Originally Posted by
nextormento
I explicitly invoked waving hello, rather than saying "hello". Because waving is a ritual like any other.
If we interpret waving hello as a signal to engage in communication, flag praising or community prayer are also signals. Perhaps to initiate conversation of what great freedom we share, or what was your charity work last weekend.
If we interpret the meaning already contained in the signal, waving hello can indicate a cheerful day, or it might indicate that you don't want to engage in further exchange other than courteously acknowledging their presence. It's actually a very complex sign; evolved through the centuries to mean very different things.
Similarly standing up to an anthem indicates approval of the values they think the nation shares. Just like burning one signifies disapproval of some or all values of the nation.
Mass praying is a community activity involving doing stuff they like. It's like dancing with other people: something extremely ritualistic and codified, that individuals do for fun, but that we also like doing in couples or in groups. Nobody is seeking approval out of group dancing, and neither do people engaging in mass prayer.
The difference, really, is that you personally don't share or enjoy their codes nor their sentiments.
Ultimately, I think questioning what meaning is behind our constructs is important. We continuously adapt them, and these national or patriotic sentiments will change. Like everything does. But I don't see much merit in challenging the codes or the rituals themselves. It's just arbitrary things we do to convey some meaning to like-minded individuals or people that understand the specific code. Just like waving hello. They also will change, of course, but their existence is as justified as any word is.
Why do we use complicated words like "sternocleidomastoid muscle"?, we could call it "dupi" and be done with it. Well, we could, but we already have the specific code to convey that meaning. It's all equally arbitrary conventions.