Each morning at our school hundreds of kids
pledge their
allegiance to a scrap of cloth hanging off the wall. I don't join them.
I wouldn't
recite the pledge just because of the "
under God" thrown in there. This isn't just because
I don't believe in any gods; it's because this so clearly violates the
Establishment clause of the
constitution. Even if I were
Christian, I could imagine the government forcing us to say "one nation, under
Buddha" every day. I wouldn't want my
religion forced on others any more than I would want others forcing their
religion on me.
But the religion reason is insignificant. I wouldn't say the
pledge even if that part were taken out. The pledge is nothing more than an attempt at
brainwashing. It's
peer pressured recitation completely lacking in
comprehension.
Kids are pledging allegiance before they even know the meaning of the words "pledge" or "allegience". Until at least fourth grade I was saying "
invisible" rather than "
indivisible". Even when I corrected myself, I still hadn't the slightest clue what "
indivisible" meant.
Real allegience would never come in or from this mindless
ritualistic incantation. We should want, as a nation, our people to
pledge allegiance of their own
free will. We want people choosing to
pledge allegiance because they agree with what the nation is doing, because they have
pride in the nation's causes. The
oral recitation of the pledge is
insincere, and holds no purpose nor importance.
Take the
flag burning amendment for example. It comes closer every year to be passed into law that burning a piece of cloth is illegal, if it's an
American flag. This is one of our first steps towards prosecution of
Orwellian "
thoughtcrimes". Banning
flag burning won't stop people from being disgusted with our nation, it will only repress their freedom to
express it. Stifling opposition to the nation is blatantly
fascist.
Patriotism can't be forced, only the
appearance of patriotism can.
The more
mindless nationalism shoved down my throat, the more ashamed I am to live in these
United States.
Voluntary?
The idea that the pledge of allegiance is "optional" is a pure sham. In high school I had teachers yell at me and try to physically force me to stand up during the pledge.
Also, having the pledge in public school singles out anyone not participating for
persecution. A girl at my high school was literally spit on by a classmate, in addition to the insults and name-calling, for not reciting the pledge of allegiance.