{"id":49894,"date":"2020-06-26T06:00:25","date_gmt":"2020-06-26T10:00:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/?p=49894"},"modified":"2020-06-24T17:54:43","modified_gmt":"2020-06-24T21:54:43","slug":"protests-and-the-flag","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2020\/06\/protests-and-the-flag\/","title":{"rendered":"Protests and the Flag"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Here is something that can help us navigate our way through our current protests and controversies:\u00a0 The flag of the United States of America.<\/p>\n

Should we, for example, rename the U.S. military bases named after Confederate generals?\u00a0 \u00a0Well, Fort Bragg, Fort Hood, Fort A.P. Hill, and Fort Benning were named after generals who fought against the American flag.<\/em>\u00a0 Does it make sense to name a U.S. military base against someone who fought against the U.S. military?<\/p>\n

But, some will say, these men were great soldiers and men of honor who showed commendable courage in defending their homeland.\u00a0 Fine.\u00a0 Respect them for that.<\/p>\n

\n

The German general Erwin Rommel<\/a> was also reportedly a brilliant tactician and man of virtue, who conducted a \u201cwar without hate\u201d and who was executed for conspiring to kill Hitler.\u00a0 Respect him for that.\u00a0 But don\u2019t name a U.S. military base after him!\u00a0 He fought against American troops in North Africa.\u00a0 He fought against our flag.<\/p>\n

It would be a fully justified policy to name military bases, as well as other installations such as ships and buildings, after those who served under the American flag.\u00a0 To my knowledge, there is no Fort Eisenhower, no Fort Patton, no Fort Grant.\u00a0 Shouldn\u2019t there be?<\/p>\n

Which brings us to another issue.\u00a0 The Black Lives Matter protests have often targeted this flag.\u00a0 Former NFL Quarterback Colin Kaepernick took a knee during the flag presentation during pre-game ceremonies as a protest against American racism, and now the professional sports leagues are saying that they will support such actions in the upcoming season.<\/p>\n

But why is the flag interpreted to be a symbol of American racism?\u00a0 The Stars and Stripes was the flag of the Americans who fought for the liberation of Black people in the Civil War.\u00a0 Historians say that\u00a0359,528 Union troops died <\/a>in that cause, fighting under that flag.\u00a0 And 10% of the Union troops who died were Black.\u00a0 For them, the flag was an emblem and a promise of freedom.<\/p>\n

The 1619 Project<\/a>, championed by the New York Times<\/em>, which states that the true American founding was when the first slaves were brought over in 1619 and that the entire<\/em> history of the nation is built around racism, does not account well for the Civil War.\u00a0 What precipitated that tragic conflict was the question of whether slavery would be permitted in future states, and, though other issues insinuated themselves\u2013with 260,000 Southerners, most of whom did not own slaves, giving their lives to defend their states\u2013one side defended slavery and the other side\u2013those who flew the American flag\u2013eventually ended it.<\/p>\n

But to lots of Black Americans, we are told, the flag has become a symbol of America\u2019s systematic racism.\u00a0 That, though, is a subjective interpretation.\u00a0 The meaning of something is not just an individual\u2019s personal reaction, which can be idiosyncratic or mistaken.\u00a0 The question is, what does the flag mean objectively?<\/p>\n

The answer to that question can be found in the official Pledge of Allegiance to that flag:<\/p>\n

\u201cI pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.<\/strong>\u201c<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Isn\u2019t \u201cliberty and justice for all\u201d what the Black Lives Matter movement desires?\u00a0 If the nation hasn\u2019t always lived up to its own ideals, so stated, shouldn\u2019t it be held to that standard, as symbolized by the flag?<\/p>\n

Is there anything in the Pledge that the protesters disagree with?\u00a0 Atheists object to the \u201cunder God\u201d part and neo-confederates object to the \u201cindivisible\u201d part, but those terms call for national unity and for answerability to a transcendent standard, to which its laws and practices are answerable.\u00a0 Some object that America actually is divisible by race and other criteria and that not everyone enjoys liberty and that our system is lacking in justice.\u00a0 But that doesn\u2019t mean that the principles of unity, liberty, and justice are invalid.\u00a0 The very objection presupposes the ideals.\u00a0 Rallying around the flag should entail rallying around its meaning.<\/p>\n

Here is a proposal for the NFL, NBA, NCAA, other professional sports, and other custodians of public ceremonies:\u00a0 Present the flag, but before the National Anthem, have everyone say the Pledge of Allegiance.\u00a0 People have said it from their school days\u2013and if it\u2019s a \u201cpledge,\u201d doesn\u2019t that mean that Americans have already promised to abide by those words?\u2013but they perhaps it has been reduced to just a rote recital.<\/p>\n

The flag ceremony is not supposed to be just a patriotic ritual, much less something for Americans to beat each other over the head about, whether in compliance or protest.\u00a0 It\u2019s about a common commitment to God, to our fellow citizens, to liberty, and to justice.\u00a0 I think virtually all Americans, in all of our diversity and despite our differences, can agree with that commitment.<\/p>\n

The ceremony can be elaborated:\u00a0 Let everyone kneel when they say \u201cunder God.\u201d\u00a0 Let everyone stand in unison at \u201cindivisible.\u201d Let everyone join hands at \u201cwith liberty and justice for all.\u201d<\/p>\n

If some people refuse to say it, well, that\u2019s their \u201cliberty.\u201d\u00a0 Even the dissenters are thus brought under the flag.\u00a0 And yet the Pledge is also a rebuke to any government that would take away our \u201cliberty\u201d or that would violate \u201cjustice.\u201d\u00a0 The flag is a populist symbol, an emblem not of the nation\u2019s government but of the nation\u2019s people.<\/p>\n

A flag is unifying, something to rally around.\u00a0 And that\u2019s what the American people need today.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

HT:\u00a0 Bob & Sharon<\/p>\n

Image by\u00a0Relentless<\/a>\u00a0from\u00a0Pixabay<\/a><\/em><\/p><\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here is something that can help us navigate our way through our current protests and controversies:\u00a0 The flag of the United States of America. It symbolizes not the nation’s government but the nation’s people and their common commitment to God, to each other, to liberty, and to justice. This is something Americans with all of their differences can rally around.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1281,"featured_media":49900,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,12],"tags":[9727,9677,506,9724,9730,9733,2070],"class_list":["post-49894","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-america","category-culture","tag-american-flag","tag-black-lives-matter-protests","tag-civil-war","tag-flag","tag-naming-military-bases","tag-pledge-of-allegiance","tag-sports-2"],"yoast_head":"\nProtests and the Flag<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Here is something that can help us navigate our way through our current protests and controversies:\u00a0 The flag of the United States of America. 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