Well, I have a unique perspective on this incident, because as a former Jehovah’s Witness, I spent nearly twenty years sitting through anthems and pledges all through school and the few sporting events that I attended. Oddly enough, there was never really any problem with anyone taking offense. A couple of teachers got snippy about not “showing respect for your country”, but they backed off when I said it was for religious reasons.
Witnesses will not salute the flag or stand to national anthems because they are part of “Jehovah’s Kingdom”, which is no part of this Earth, and saluting flags and standing to anthems is part of the nationalism that causes wars, and is also a form of idolatry, as they see it. It’s actually an outgrowth of their pacifism that has caused them to be persecuted in other less tolerant nations. I would be, of course, reminded of how these persecuted Witnesses were ready to die for their faith, had I ever questioned sitting through the patriotism. But I never did. I was a good little sitting sheep for quite a while. I did feel a little uncomfortable, being that conspicuous though.
Don’t get me wrong. I find the reasoning behind Witnesses sitting through the anthem admirable to a certain extent. It’s good that we are not forced to worship the nation, or the head of state. We need a reminder of that. It’s a noble thing not to be in lockstep with the crowd.
But again, I was not in lockstep with the patriotic practice because I was told not to be in lockstep with it. I was in lockstep with Witness beliefs instead, so it’s really a wash, as far as nobility goes.
I suppose I was lucky to be going through all this during the Sixties and Seventies, when patriotism was not such a big deal. Really, the United States is far, far more sensitive to this sort of thing now, as this whole Kaepernick thing shows.
I can remember during high school, they used to play the national anthem through the intercom speakers in the morning. Everyone was supposed to stand up. One day, the teacher was late, and the anthem started to play. I didn’t stand up…
…but then, none of the other kids did either.
They weren’t showing any special solidarity with me. They just didn’t have a teacher in the room making them stand up. They just kept talking and waiting for class to start.
At the end of the song, the teacher walked in, and yelled at everybody for sitting down through the anthem.
I just sat there smiling.