Is The Pledge of Allegiance Un-American?
posted May 11, 2008 - 10:28pmThe 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.

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P.S.
Children who are raised in families who served their country, are patriotic, and love their country, recited the Pledge of Allegiance out of love for thier country and pride in it. I never felt forced to do this as a child. It was something we did to show our pride in our country. Children are taught to love their country, just like with anything else. The problem with "Free Range Children" is their taught to question everything, but NOT to believe in much. The worst thing a parent can do is NOT guide their child into believing anything. Children do not have abstract. thinking until they are in their teens. To allow a child to make decisions about what is right or wrong, instead of teaching them such, is being a neglectful parent. I have counsleed many a teenager that was raised by free range parents, and I have not seen so many lost souls in my life. They have no idea what to believe in, not even themselves. So, these are the kids that medicate themselves in order to escape not knowing what they care about, or even believe about anything., It's serious business, and consequences when you start allowing children to make adult decisions of which they do not have the mental nor emotional capacity to do so. You need to be a lot more educated on children, as well as our country, and those who served it and died for it so you could have the right to post this obviously naive oppinion!
Hannah
Have I got something to say!
First of all I'm proud to be a Vietnam Era Veteran. So, the words patriotic and antiquated do not ever go together. Also, take it from a retired child & family counselor, Kids are seriously messed up in the head today, and it's no coincidence at all, that when they took religion out of the schools as well as the pledge of allegiance, kids started going downhill from there. The problem with this country is there's not enough patriotism, and spirituality. If we don't take a few steps back in time, our kids will be lost forever. Most of them already have no idea what pride in country, or belief in anything beyond their cell phones, and ipods is. We have created a society of complacent, lethargic kids that feel nothing for anyone but themselves, no less their country, or God!
Hannah
Make that The McLaughlin GROUP (duh)
But No Object Moves for Your Purpose, unless ...
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