Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Sick Pilgrim

Home
Catholic
Pest’s Letters: This Son-of-a-bitch Doesn’t Stand for the National Anthem Either

Pest’s Letters: This Son-of-a-bitch Doesn’t Stand for the National Anthem Either

Last updated on: September 26, 2017 at 6:50 pm by Matt Lafleur

Pest’s Letters: This Son-of-a-bitch Doesn’t Stand for the National Anthem Either 2017-09-26T18:50:24-05:00 Matt Lafleur

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Dear Patriot,

I’ll set the stage for you.

Smells of sweat and cheap beer hastily drunk and the cacophony of of over 90k fans envelop me as the loudspeaker begins to play “Livin’ On A Prayer” – the Bon Jovi anthem that has strangely become dear to most LSU fans, who shout the words. Even though they sing gruffly and unmelodically, it doesn’t matter. “Take my hand, and we’ll make it, I swear” speaks to college students, and they resonate with a manner beyond words or rules.

Forever LSU…

I park my wheelchair on the first row of the student section–the handicap-accessible area–and my friend grabs a metal folding chair and sits next to me. My hopes are high that she’ll end up being more-than-a-friend, since she traveled from our undergrad college to the college where I was getting a graduate degree to hang out with me for the weekend. That was a hopeful time, I guess. (Spoiler alert- nothing beyond friendship ever happened.)

The mumbling of the crowd is overtaken by the marching onto the field of the Golden Band from Tigerland. After the usual crowd-riling songs, they settle, spread onto the field like symmetrical candles on a centenarian’s orderly birthday cake. After the announcement of the National Anthem, they begin the introductory notes. The spectators fall silent.

The LSU marching band does an awesome rendition of the song. The most dramatic moment is right before the final question: “…does that star-spangled banner yet wave…?,” when a couple of military jets woosh in synchronicity over the stadium, providing a melodramatic and thunderous rumble. It’s a pointless and wasteful exercise, but it’s so damn cool.

Before the testosterone-pumping jets pass over the stadium, in the early chords of the song, I glanced to the left at my friend. She’s still seated in her folding chair, but with her hand over her heart, mirroring my own position in my wheelchair.

My immediate reaction is disgusted shock: How dare she remain seated? I only did so because it was my only option. My Republican nesting grounds and the painstaking flag-handling methods I’d learned as an Eagle Scout-status had trained me to feel offended.

After kick-off, I, slightly aggravated, but more perplexed, asked why she didn’t stand for the National Anthem. She said, without hesitation, “I just wanted to be the same as you.”

Solidarity.

I hadn’t thought of that.

It’s still goosebump-inducing to me that my automatic reaction to her my friend’s stance during the national anthem was one of dismay and annoyance. I hadn’t even considered that it wasn’t out of laziness and disrespect. She was acting out of solidarity with me, and I couldn’t even see it. That made a profound impact on me.

As the political climate loses its collective mind over some not standing at attention during the national anthem, I’m reminded of this story, and how I was so eager to judge the outward acts of seeming disrespect. She and I were in the same position, but she was even more mindful of what she was doing than I was–and for what reason.

Maybe the reason some don’t adhere to the status quo signs of outward respect is not disrespect at all. And maybe asking them their reasons why would be more empathetic, more human, than making any outward signs of reverence mandatory.

Because doing that would chip away at freedom. Not freedom to disrespect, but freedom to be nuanced in order to point to truth. In my friend’s case, it was solidarity. She chose to bravely go against the status quo to join me.

“O, say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave / O’er the land of the free / And the home of the brave?”

That is a profound question to think about; it’s a great way to end a song. And this letter.

Peace.

Your Pest,

Matt

Matt Lafleur is associate editor of Sick Pilgrim and an ambassador for FARA, the Friedrich’s Ataxia Research Alliance. We affectionately call him Pest, because he bugs us in all the right ways.

Previous Post

September 26, 2017

The Greatest Fault of Fr. James Martin's Book? It's Boring. Here's Why.

Next Post

September 27, 2017 Approaching Mystery: Joanna Penn Cooper Talks to the Dead

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Advent Approaching Mystery art Book Reviews Catholic Ghost Story Catholicism community Confession Current Events Dark Devotional Deconstruction Deconstruction Fellow Travelers I Want To Believe Interview Laudato Si Lent Mary Matthew's Letters Movie Reviews Music Reviews Our Charism Personal Essay Pilgrims Pope Francis Popular Piety Prayer Publishing Richard Beck Saints Satan Sheed and Ward Sick Pilgrim Charism Sick Pilgrim Chats Sick Pilgrim Events Sick Pilgrim Travelin' Medicine Show Sick Pilgrimage to The West Sick Pilgrims Small Joys Spiritual Autobiography Spooky Files of Ave Maria Magazine Spooky October Spooky Pilgrim Spooky Pilgrimage Strange Journey The Inklings Things Keeping Us Going Trying to Say God TV Reviews Uncategorized women in the Catholic Church Wonder Podcast Write the Vision

Select a Month February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 October 2019 September 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What Christian group reads the Book of Mormon?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Pentecostals Baptists Latter-day Saints Jehovah’s Witnesses