When Being Patriotic Means Not Being 'Patriotic'

So it has come to this: NFL owners can fine professional football players who exercise their right to peacefully protest by kneeling for the national anthem before games. Though not a football fan in the least (save for my university’s D-III team), I’ve been following this two-year conflict closely: I’ve heard the arguments about patriotism and honor and respecting our veterans by standing for the anthem; I’ve despaired at my co-religionists’ insistence on the flag as a Christian symbol, and their belief that the protests are anti-Christian; I’ve admired the persistence of people like Colin Kaepernick, and the honorable reasons he’s given for his peaceful response to the police brutality of black men.

                  And I’ve thought about my Mennonite ancestors: about the many parallels between their own protests 100 years ago, and the football players’ protests now. Like those in the NFL who are choosing to kneel rather than stand when the national anthem plays, my religious forebears also eschewed displays of patriotism because of their deeply-held convictions, and sometimes lost their livelihoods—and their lives—for exercising the freedoms their country promised them.

                  When my great grandparents immigrated to Kansas in the late 19th century, they were pursuing the opportunity to practice their religion peacefully. They believed God had called them to be in the world, but not of it. For them, patriotism and love of country would have transgressed a belief system that said they were to pledge allegiance only to God. The freedom to practice their faith fostered their love for this country; and even now, as a Mennonite, I make the choice not to pledge allegiance to the flag or sing the national anthem, grateful for the continued freedoms this country offers.  

Some will argue those freedoms were paid for by the military and their sacrifices, and that by refusing to pledge allegiance, I am disrespecting the military—as are football players who choose to kneel for the anthem. Not only is this conflation of patriotism with military display fallacious, it also fails to learn from the mistakes of history, including the mistake made in 1917, when my Mennonite forebears were conscripted and forced into military camps. Mennonites, believing Jesus called them to be nonresistant, pointed to the Gospels as their guide, and to Matthew 5:39 in particular: “Do not resist one who is evil.” For Mennonite men facing conscription, this significant tenet of their faith meant they would not be participating in war, not as soldiers, nor behind the scenes, as they believed even cutting grass on military training grounds abetted the war effort.

While other young men celebrated the opportunity to fight for America, my ancestors were maligned because their young men would not fight. That they spoke primarily German and lived in insular communities only exacerbated the sense that they were un-American. My ancestors had their homes painted yellow. Were tarred and feathered. President Wilson campaigned on an “America first” promise that denuded the influences of other cultures, that said Americans needed to conform. Those who had other ideas—or who had other ways of seeing the world—were denounced as un-American, as enemies of the state.

In discussions about the NFL players and the national anthem, the context has changed, but not the undermining ideology: one that says we all must express our love of country in the same way; that our patriotic expression must be tied to the military; that those who protest what they see as unjust are worthy of persecution.

This year marks the centennial anniversary of the Great War’s end. And still, the NFL debate shows we have not learned the lessons of history. We continue to believe patriotism must be about fidelity to a flag and to our military veterans. But being patriotic should mean something more: feeling immense gratitude for a country that allows its people to embrace diverse values, even when those values conflict with a seeming love of country. Being patriotic should mean reclaiming a belief that what makes America great is its diversity, and acting on that belief by seeking justice for the marginalized. Being patriotic should mean not being silent when we believe the government is failing its people. Being patriotic means lawfully objecting to its policies, and doing so as an expression of our beloved liberty.

Being patriotic means celebrating their desire to see a better, more just place for those who follow. My ancestors’ peaceful protests showed the importance of religious liberty as a core tenet of America’s constitution; the NFL players who choose now to kneel show the significance of free speech, another promise of our great founding document. Then and now, men were doing so as an act of protest, its own way an act of patriotism we should celebrate.