Opinion/Goldstein: Oh say, can you see (into a heart)?

Gerry Goldstein (gerryg76@verizon.net), a monthly contributor, is a retired Providence Journal editor and columnist.

I served in the U.S. Army, albeit in peacetime when the only shots that came my way were poured in the saloons outside Fort Dix, New Jersey.

I’ve never missed voting in a general election and have worn many a poppy on Memorial Day.

The star-spangled banner waves daily atop a flagpole outside my front door.

But I disagree that it’s necessary to invoke the national anthem before sporting events. To me, this ritual — absent at many other types of public assembly — is an exercise in group “patriotism” that may or may not reflect the essence of the word.

That’s just an opinion, but go ahead — sue me. Or, better yet, send me to prison for 10 years.

The latter seems preferred by tens of thousands of Americans. They recently clamored on Facebook to have basketball star Brittney Griner thrown into a Russian penal colony for a decade.

Some were put off by the small amount of cannabis oil, illegal in Russia, that prompted her arrest at a Moscow airport. Her legal team has said she uses it for relief of play-related pain, and packed it accidentally.

But most of the venom came because she had asked the Women's National Basketball Association to stop playing the anthem before games — her way of protesting racism.

I see no American ideal in the pitiless reaction to this young woman, alone in a country run by a soulless despot. The brutish howling on social media freezes one’s blood.

Leave it to Facebook, in many ways entertaining and useful, to channel a torrent of dogmatic and cruel intolerance.

Those who posted diatribes know only the Griner they see: 6 feet 9, outspoken, Black, gay, and heavily tattooed. Anything deeper seems lost in vitriol over the anthem.

Here’s a sampling of thought from those who profess love for our freedoms:

• She did not stand for the national anthem at her games and now she wants Old Glory’s help. Ha.

• Leave her there. She doesn’t respect the U.S. or the anthem or the Flag. But now she wants help. NOPE SORRY KEEP HER IN RUSSIA.

• Is this the woman that said DO NOT play the national anthem at her games? Uh… LEAVE HER THERE!

• Funny she didn’t want the national anthem played before WNBA games and now she’s crying to come back. Nah, do your time.

• She disrespected our country that I fought for. Hope she enjoys the labor camp.

• Enjoy your new home for the next 10 years!!!

• They should play the American national anthem in her cell every day. One knee will be very sore from the concrete floor.

No need to further belabor the obvious. The last time I checked, the site had drawn 177,000 comments. In my sampling, most mirrored those above.

One scans them in vain for a hint of compassion; a shred of mercy and understanding; an iota of benevolence that church folks might call Christian charity. My Jewish brethren would call it the practice of tikkun olam – healing the wounds in our world.

Save for her ability with a basketball, we know little of Brittney Griner the person, or of what lies in her heart. But when it comes to hearts, we all have one. Before passing judgment on hers, we would do well to contemplate the hardness of our own.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Opinion/Goldstein: Oh say, can you see (into a heart)? Americans vilify Brittney Griner