The Pledge of Allegiance has always struck me as a ritual that is in complete opposition to the principles upon which the U.S. was founded. It reeks of blind obedience to the state; something that is more in line with totalitarianism. The whole controversy over whether or not the words under-God should be included in the text of the Pledge has always been a non-issue, to me. The bigger issue is whether or not we should even be clinging to such an antiquated notion of patriotism which, in my opinion, has never represented the philosophies of our founding fathers.

I believe only one other country, The Philippines, has such an allegiance to the flag. While I'm grateful our school children are not forced by law to perform this daily ritual, there is certainly a very strong compulsion to do so. Failure to join in would most certainly lead to ostricization of the pupil by his or her peers.

We are sending our children some rather confusing mixed messages as they travel along the conveyor belt of education, eventually deposited into the real world where they make their way as adults. On the one hand, we try to instill in them a sense of individuality, and a tolerance of those who are different from themselves. Then we compel them to recite, like mindless zombies, a pledge with more in common with Hitler's Germany than a country that is supposed to represent freedom and Democracy. What makes this even creepier is the fact that prior to placing the hand over the heart during The Pledge's recital, the routine involved an outstretched arm and raised palm that is very similar to the Hitler salute. This, of course, was done away after the Nazis came into power. It's also interesting to note that the author of The Pledge of Allegiance, Francis Bellamy, was a socialist, and critic of the capitalist system.

To me, The Pledge represents a particularly ugly side of patriotism. Unfortunately, there are far too many people who are raised with the idea that you support your country, right or wrong. Any criticism of the U.S. is seen by such individuals as downright treasonous. In my mind, it is those who are willing to stand up and speak out against the policies and actions of their government they believe are not in the best interest of its citizenry who are the greatest patriots. Somewhere along the way, we really lost the original plot.

Patriotism is something that should come from the heart, and be a free choice. You can't instill true patriotism in your country's citizenry by having them perform such a ridiculous ritual as The Pledge of Allegiance. Traditions die hard, I guess. I'm likely to be branded "anti-American" for even questioning it. But I'm thankful I was raised by parents who instilled in me the value of questioning everything.