Nancy Armour, a sports columnist for the national newspaper
USA Today, has suggested that sports leagues should put an end to playing the national anthem because it is a “lazy excuse” for false patriotism.
In her March 14
editorial, Armour insists that since the anthem is not played at the start of a movie or a stage play, then it should not be played at a baseball or football game.
Standing for the anthem, Armour exclaims, does not really demonstrate love for the country or the flag or show gratitude for those who serve in the armed forces.
Armour also insists that we should get rid of the anthem because the country has a “great divide” that the anthem cannot bridge, and it is “lazy.”
“Playing the anthem before our football, baseball, basketball, hockey and soccer games has become a lazy excuse for patriotism. Standing at attention – or a loose approximation of it – for 2 minutes no more proves love of country or gratitude for those who serve than wearing an American flag pin does.”
The anthem is also a “faux display of national pride,” she says.
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