@tigress3681 I am not talking about our culture, I am saying if someone elses culture perceives it as disrespectful to their own country, or they are uncomfortable standing for someone else’s anthem, who are we to tell them they are wrong. It would be ethnocentric to insist they think like us. The only time I would have a problem with it, is if they were hypocrites, insisting Americans stand for theirs, but don’t have to stand for ours. That you write they need to be taught signifies to me that you certainly do have an expectation that everyone must understand they should do it. I would not feel I, or my country, was disrespected because a French tourist did not stand for our anthem. Why should I care? Getting upset about things like this becomes a power trip in my opinion.
I stand for my anthem, because I love my country. I take that moment to think about why I love America, and to appreciate what I have. When I stand for another anthem it is out of respect, but of course the same feelings are not there. It does not seem like a far leap to me that some people would not stand, because they don’t have the emotional tie. Our laws protect this right. Students in school do not have to stand and recite the pledge, I would guess there is no law people have to stand for the anthem. We should not worry about others, and worry about ourselves. Letting the actions of others bother you is a waste of time, as long as they are not being disruptive, as I stated before.
You know, in anger management one thing that is talked about is angry people tend to have a lot of shoulds in their vocabulary. My wife should have had dinner ready. My boyfriend should have brought me a gift. My friend should have known to call. My girlfriend should have kissed my mother when she saw her. I am not accusing you of being angry, I am just pointing out that cultural expectations, especially about respect, expecting others to think like us, is not always a good assumption, and can lead to unnecessary perceptions of feeling disrespected when it was not the intention of the other person.
Like my Catholic wedding example, you think I am being disrespectful for not kneeling? Why should anyone care? I am not Catholic. I respect any other rules, dress codes, etc, but kneeling seems to me to be obedient to the religion, rather than just respecting being inside of the church and the people who worship.