For Which Pledge Should We Be 'Kneeling'?

Can Christans pledge unqualified allegiance to the Bible, the Christian flag AND the American flag?

There's been a lot of controversy over certain NFL players kneeling during the singing of the national anthem at football games, with large numbers of patriotic Christians recently vowing to boycott NFL games until something is done to punish them for not standing during this familiar ritual.

My first thought is that such an NFL boycott might be way overdue, given the fact that American sports have become a Mammon-driven, nationalistic religion that demands huge investments of money, time and devotion of its followers and tends to take precedence over faith, family and almost every other loyalty.

But the question of whether Christians should stand with their right hand over their heart and pledge allegiance to a nation's flag remains an important one, assuming we take such forms of oaths seriously. Some Quakers, Amish, Mennonites and other believers, including Jehovah's Witnesses, choose not to do this, based on their belief that they are fundamentally and first of all members of an alternative worldwide kingdom ruled by the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. They argue that we wouldn't expect people who are citizens of some other nation pledge allegiance to our flag, would we?

Other Christians choose to stand out of respect for the government of whatever nation in which they reside, but use the time to pray silently for those in positions of governmental responsibility, as commanded in the New Testament.

The original pledge, written in 1892 by Baptist minister Francis Bellamy, well over a hundred years after the nation's founding, simply said, "I pledge allegiance to my flag and the republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all." The phrases "of the United States of America' and "under God" were added later, the latter in 1954 at the height of the nation's fervent resistance to a godless communism.

In addition to the Lord's Prayer and the Apostles' Creed, here's a pledge I would gladly join with others to kneel for:

I pledge unconditional allegiance to the cross-bearing life of Jesus Christ,
and to the worldwide community of beleivers
whom he has called and redeemed,
one people of faith and obedience
offering life, liberty and love for all.

Having said that, I would never insist that others recite this with me. Freedom of speech, conscience and religious expression are among the things that clearly make America great.