For thou shalt worship no other god: for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God:
The president has now proscribed unacceptable conduct for when the national anthem is played or sung, and the flag is flown: we can no longer kneel. We must stand and salute the flag or place our hands over our hearts.
But his pronouncement is not the law and will never be, as long as the Jehovah’s Witnesses continue to show vigilance1.
The honor and praise you give to the flag and the anthem will continue to be voluntary, just as the praise and adoration you offer God. (One could say it equals or surpasses the honor you give God.)
The problem is; God does not share His glory.
Notes:
Minersville School District v. Gobitis, 310 U.S. 586 (1940), was a decision by the Supreme Court of the United States involving the religious rights of public school students under the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. The Court ruled that public schools could compel students, in this case, Jehovah’s Witnesses, to salute the American flag and recite the Pledge of Allegiance despite the students’ religious objections to such practices. This decision led to increased persecution of Witnesses in the United States. The Supreme Court overruled this decision a mere three years later in West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette, 319 U.S. 624 (1943).
West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette, 319 U.S. 624 (1943), is a decision by the Supreme Court of the United States holding that the Free Speech Clause of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution protected students from being forced to salute the American flag and say the Pledge of Allegiance in public school. The Court’s 6 to 3 decision, delivered by Justice Robert H. Jackson, is remembered for its forceful defense of free speech and constitutional rights generally as being placed “beyond the reach of majorities and officials.”
Revelation 3:15-22 (KJV) I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. 16 So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. 17 Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: 18 I counsel thee to buy of me gold tried in the fire, that thou mayest be rich; and white raiment, that thou mayest be clothed, and that the shame of thy nakedness do not appear; and anoint thine eyes with eyesalve, that thou mayest see. 19 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent. 20 Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. 21 To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne. 22 He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
Exodus 20:5 (KJV) Thou s halt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me;