Quote:
Originally posted by rainmaker
I hope we can find a way to avoid any political statements at all. If the rule is, "If one ref wears them, the whole crew has to" where does that leave the Jehovah's Witness, or the Communist Party member, or anyone else who feels uncomfortable wearing an American flag? If some refs do and some don't there is an inevitable comparison that could be drawn, and it doesn;t have anything to do with basketball. I don't think the politics of the world belong on the basketball floor, or the soccer field, or where ever we are officiating.
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Juulie, I understand your point and the purpose of my reply is not to agree or disagree with you, but only further the discussion.
Here are some points you may find interesting: the custom of starting sporting events with the singing of our National Anthem began in WWII at baseball games. While it is not a requirement of MLB, it is done at all games, and players stand at attention with their caps off, regardless of their personal beliefs.
The addition of the words "under God" to the Pledge of Allegiance were not in the original version, and the adoption of the motto "In God We Trust" and the addition of that motto to our currency and coins happened during the Eisenhower administration.
There are American citizens who object to all of this in exercising their freedoms, but they do it anyway for whatever reason (one reason having to do with currency is that there is really no alternative - everyone has to use money).
During times of war, some civil liberties are reduced or suspended. That's a fact. Whether this is good or bad is another discussion. My point is that sometimes a person makes a choice about putting their allegiance to their country during a time of war ahead of their personal beliefs. This is because of the need to participate in whatever way in the defense of their country to avoid obliteration. If you want to talk offline about my personal beliefs as to what situation our country is in now, and what we should do about it, I would be glad to have that discussion with you if I see you next weekend at The Hoop in Beaverton.
Now, how all this translates into being required to wear a flag patch on a ref shirt is not clear.
One last comment on your remark about members of the Communist Party not liking wearing our flag - although I am a firm believer in separation of church and state and the civil rights of the individual, I'm not sure I support extending those rights to people whose stated goal is the overthrow of the system that establishes and protects those rights.
OK - having said that - let's get back to basketball stuff.
[Edited by Mark Padgett on Sep 30th, 2001 at 02:00 PM]