Well, I guess it was a little different, using a wheelchair and sitting in the handicapped section in the front row. I'm not a front row kind of guy. I rationalize that tall people like me should go to the back, where we don't block the view of short people, (like my wife, which makes seating decisions schizoid in our marriage, but that'a another tale). Truth be told, I like back rows because I feel more comfortable fading into the background. But folks in wheelchairs don't always have a choice.
So, they started playing the National Anthem, recorded, sort of suddenly, and I felt I should stand up, because I could. The wheelchair is faster and safer to get around outside, but I normally use a walker to get around the house. My wife was trying to get me to stay seated, and I was trying to hand her the jacket I had been using as a lap robe. There wasn't anything in front of me to steady myself on. I got to a mostly upright position. Held my wife's hand to steady myself. My daughter behind me was hanging onto the back of my waistband. I didn't quite dare spare a hand to take off the knit cap I was wearing because of the cold. And then it was over, and I sat back down, to the relief of my wife and daughter.
Didn't think much of it, until a few minutes later, a gruff guy came up to me and said, with an obvious catch in his throat: "Thank you. I've never been so impressed in my life," and stuck out his hand to shake (which I took, with my gloved hand, feeling a little embarrassed). Later on, he talked to my daughter separately. She related the conversation. He asked her if I was her dad. Said he had been a Marine and a cop, and how impressed he was that I, with my handicap, managed to stand, while some millionaire athletes won't.
Those of you who know me know that I am not the most patriotic of Americans. I always thought Christ supersedes nationalism. You know, that whole "Neither Jew nor Gentile . . . but all one in Christ Jesus" thing. I pray daily for God's Kingdom to replace the nations. If we had the Pledge of Allegiance that afternoon, the fellow might not have been so impressed: I normally do stand for both, but abstain from the Pledge, feeling that my allegiance belongs to God alone, a conclusion I came to back in school, somewhere in junior high or high school. But I do stand for the national anthem. I feel it is right to stand when asked to do so, to respect the symbols of the nation that has given me the freedom to practice and preach my unorthodox, unpatriotic religion; a nation which gave the space of freedom and dissent where that religion could develop. I respect those who risk their lives to serve in the military, even though I see Christ's teaching as recommending a non-violent alternative, and I respect this country for allowing me to live as best I can according to my rather different beliefs.
I didn't tell that fellow that while I do stand, I also respect the courage and principles of those who do not. I think it takes more guts to kneel in front of a crowd in protest, than to go along with crowd by standing, even from a wheelchair. I don't think what I did was anything special. I think risking one's multi-million dollar career to make a point about perceived injustice to others less privileged, deserves far more respect. But I didn't say that. The brief encounter didn't suggest it was an appropriate time for those details.
Being a dissenter from "mainstream" religion gives me more reason than for most to respect America and be grateful that I live here. Now days, many countries offer similar freedoms, but when this country was founded, such freedom was new and rare. My view of true American values is that what makes this country special is the degree to which it respects, even somewhat welcomes, non-conformity. One thing that is great about America is that it protects dissenters and protesters.
America isn't great because of people waving the flag, but because, to at least some extent, people are allowed not to. America is special precisely because we are not compelled to stand for the National Anthem, salute the flag, or recite the Pledge. If people felt coerced or compelled to stand, it would devalue the act. Coerced respect is not respect at all, just conformity. Worse, it would take away from the very freedom one is supposedly saluting. I expect even that Marine and cop would agree that he served to protect that freedom, even if he disapproves of those who use it in that way.
Having the freedom to sit or kneel is worth standing up for. Perhaps, though I didn't think about it that way at the time, I stood for the National Anthem that afternoon, because I did not have to.
