| Here’s a…here’s a civic custom that I don’t understand. |
| Maybe, you can help me. |
| Taking off your hat when a flag passes by or when some jack-off at the ballpark starts singing the National Anthem. |
| They tell you to take off your hat. |
| What the fuck does a hat have to do with being patriotic? |
| What possible relationship exists between the uncovered head and a feeling that ought to live in your heart? |
| Suppose you have a red, white and blue hat. |
| Suppose you have a hat made out of a flag. |
| Why would you take it off to honor the flag? |
| Wouldn’t you leave it on and point it toward the flag? |
| And what’s so bad about hats that you have to take them off? |
| Why not take off your pants or your shoes? |
| They tell you that at the airport. |
| They say take off your shoes. |
| They tell you it’s national security, so taking off your shoes could be patriotic, too. |
| I started to question all of this stupid hat shit when I was a kid. |
| When I was a kid I was a Catholic, at least until I reached the age of reason, OK. |
| So, I was a Catholic… I was Catholic for about two, two and a half years, something like that. |
| And during that time, one of the things they told us was that if a boy or a man went into a church, he had to remove his hat in order to honor the presence of God. |
| But they had already told me that God was everywhere. |
| So I used to wonder, well, if God is everywhere, why would you even own a hat? |
| Why not show your respect, don’t even buy a fucking hat. |
| And just to confuse things further, they told the women exactly the opposite. |
| Catholic women and girls had to cover their heads when they went into church. |
| Same as in certain temples. |
| Jewish men have to cover their heads in those temples. |
| In those same temples, Jewish women not allowed to cover their heads. |
| So, try to figure this shit out. |
| Catholic men and Jewish women, no hats. |
| Catholic women and Jewish men, hats. |
| Somebody’s got the whole thing totally fucking backward, don’t you think? |
| And what is this religious fascination with headgear? |
| Every religion has got a different fucking hat. |
| Did you ever notice that? |
| The Hindus have a turban. |
| The Sikhs have a tall, white turban. |
| Jews have yarmulke. |
| The Muslims have a kufi. |
| The Bishop has a pointy hat on one day and a round hat on another day. |
| Cardinal has a red hat, Pope has a white. |
| Everybody’s got a fucking hat. |
| One group takes them off; |
| the other group puts them on. |
| Personally, I would never want to be a member of any group where you either have to wear a hat or you can’t wear a hat. |
| I think… I think all religions should have one rule and one rule only: hats optional. |
| That’s all you need to run a really good religion. |