I am growing to dislike the US flag more and more as I become more disgusted with what passes for the US government. Since I grew up, I have never been a flag waver. I have never owned a flag or displayed a flag sticker. When I was a kid, I was forced to pledge allegiance to the flag, but this was not something that I took to heart, since I understood it to be the imposition of a conqueror. In the third grade, one of my classmates was punished and humiliated for refusing to recite the pledge and salute the flag (the tenets of his religion as a Jehovah’s Witness forbade it). He boldly announced that it was “just a rag” and that he would do homage only to God. I admired him a lot.
It really bothers me that there is a US flag in the sanctuary of my church. It seems to me to be a sacrilege to display a symbol of violence and thievery where we worship a God of peace and justice. But there it is, and I reckon that questioning its presence would just start trouble. I am tempted to remove it quietly and see if anyone notices.
I avoid venues where I am expected to stand for the national anthem, so I haven’t been to a sporting event in some time. I am supposed to go to a Hudson Valley Renegades game in August, and I have to remember to make myself scarce during the anthem. I wish I could just sit out the anthem openly and explain that it is matter of conscience that I do not stand, but I don’t want to start trouble in the church group that I am going to the game with.
My home is a flag free zone. We don’t have a flagpole, but if we did we would fly a black flag or the jolly roger or a picture of SpongeBob.
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You certainly aren't the only US flag hater.
There are some flags that I like, such as the Gadsden flag. I once considered buying a yellow Gadsden flag t-shirt, but then noticed that there was a little US flag on the back! I refuse to wear the stars and stripes.
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