When calls for "respect" are really demands for something deeper

What’s the difference between respect and allegiance?

Not much, if those howling over athlete protests of the national anthem are to be believed. If it’s hard for you to spot the disrespect in someone sitting or kneeling quietly while someone else sings a song, remember that this isn’t just any song. It is the national hymn to our nation’s real god. So the players had better “respect” the flag—that is, they’d better do what the liturgy of allegiance dictates.

Christians, of course, should know better. We can and should respect many things. Our allegiance, however, is another matter.