pledge of allegiance

Ok, so I made a faux pas or something of the sort.

I was visiting some friends tonight and we somehow got on the subject of removing religion from school, etc. I mentioned how the Pledge of Allegiance oughta be removed as well if they need to go doing that. I was very decidedly met with disagreement. Very strong disagreement. "You don't deserve to be a citizen if you don't want to say it," I was told.

Why?

Here are my arguments:
1. People GENERALLY are told to say it as little kids. Little kids do not understand its implications, so at that time, it is either meaningless, brainwashing, and/or merely teaching what the words are so they can say it and MEAN it down the road.

2. A pledge should be honoured as such, and thus not require repeating. Thus repeating the Pledge over and over and over every day at school, at ball games, et al, cheapens the heartfelt meaning behind it and makes pledging less powerful and less serious.

3. It can be spoken with no meaning. Simply saying the words means that you are agreeing with/trying to fit in with/obeying/fearing/deceiving your peers.

4. Justice is subject to major changes in the country's standards. So, by pledging that you want justice for all, you are stating that whatever the laws are at the time, even if it is that whites who kill blacks cannot be imprisoned but that blacks who kill whites can be, then you are OK with that. That would be justice at that time. Fifty years later, the law could flip to the reverse, and you would need to be OK with that, too. I personally would prefer to call everyone equal, which is what /I/ was taught this country is about. Of course we know it is not, but I would dare to hope we will one day get there. I am an idealist, unfortunately for me. But, the whole "justice" word is more a question of symantics.

5. Under God. Do atheists recite the Pledge? What about religious folk who cannot pledge allegiance to anyone but their own God? What about idolatry? This addition is good in theory, but really does not work in today's world. I also read somewhere that the addition was made in respect to some speech which more correctly meant "God willing," which means it is not even worded right.

6. I have always had, and still have, a problem with "the flag." Why not just "I pledge allegiance to the usa?" Why the flag? It is a symbol, but so what? Are they trying to get us to say we will not burn the flag or otherwise be disrespectful to it? I do not understand this particular portion. Flags can change... ours has changed several times, with the addition of states, for instance. What if it changes? Is "the flag" always the current one? Does it include every flag the U.S. has used? I am thoroughly confused. Why would we care about a flag, anyway? Isn't it more important to worry about our country than a piece of material?

Why, in a democracy... and it is a democracy, is it not? Why, then, do some people feel I am unpatriotic, or worse, not worth my own American-born citizenzhip, simply for questioning the Pledge and disagreeing with saying it in school? To those people, I say you are close-minded people who simply accept what you are told and you might as well go live in a country with a monarch. No questions allowed, blindly follow your leaders and forget about what America is supposed to really mean. Don't tell ME how wonderfully free our country is if you refuse to further define what you mean by "free."

From my understanding, kids are not to be forced to say the Pledge, for many of the same reasons. This extended to when I was in school but I distinctly recall being scolded for questioning it in fifth or sixth grade when I finally began to understand some of the implications. I feel this left a rather long-lasting effect on me (ya think?) and I do not want to have this same impression of "you are free, but only if you agree with me and follow these rules and say these words even if you have no idea what they mean" to be bestowed on other children. We do not want other countries teaching their kids crap like this, so why should we teach ours the same thing? Let them mean it!

GOD BLESS AMERICA!

-w