Take A Knee To Preserve The Flag:

Op-Ed Opinion

Vinnie MacIsaac

Prologue:

This blog is very short because it originated as a simple social media post that really made a powerful impact to people across political and religious lines. I have had requests to share it with a larger audience.  I am not trying to make a political statement with it. I am seeking to simplify an emotive issue and bring some common sense perspective to it.

Post:

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This is the original post I made on Facebook. 

I am the keeper of this flag. It is a privilege I inherited as the Pastor of this church. I keep it beside my desk every day to remind me of the cost of my liberty. It is part of the reason I awake early, every morning, to pray with other believers for this country, the President, and every single police officer in the nation.

I BELIEVE IN LIBERTY.

I believe in liberty if your uniform is blue.

I believe in liberty if your skin is brown.

If you wear a hoodie.  If you get pulled over at a stoplight.  If you kneel on a football field. Or if you want to change the type of shoe you wear. I believe in your right to liberty.

Most of all… I believe we can all do better in the ways we treat each other and the assumptions we make.

So I say, take a knee if you want to. Stand at attention if you want to. But love each other …even when you don’t want too.

#TakeAKnee

#Nike

#ThankYouSoliders

#ServeAndProtect

#PrayForEachOther

#Justice

#Seek2Understand

#LoveNotHate

Vinnie Out.

Epilogue:

The DNA of the USA is the Declaration of Independence which reads; “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights; that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”

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When minorities feel threatened or that the judicial system is failing them, if we agree or not, they are also promised the following right in the Bill of Rights of the Constitution, “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.”

Protesting, even during the national anthem or the saluting of the flag, is as American as the flag itself! In fact, the flag is simply a symbol of these documents that insist on that right. The real reason Soldiers died was to protect rights like these. And every time we attack those exercising these rights, or a politician calls a protestor a “son of a b^tch” we walk on the grave of fallen soldiers and spit on their sacrifice.

Be better than that… Just Do It!

Appendix:

Why Colin Kaepernick Kneels as a sign of respect to Vets.

Link

Here’s how Nate Boyer got Colin Kaepernick to go from sitting to kneeling