But it does me no injury for my neighbour to say there are twenty gods, or no god. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg.
— Thomas Jefferson, Notes on the State of Virginia, Query XVII (source)
Jefferson was talking about freedom of religion, but truth be told, I feel the same way about whether professional athletes stand or kneel while the American national anthem is playing. It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg. It doesn’t bother me either way.
True, but it does turn an apolitical hobby of mine into yet another open front of the culture war. Now, choosing to watch a football game or not with my kid has become an act of tribal solidarity with one tribe I don’t feel a part of or another that I don’t feel a part of, and I get to hear smug idiots lecture me about politics instead of talking about football.
Doesn’t break my leg, but makes my Sunday worse than it otherwise would have been. And its turned an otherwise broad-based excuse for building community into a wedge to split people apart.