I had the great opportunity to experience Global Focus Week at my university this past week. Hundreds of mission organizations told us about the countries they go into and the people they serve while multiple forums and Convocation speakers helped us obtain an international viewpoint of the world. While I did my best to rock Global Focus Week, I also knew there was another nationally important topic that required my attention: #TakeAKnee

As I am a white conservative Republican, many of the people I know and are therefore friends on Facebook with are also white conservative Republicans. Of course not all of my friends fit this demographic, but those who do are making their opinions abundantly known concerning the NFL, #TakeAKnee, and President Trump.

#TakeAKnee is a complicated issue in my opinion. Police brutality, a rude White House, systemic racism, and the desire to peacefully publicly protest combined to form this movement, as far as I can tell. If there are more or different factors, please let me know. Just as Martin Luther King Jr. And others were not boycotting buses, but segregation, so the NFL and many others are boycotting the inequality that has affected so many, not the flag or the national anthem.

And yet, the flag and the national anthem mean so much. Is America currently at the ideal of freedom sung about? Are the United States living up to what our flag represents? No. No country is perfect. Does that mean we should not stand in respect for both and for the countless people who have died for it? I don't know.

Personally, I would not kneel. I understand that #TakeAKnee wants to bring about change peacefully and that they have the right to peacefully protest, but I also know Marines who have endured many hardships for this country. My father is an Air Force veteran. When I look at that flag and I hear that anthem, I do not think of the ideals we have not met yet- I think of the people who sacrificed everything to protect us and the many freedoms we enjoy.

Here are what all the people who are against #TakeAKnee need to understand though: the same people I stand for died so that others could have the freedom kneel. They fought for everyone's freedoms, including the freedom to peacefully protest and create change in a country that may be great but can definitely get better. I believe in respecting our flag and our anthem, but I also believe in freedom. Sometimes other people's freedoms look different than mine.

Just because I do not choose to protest this way, just because I disagree with the form of this specific protest, does not mean I can hate the people who do choose this protest. They are Americans just as I am an American and we all want to see this country become the best it can be. Maybe that means kneeling in a peaceful protest until someone finally listens to them, just as Martin Luther King Jr led so many people in a mass carpool system until someone finally listened to them.

For me, seeing this country become the best it can mean being an active member of my community. What articles am I choosing to write? How am I speaking to both friends and strangers? Everyonechooses to act differently, though, and I respect that.

Part of that respect means not getting upset about a peaceful protest. Perhaps we can disagree with it, but all of these Facebook posts about how I actually respect the flag needs to stop. You are acting passive-aggressive and childish because you are not actually listening. If you respect your fellow American citizens then you would ask them why they feel the need to protest in the first place.

Why are they taking a knee? How can we help them find justice so that #TakeAKnee becomes unnecessary? We don't have to kneel with them if our personal beliefs do not lend us towards that action. But we should always remember that our fellow Americans are dreaming for more, just as we are, and sometimes people must perform big actions if they want to be heard.

So you conservatives who are so offended by your fellow Americans using their freedoms to mobilize change need to get over it and start a conversation with someone different than you. You have a lot to learn.