I find it ironic that some of the people who have gotten their tails all puffed up about those who stand, sit, kneel, or cross their legs during the playing of the national anthem are some of the same people who stood by that county clerk in Kentucky who refused to sign marriage certificates for same-sex couples or started GoFundMe campaigns for bakers who refused to make wedding cakes for same-sex weddings. Requiring a patriotic display because FREEDOM is an oxymoron, and civil disobedience is how we got this country started in the first place.

It also could be a matter of religious liberty. Just as baking a cake for Adam and Steve may, in the minds of some, make Jesus cry, so may making a person perform a ritual for a song violate their beliefs. There are numerous faith communities including the Quakers that do not recognize such actions, including removing their hats for “worldly” icons. (In the same vein, would anyone think of asking a Jewish man to remove his yarmulke or a Muslim woman her head scarf?) And who is to say that their action — or lack of it — isn’t their own way of showing respect?

So before you condemn someone for their private actions at a public ceremony, examine what it means to them… and what it means to you.