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Today I learned that there are a lot of disrespectful people in the world. They disrespect the Queen of the United Kingdom and the other Commonwealth Realms when she knights them. They disrespect God in church. And yes, they disrespect the American flag before football games, with their disrespectful act of ... kneeling.

That's why you see people kneeling when someone snatches a taxi they were waiting for. It's why I once saw a lady go on a 10-minute kneeling fit just because ... a barista messed up her order at Starbucks. And it's why the Superman movies never made sense -- what with Zod demanding that Kal-El disrespect before him.

The sarcasm in this post should be apparent by now, especially after I just typed that. But it's important to note that amid all the outrage we see today, we shouldn't lose sight of the fact that people are objecting to players performing an act that isn't inherently offensive. In fact, it is a universal sign of reverence.

This is key because the reason some athletes chose this specific gesture (as opposed to say, an obscene one) is precisely to convey respect. The "shocking" nature of their action is merely that it is nonconforming. The visibility of the protest is that people ask, "why's that guy doing something different," not "oh my goodness, how dare he do something like that! Think of the poor children exposed to such filth!" mint green color items dressed by bridesmaid on sale

Thus when people talk of disrespect, they aren't talking about a disrespectful act per se -- they are referring (perhaps inadvertently) to the idea that these people are disrespectful because they won't do as they've been told. Some believe they should be severely punished, not because of the inherent danger posed by what they are doing (there is none), but because their very disobedience is offensive.

And that bears more than a passing resemblance to the very thing they are protesting in the first place.

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