On the face of it, it seems to me that the "under God" clause in the Pledge of Allegiance is a kind of establishment of religion and therefore probably unconstitutional. Watching Fox last night, some politician said that it wasn't, because kids aren't forced to say the pledge. Right.... 'course that's the case. It's easy to say "Nah, I don't want to say the pledge," in your home room class. Teacher's response is "You don't? Well, ok then. Why don't you go down to the teacher's lounge and get yourself a diet Sprite while the rest of us say the pledge?"
I know that not saying the pledge is a big deal, 'cause I once - and just the once - refused to say it. What happened? Did I get my diet Sprite? No. But I did get to spend a morning observing the administrative center of Farragut Primary School. That's right, I was sent to the principal's office.
My parents were called in. I don't remember if it was during the day, or if they came to a post school conference, after all I was only 7 or 8. But I do know that VolMom came down to have a little chat with my teacher and the prinicipal.
Usually VolMom sided with the Man on all things school-discipline related. "She did? I'm sorry. You were right to throw the book at her. She'll be punished at home, too," was the normal response. And you know, that was probably the right thing to do, in most circumstances. (I did have a fantasy where VolMom would automatically side with me, scream at the Principal about how they were abusing her precious daughter, storm out dramatically, and then we'd all go down to McDonald's for a Happy Meal and ice cream. Never happened.) But guess what VolMom did in this case. She listened to both sides of the story and sided, more or less, with me.
My problem with the pledge was not the "under God" bit. Though perhaps if it had been, if I'd just been up on my Constitutional law, we might have had this all out of the way in the 70s. No, my problem was with the very first bit. See, one day, I actually listened to the pledge instead of just saying it by rote:
I pledge allegiance to the flag
I couldn't understand why we were pledging allegiance to a piece of cloth. It struck me as somehow wrong, somehow misplaced. It's just a piece of cloth, symbolic I grant you, but it's not a group of people or an ideal.
The teacher suggested that my parents spend a little more time with me educating me about flags. Welll.... VolMom didn't like that. "She knows plenty about flags," said VolMom. That's the closest we ever got to my Happy Meal fantasy.
The school wanted me to say the Pledge. We negotiated. At the end, we all agreed that I would stand out of respect for others' sensibilities, but I didn't have to say the Pledge or put my hand over my heart.
Then somehow, sometime later the Pledge fell out of fashion, and we didn't have to recite it for years. Sometime during high school it was re-introduced along with the moment of silence (of which I am a big fan, at the very least to calm the little hellions down and be reflective). I stood and said most bits of the pledge and kind of moving my lips in the rest (by then I had problems with the cloth bit, the establishment clause bit, the indivisible bit - why can't a state secede? The liberty and justice for all bit I took as aspirational). By then, I had learned it really wasn't worth the trouble.
Note:
Over at Nashville is Talking, in the comments section Richard has some facts:
About time. But it wont hold.
From US history.org:
The Pledge of Allegiance was written in August 1892 by the socialist minister Francis Bellamy (1855-1931). It was originally published in The Youth's Companion on September 8, 1892.
In its original form it read:
"I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all." In 1923, the words, "the Flag of the United States of America" were added against Bellamy's wishes, as he wanted the pledge to be used by any citizen of any country. At this time it read:
"I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all." In 1954, in response to the Communist threat of the times, President Eisenhower encouraged Congress to add the words "under God," creating the 31-word pledge we say today. Bellamy's daughter objected to this alteration. Today it reads:
"I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."
I dont think it should be recited or required.
8 comments:
Nicely said. When I was going to Haines City High back in the late 70s, I took great personal delight in looking down, hands at my side, while my classmates said the Pledge. I did it every day. I was the only student in Mrs. Foster's math class who didn't recite it. Why did I do it? Was I being perverse for perversity sake? Did I have a deeply held political aversion to saying it? Naw, not really. I just thought it was a goofy, silly thing to do because the Pledge is entirely devoid of content or consequence. It was a waste of my and the class's time and wouldn't be a party to this silliness. Also, I was never harrassed, berated, or challenged by anyone, ever, for doing it. I still find it hard to believe that anyone would give a rat's ass whether it was recited or not. Unfortunately, there is enough anecdotal evidence that there are some messed-up folks out there who do care.
Yeah, fuck the pledge and fuck America. Fuck all those men who died for this sorry country.
My, my. That is quite the reaction. Thoughtful allegiance to principles is to be desired over blind allegiance to a piece of material.
Those soldiers died for our freedoms. I think they'd be thrilled that The Vol Abroad exercised hers.
Hmmm... yes, that is quite a reaction. Not sure what to make of it. But I'll leave it up.
Thanks Brittney. I'm actually quite patriotic, but I'm not a big fan of the Pledge.
I'll also say that I do respect the flag of my own country and that of many others. But I'm certainly not comfortable with pledging allegiance to it.
Our third grade teacher had us to recite the pledge and John 3:16 every day between washing hands and going to lunch. That's just what we did.
Like most rote things in elementary school, it was much later before I learned their significance-
Growing up in the '80s and '90s, I always thought American patriotism was a good thing and wished we could have more of it in the UK. Of course in Northern Ireland any notion of patriotism to the UK was hated by one side & exalted by the other, but the general UK population seemed utterly apathetic. I think children should be taught about what their country stands for and why that might be a good thing.
Pledging allegiance to a flag per se seems vaguely idolatrous. Requiring children to recite "under God" seems to me to breach the "no establishment of religion" clause of the US Constitution, as do other artefacts of the anti-Communist scare of the early '50s, like putting "In God we trust" on the banknotes. I don't think the Founders would have approved, anyway.
I appreciate bam's patriotism. By the way, which branch of the armed forces did you serve in? I'm 4/12th Cavalry, 5th ID (1982-1985), 980th Eng Btn (1995-2004).
I was in a Territorial Army Reserve squadron of the Royal Signals Regiment (primary mission: to erect big radio masts & restore communications following nuclear war); does that count? :) I never did much in the cause of Freedom (this was ca 98-2000), though my parents worried I'd be sent to Kosovo. Ah, happier times.
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