Kneeling and Patriotism: Pence’s Exit From an N.F.L. Game

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/10/opinion/mike-pence-kneeling-patriotism-nfl.html

Version 0 of 1.

To the Editor:

Vice President Mike Pence’s theatrical exit from the Colts game because some N.F.L. players knelt during playing of the national anthem shows more respect for a song than for principles. I wish he and the president would put some of their patriotic fervor into getting water and electricity to Puerto Rico, gaining access to quality health care for all of us, and affording equal respect and protection to Americans of every creed or color.

I love the American flag, and I would never burn it. I love it because I could burn it if I wanted to. A flag that can’t be burned is not a flag of freedom. I stand proudly when the national anthem is played, not because it’s required, but because I could sit or kneel if I wanted to. I choose to stand out of respect. If I were required to stand, I would not want to.

Without the freedoms our flag represents, it’s only a piece of cloth. Without the principles our national anthem represents, it’s only a song. I’m proud of the players who knelt, and also of those who stood up beside them, respecting both their teammates’ right to kneel and the anthem. They are patriots.

Mr. Pence and his boss have cheapened our flag and our anthem by their travesty of patriotism.

JUDITH EADSON, PITMAN, N.J.

To the Editor:

I don’t get it. I knelt to propose to my true love. I knelt with our child to say our prayers. I knelt at my parents’ graves. I knelt at the Vietnam Memorial. Knights kneel before the queen. Jesus knelt to wash feet. Since when did kneeling become an act of contempt? It represents love, honor, humility, grief and maybe hope. But to Mike Pence it’s just an opportunity to hammer the opposition.

JAY TINSMAN, LINCOLN, CALIF.