The crux of the NFL controversy

Say you attend a service at a church, synagogue or mosque, and the priest, minister, rabbi or imam asks the congregation to please rise. You remain seated instead because you are protesting something. You are being selfish, rude and disrespectful toward everyone else because your primary reason for attending the service is to protest. The primary reason the other congregants are there is to participate in a worship service with fellow members of their religious community. Nobody is questioning your right to protest.

This is the crux of the matter with the NFL controversy. Like the person who stays seated in church, the NFL players, in the minds of most fans, are simply picking the wrong place and the wrong reason for their protest. It has nothing to do with racism. It’s only inside the bubble the media live in that everything has to be political. They are incapable of grasping that people aren’t like that in the real world. Common courtesy? Respect? What could they possibly have to do with anything?

No one is a bigot because they rise in church and you don’t. While everyone else is posing for a group portrait of goodwill, you insist on taking a selfie.

This story was originally published October 17, 2017 at 2:49 PM with the headline "The crux of the NFL controversy."