As an LSAT instructor, I teach argument for a living, and because of that, I’ve become the most annoying Facebook friend ever. Rather than just jumping right into the NFL national anthem controversy, I’ve decided to use this issue as a test case for how to argue properly. This post is the third in a series, so click here for more background on the NFL national anthem debate or here for an explanation of arguments and assumptions.

When I say the word “spring,” what comes to your mind? Do you think of a tightly coiled metal wire like the ones under a mattress? Do you think of a small and gentle body of water flowing through the woods? Do you think of a season where plants begin to bloom and allergies go haywire? If a word like “spring” can have that many definitions, imagine the confusion over more abstract or politically charged words like truth or God or America or freedom— the list goes on. The same words sometimes mean different things to different people, and when a word carries multiple definitions over the course of one argument, that’s a type of flaw. When we can’t agree on what words even mean, it’s basically logic kryptonite, and communication will break down until we stop and get our definitions straight.

For example, take the word “patriotism.”
Does patriotism mean a love of country, a love of military, or both? Is one necessary for the other? Patriotism often stresses a country’s symbols, but is it possible to focus on the symbols at the expense of the thing the symbols symbolize? Again, these are all things that must be clarified in order to debate the issue properly. For many, standing for the national anthem is the most basic expression of patriotism. For others, patriotism means protesting to improve our country. While not mutually exclusive, those definitions can contradict each other and create all sorts of tensions exactly like what we’re seeing in the NFL.

Religious convictions further complicate the issue because of the tension all religious Americans face: What should I do when my country acts in a way contrary to my faith? I’ve often wondered this, and as such, my faith shapes my political activity. When the country and its leaders act in accordance with God’s love, I affirm it; when the country and its leaders engage in destructive policy that harms others, I protest it with the aim of fixing it. Kaepernick’s defenders would argue that he has done the latter, but should we classify his actions as patriotic, unpatriotic, or some strange fusion of the two? It all depends on how we define patriotism.

For an even thornier case, look at the words “grateful” and “game.”
What does it mean to dismiss NFL players with the command to be grateful? Grateful to whom? God? America? The fans? The military? I’ve had a hard time figuring this one out, but the most frequent subtext seems to be “grateful they get to play a game for a living.” This subtext is a problem since it contradicts our culture’s treatment of professional sports —particularly football— as more than a game.

Getting an NFL contract requires tremendous work and dedication. Young athletes train relentlessly through middle school, high school, and college just to maybe get noticed by the NFL. Football is not a game to them; it’s a career. In my youth ministry days, I met young athletes looking to go pro, and they were the hardest working human beings I’ve ever encountered. They balanced school, practice, personal training, part-time jobs, and not all of them had great home lives either. They risked permanent physical injury day after day in the hope of something better, and in most cases, their work still wasn’t enough.

Few exemplify this intense work ethic like Colin Kaepernick. In the mid-2000s, he was offered numerous baseball scholarships, but he dreamed of a career in football, so he worked and practiced and trained like crazy to play for the only school that offered him a football scholarship: Nevada. Did his supportive family, attentive coaches, and natural physical ability help? Of course, but his years of rigorous training meant the difference between an NFL contract or another career.

It’s hard to think of a discipline where hard work is more rewarded than in professional sports, so phrases like “just a game” and “be grateful” are inconsistent and seldom show up outside the national anthem debate. When we encounter “grateful” and “game” in arguments about the NFL, we always need to figure out the real meaning. To whom should the players be grateful? Are we giving them enough credit for their hard work? And if it’s really just a game, why do we care so much?

If we keep building our arguments on words that mean different things to different people, we’ll just keep talking past each other. To understand each other, we have to dive into these words’ meanings and help others understand what we mean when we say them. Never be afraid to ask what someone means when they use a particular word. Saying “I don’t understand” or “Can you say more?” will help keep these exchanges calm, and a gentle “I don’t see it that way” can go a lot farther than “You’re wrong.” At the same time, pay attention to your own words. Do they mean the same things to people with different views? Be willing to unpack your words, and maybe we can start talking to each other instead of past each other.

And speaking of talking past each other, the next post will focus on the assumptions we make about each other. Tomorrow: personal attacks and straw men.