The US Code, Title 36,301 stipulates that if there is no flag present when the National Anthem is played, "all present should face toward the music".
Is this the same direction as pointing towards the future or facing up to the facts?
I find it really strange that there is a law that says what you do when the Anthem is played. In the UK we don't really play it very often, perhaps so as not to wear it out. But in the US, any minor sporting event or distribution of prizes seems to warrant an appeal to national pride. I suppose this explains why they love their country and we barely recognise ours.
I did stand with everyone else at the baseball last year, it seemed rude not to, but I didn't "stand at attention facing the flag with the right hand over the heart" although most did. It seemed unnaturally militaristic. But least now I know why they did it. It's the LAW!
Is this the same direction as pointing towards the future or facing up to the facts?
I find it really strange that there is a law that says what you do when the Anthem is played. In the UK we don't really play it very often, perhaps so as not to wear it out. But in the US, any minor sporting event or distribution of prizes seems to warrant an appeal to national pride. I suppose this explains why they love their country and we barely recognise ours.
I did stand with everyone else at the baseball last year, it seemed rude not to, but I didn't "stand at attention facing the flag with the right hand over the heart" although most did. It seemed unnaturally militaristic. But least now I know why they did it. It's the LAW!
Comments
Hey! Don't make me come over there and invade you!
You forgot that you also have to take off your cap. And praise Allah you didn't decide to sit that out. I've seen people in wheelchairs struggle to stand up for the National Anthem. I've never seen someone who wasn't obviously crippled not stand up, but I'm pretty sure I don't want to be nearby when they would attempt that experiment.
Back in the mid-80s I was friends with an English exchanged student at Louisiana State University, and he frequently commented on how we seemed to take that far more seriously then they did in the UK. And then we took him to a Texas A&M game and he was horrified.
I did ponder whether I should stand or not, after all I owe no allegiance to that flag, nor to any other really - I was a cub scout so did promise to do my duty to the Queen but I formally left without joining the scouts so that promise no longer applies.
So it was really down to the extent to which my hosts, in the wider context, might be offended. I seem to recall some American saying that they salute no other flag, but I wasn't sure that defence would work.
Edited at 2009-01-27 03:01 pm (UTC)