My colleague Rick Moran’s post on Flag Day today struck a nerve with me for a couple of reasons. First, I’m a Gettysburg geek, and second, I’m a flag nerd. Rick inspired me to go back and revisit something I once wrote for my own blog. It was titled, “Why I Stand for the American Flag,” and I think it may be worth your time on a day like this. And so, I decided to expand upon it.
It’s common for those who advocate standing for the American flag to say they do it for those who have died under that flag for our freedoms. Others will say they do it for a family member who served this country under the same flag.
I do it for all of those reasons, too. When I’m at a game before kickoff and they play the national anthem, I think of those who sacrificed for that flag every time, and it hits me the same way each time. But those are not the only reasons I stand. I also stand for that flag for people I don’t know—for people I may never know.
If I’m in a football stadium, I stand for the flag for the player on the other team, or for the fan on the other side of the stadium. I stand because I know that while we may have our differences, if we are both American, I know that that flag is the one thing we have in common. I stand for that common ground.
It’s cliché for those on the left to say, “Diversity is our strength,” but a higher truth is that togetherness is our real strength. We are only stronger when we come together. We can only come together if we can find common ground. That common ground is represented by the flag. Both of us have to want a better America under that red, white, and blue banner.
Common values bring us together: an appreciation for our shared history, remembering the men and women who sacrificed for our freedoms, and a desire to protect those freedoms themselves. All of these things.
Sometimes, those of us on the right, and almost always those on the left, want to judge others according to a standard of perfection as we define it. “Sure, he says he’s a conservative, but he doesn’t even know we’re a republic, not a democracy,” we say to ourselves. Or, “How can he say he’s an American and vote Democrat?”
I get it, and oftentimes, I feel it. But rationally, I also know that as imperfect as life is, it’s always important for me to remember that in all aspects of living there has yet to be a perfect human being. Well, there was that one Guy who died for our sins and was resurrected three days later. But outside of Him, no one has been perfect. For that reason, it’s fruitless to hold out for perfection in people, families, communities, states, or countries.
The time to love this country is now, even with all of its warts and imperfections. If we love it, we will work to improve it. Equally, the time to at least open the door to trying to find common ground with others is now.
I’m not saying to “cross the aisle” as Sen. John McCaine (R-Ariz.) used to say. It’s to go where you’re already most comfortable, and for me it’s the flag. If someone I disagree with is willing to come to the flag with all of the same honor and respect that I give it, that’s a start. Maybe a baby step, but you can work with that.
I stand for that flag because I see it as a symbol for my own desire to find common ground with people I don’t know because what I do know is we are both Americans. And for that I am thankful.
So, when you see me stand, it’s an act of devotion to you as a fellow American. It’s an act of remembrance of my dad and others who served in their own devotion to each other and to that same flag. It’s in honor of those and in gratitude to those who willingly died for me, and for you, even though they did not know either of us.
In the end, it’s my way of showing you, in the here and now, that as a fellow American I respect you. And when I see you do the same, I know that you respect that about me.
Is that enough to change the world? By itself, probably not. But where else can you start if you have any hope of unifying this country? It can only be with the flag. By standing for the flag, it’s just a gesture of our commitment to each other and the notion that together we can be stronger as Americans. It's a gesture that we both understand that together we can make America as strong as it ever was.
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