Could you hear the national anthem of the United States playing and simply not stand up? Not should you, not would you; but could you?

You probably already have many times. The national anthem plays before almost every major sporting event and unless you're there live, you've likely remained on the couch for the duration. But it doesn't make national headlines when you choose to munch away on your pre-game snacks and talk through the song.

With NFL players sitting, kneeling, or raising a fist during the national anthem a variety of issues have been brought to the forefront of the general American consciousness. Most often these discussions rightfully incite discussion about the issues for which these players are protesting. These discussions have often done some real good in raising awareness and getting a lot of people thinking. They've also led to quite a bit of outrage at the very notion of protesting the national anthem, and that outrage is indeed an interesting thing.

We stand during the anthem out of tradition more than anything else. On some level this ties back to a sign of allegiance and reverence for country, but that's not exactly on everyone's mind when they're shivering in the bleachers at a high school football game. The vast majority stand because they were told to stand. They were taught from a young age that the American flag is something that absolutely must be respected. They were taught this every day in school as they were required to literally pledge allegiance to the flag every single morning and never to question this practice. It's a sort of mandatory promise that seems off when you take a step back and look at it.

That isn't to say there's no merit in having pride for one's country. The country of one's birth is a major factor in shaping them as a person and there isn't necessarily anything wrong with identifying with that. The United States in particular is tied to a key set of ideals that advocate freedom and equality in all senses of the word. Those are ideals that all people should be able to agree with. But what happens if the people of the U.S. aren't living up to those ideals?

Regardless of whether or not you think the United States practices total equality and freedom, there are many who do not. Why should those people be forced to honor symbols if they don't believe those idols are truly representative of the ideals they claim to stand for? Because they've essentially been indoctrinated to do so?

There's a fine line between patriotism and nationalism and it comes down to this: patriotism is having pride in the accomplishments of one's nation, while nationalism is having pride in one's nation for the sake of pride alone. Nationalism is blind and extremely dangerous. Forcing people to feel pride in a country they are unsatisfied with does little to solve problems and much to create tension.

Freedom is founded upon the concept of acting by choice over force. If we force people to stand for the country's special song, we are denying them freedom. If we belittle or bully them for not standing we also deny them freedom. Mandatory nationalism is a direct contrast to true personal freedom, and definitely not what many have fought and died for the United States of America to stand for.

Regardless of how you feel about the current state of the nation, regardless of what you will do, and regardless of what you think you should do; what could you do? Could you refuse to stand for the national anthem? I think this is a real question we all need to ask ourselves. Because if we feel that we truly could not make ourselves sit just one round out, we need to start to wonder whether just how free we really are.