotism at all.  Politics is embedded in our sports, and I would love for it to stop because, yes, I’d like to just go to a game, too.

As a Christian, I have to take note of a fourth issue surrounding the flag and anthem.  It’s a more general issue.  Is our love of flag and anthem a form of Idolatry?  

I’m serious about this.  Few other countries have this quasi-religious veneration for an anthem that wasn’t even official till less than a hundred years ago.  Our country is not founded on it.  And the flag?  It is not sacred.  Certainly, for a Christian, it can NOT be held as sacred, as if it came from God.  It did not.  So the outcry over the anthem and flag ring hollow.  Would that the same people would object to crosses being burned (on peoples’ lawns, no less), perverting promise and sign of the cross into a sign of fear and terror.

Rather, the flag is a symbol of a country, no more.  And the country must always come after following Christ.  Besides, if the values which the flag purports to uphold are not granted to all people in the land, then the flag itself means little.