I do not stand for the national anthem. I will not participate in a forced patriotism exercise when I do not believe the words in the anthem reflect life in America. Land of the free? I mean, as long as you’re cishet white evangelical christian who hates all the same people they do. Then you are FREE AS FUCK.
But that’s a huge fucking lie. And especially now.
So a couple seasons ago at a hockey game, I didn’t stand. I was respectful like I always am, but I did not stand. The dude next to me lost his shit. I gently reminded him that I was expressing my Constitutionally guaranteed rights, and it wasn’t his business.
He started ranting at me about some bullshit I tuned out, and then he demanded to know if I served in the military.
I asked him why that was relevant. He had no answer. I said that we don’t have compulsory military service in America, and if we are going to expect us to respect people who make the choice to serve, we also have to make the choice to respect the people who choose NOT to serve. But, again, it’s completely irrelevant to my choice to not stand for an anthem I do not believe in.
This is when he went off about defending my freedom and how I was ... I don’t remember. I was only hearing this dude’s incoherent rage at this point. So I said, “it sounds to me like you didn’t serve to defend our Constitution. It sounds like you served to impose your morality and beliefs on all of us, and I’m done talking to you.”
I remember how confused he looked when I said that. His wife put her hand on his shoulder and was like, “Babe, come on,” because clearly this guy did this (maybe still does this) a lot.
He had nothing to say. No answer. I think I genuinely broke his angry, revanchist little brain.
He left me alone for the rest of the game.
I still won’t stand for the anthem. Nobody should be forced to say a pledge or stand for something we don’t believe reflects our values.
If you aren’t willing to fight for that freedom, you aren’t fighting for freedom at all.
