No comparison between NFL kneeling and church

Talk about mixing apples and oranges. A recent writer tried to compare being asked to stand at a religious ceremony with the NFL players kneeling during the playing of the national anthem.

One goes to a religious ceremony to pray and when asked to stand it is to pray or to listen to Scripture. When one goes to a sporting event, they go to see the sporting event. Very few people go to a sporting event only to hear the national anthem.

The NFL players are exercising their First Amendment rights in protesting what they believe is the unjust treatment of blacks by white police officers. We may agree or not agree with the reason they are protesting but we should all agree they have the right to exercise their First Amendment rights.

The writer stated “they are simply picking the wrong place and reason for their protest.” The First Amendment gives everyone the right to protest for any reason. Regarding the place, they are doing it where they work. If a union goes on strike it pickets at its place of employment for what it believes is an injustice. That is exactly what the NFL players are doing. If you don’t like what the players are doing don’t watch.

If I want to stand, sit or kneel during the national anthem that is my business and nobody, not even the 5-year-old who currently resides in the White House, will tell me what I can or cannot do.

This story was originally published October 31, 2017 at 10:11 AM with the headline "No comparison between NFL kneeling and church."