NFL - Standing/Kneeling for the National Anthem

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Winnow
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NFL - Standing/Kneeling for the National Anthem

Post by Winnow »

The NFL is currently deciding if it's going to change its policies on what players can do during the National Anthem. The choices so far:

1. Leave it up to each individual team to decide.
2. Keep the players in the locker room until Anthem has played
3. Don't change anything.

I grew up an Air Force brat. For my entire live, Ive been surrounded by military in my family both past and present generations. I have a deep respect for the core values of our country and tend to associate honoring the flag with respecting the men and women of our armed forces.

With that in mind, I have another solution to this issue. Don't play the National Anthem at sporting events. One of the keystones of our country is the separation between church and state. It's a big part of what made the founding of the U.S. great. I propose that there should also be a separation between Sports and State/Politics. There's no need to play the Anthem before games. Professional sports don't exist to provide a platform for pushing political/human rights, etc agendas. They are there for sports entertainment and that's what the players are paid to do.

On military bases, the National Anthem is played before every movie in On-base theaters. If I remember correctly, the Anthem played on Armed Forces TV when it came on air in the morning and again when the day's broadcast ended. As someone who loves our National Anthem, I never saw the need for any of the above.

The solution is simple. Don't play the National Anthem at sporting events. They can skip the Stealth plane flyovers as well. Professional sports teams are not owned or run by the government. There are strong feelings on both sides of this issue but it has nothing to do with professional sports entertainment.
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Aslanna
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Re: NFL - Standing/Kneeling for the National Anthem

Post by Aslanna »

I never knew why the national anthem was tied to sports to begin with. I could see something in competition between other countries, like at the Olympics and stuff, but that's about it. I don't see why a football game needs to be so tied with the military shit. It's ridiculous at Super Bowl time.

As far as actual kneeling goes, I don't have a problem with it. Protest is part of this country so no idea why people are so bent out of shape about it.
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Winnow
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Re: NFL - Standing/Kneeling for the National Anthem

Post by Winnow »

Aslanna wrote: As far as actual kneeling goes, I don't have a problem with it. Protest is part of this country so no idea why people are so bent out of shape about it.
I don't care about protests in general either. My issue is that the National Anthem shouldn't be played to begin with at sporting events (except for maybe international events like the Olympics). While I 100% think the flag should be respected in terms of our veterans and current members of our armed forces, that is only a part of what it represents...free speech being another. It doesn't need to be played at non government events. In that setting, It's a catalyst for counter protests which takes away from what should be the focus (sports).
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