Alan Keyes: Does the NFL defame America's creed, or act on it?

[TomSea]

Does the NFL defame America's creed, or act on it?

Alan Keyes weighs in on 'show of respect' for U.S. flag and anthem

By Alan Keyes

In the aftermath of President Trump's Twitter assault on NFL players who knelt during our national anthem, one commentator wrote that NFL fans were outraged by the players' action "because they feel you are disrespecting the American flag, the very flag that gives you your liberties. They feel you are spitting on the blood of servicemen who died...protecting your freedom." Though I fully understand and share the anger many people are feeling, I found this formulation inadequate, even misleading.

The respect we Americans show for our flag, or during the performance of our national anthem, is not like the applause we give to the people who prepared the decorations for the prom in high school, or the standing ovation we offer a singer or band after their rendition of a song we love. As the congressionally adopted language of the Pledge of Allegiance says of our flag, it's an expression of loyalty "to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."

Continued at: http://www.renewamerica.com/columns/keyes/171016