No people don't have to agree. But you at least have to have an understanding. At a minimum! I love your two voices of thought on that same subject. Personally, I'd love to ask the 2nd person a few questions.
Thanks. I wrote both, so I'll answer them now:
- 1. Why do you believe the only way to show respect for the flag is to stand with hand over heart?
It's not the only way to show respect for the flag, but during the national anthem, not at least standing has often been considered to be disrespectful.
- 2. Why is respecting the flag tied to veterans and not to the country's citizens?
For me personally, this started a LONG time ago when I was taught respect for my nation's flag and anthem. Respect for America / our anthem and flag was always tied to the people who fought in wars and died for our freedom. This isn't something people are making up to bash Kapernick. It's a belief a lot of people have, and were taught since childhood. Right along with America being the land of opportunity where anyone can succeed / a nation of free speech (which some liberals seem hate to hear these days), and being a melting pot / welcoming to immigrants of all nations (which some conservatives hate to hear these days).
To answer your question, the argument would be that for citizens who grew up as I did, disrespecting the flag is something that personally offends them as a citizen. Even ignoring citizenship and hypothetically arguing that the flag only represents our veterans and not our citizens and our country, our citizens could still be offended, even if they're not technically the ones being slighted. This is true the same way white people can get offended by racial slurs used against minorities.
- 3. If the country is lead by a civilian (and that's by design by the nation's forefathers), why do they put more importance on what the military thinks about the country than civilians?
This was mostly answered above. It's not just the military who have been taught respect for the flag.
- 4. Is it possible that you are over estimating how veterans feel about kneeling during the anthem?
This was also mostly answered above. But I wouldn't mind seeing the results of some actual polls. It ultimately wouldn't matter, and would be an appeal to the majority if used as an argument for either side of the issue, but it would be interesting to see. It would also be interesting to see the results of asking the same question to various generations, races, and religions.
One unintended effect this might actually have (because it's unfortunately not going to change anything about racial profiling or police brutality) is a generation of people are now being told that not showing respect for the flag has nothing to do with with not showing respect to veterans or our military. There is no "truth" here, only social construct, but that doesn't make it any less insulting for those who hold other beliefs.
- 5. Is it truly freedom that veterans are fighting for, if we can't choose to not stand during the national anthem? Do we also have to say the Pledge of Alliance when a boss or teacher asks us to?
Legally, you can choose, which is why I felt the "stay in the locker room" compromise makes perfect sense, and I think Trump was dumb to suggest otherwise. Ultimately, where I stand on this issue is very close to the gay wedding cake issue. Speech should not be compelled, but outside of that, if you're an employee who is "on the clock" you probably should not do anything that is divisive at your place of employment.
The person in your 2nd section clearly wouldn't have understood where the 1st person was coming from. You can't be against the government when it comes to higher taxes, more gun control, Obamacare, etc and then say "boy you better stand up and straighten that back out with hand over heart and sing that song!"
I wrote both sections, and agree with almost all of both sections, right up until my actual decision on the topic, largely informed by how I was raised as a child. I'd like to think I understand where the 1st person is coming from, along with the 2nd. I can empathize with both.
Regarding the last thing you said, you can respect and love your country, while also believing in small government. Being against the government and being against what you feel is government overreach are two very different things. I'll give you this, though: For those who think the flag should be respected to the point where businesses should be able to compel employees to show respect to the flag, or for those who feel a law should be passed that requires people express respect to our flag / anthem, I think they're complete hypocrites.