A Pledge of Allegiance is a crock

This coming from an anarchist. Wow hard to believe.

Erudite comment Baldimo.

Re: A Pledge of Allegiance is a crock


By and large, I agree. I also find a bit of humor in those who complain about the "rampant xenophobia" amongst Americans that support the removal of "under God" from the pledge but don't want the pledge done away with entirely.

I part ways with you on this one dys. I still remember the ole pledge as I said it as a kid


I pledge a lesion to da flag
Ah the united Stays ubAmerivca
AN too the public of Richard Sands
One nation, in a dirigble
with leerty justin and all.


It still kinda doesnt make much sense but thtas how I recall it in Sister Attilas class.

I was a paraprofessional in an Infant School in London in the late '60's. Teachers there envied the Pledge of Allegiance. They saw it as a way to integrate immigrant children into the English mainstream.

exactly

Well said Dys,

I tried to make that point in the Under God Thread, and was ignored.

Perhaps Jesus said it best

Off your feed, are ya, Dys????

Just getting warmed up Frank, opened my second bottle of whisky and hot to trot. In Vino Veritas.

My sister and I just tried to recite the pledge and neither of us could. In 9th grade I refused to say the pledge. I didn't stand, I didn't recite, I kept quiet. A teacher, not even my homeroom teacher, nearly popped a vein while yelling at me and then sent me to the principle's office. The principle asked, I explained as best I could as a mostly sheltered barely-teenager. He sent me back. Score one for me.

yes but , "In boozo, bozo est"

Yay for littlek. Pretty brave for a kid not quite a teenager.

Well, I always mouthed the words to keep out of trouble, like Mili and Vanilli, but never actually said them.

BBB
For as long as I can remember, I've always recited the pledge as follows:

I pledge allegiance to the (delete flag) United State of American, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation (delete under God), indivisible, with liberty and justice for all (add some day.)

I never understood why I should pledge allegiance to a "flag." I rejected "under god." I added "some day" because of the discrimination against women and minorities. I didn't realize it was such a radical act at the time.

---BBB
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The Pledge of Allegiance

The Pledge of Allegiance was first published for Columbus Day, on September 8, 1892, in the Boston magazine The Youth's Companion. It was written by a member of the magazine's staff, Francis Bellamy. The publication of the Pledge, and its wide redistribution to schools in pamphlet form later that year lead to a recitation by millions of school children, starting a tradition that continues today.

The original text is: "I pledge of allegiance to my flag and the Republic for which it stands - One nation indivisible - with liberty and justice for all."

Several minor changes to the text, including changing "my flag" to "to the Flag of the United States of America," were made over time, some "official" and some less so.

In its 1940 Gobitis decision (310 US 586), the Supreme Court ruled that schools can compell students to recite the Pledge. The U.S. Congress recognized the Pledge officially in 1942, and in 1954 added the phrase "under God" to the text. In 1943, the Supreme Court overturned Gobitis and ruled in its Barnette decision (319 US 624) that school children could not be forced to recite the Pledge as a part of their school day routine.

Today, the wording of the Pledge of Allegiance is set in the US Code, at 4 USC 4. The text of that section is below.

If you would like more information on the U.S. flag, I suggest that you visit USFlag.org, an excellent site with lots of resources concerning the flag and its evolution.
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The Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag, "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.", should be rendered by standing at attention facing the flag with the right hand over the heart. When not in uniform men should remove their headdress with their right hand and hold it at the left shoulder, the hand being over the heart. Persons in uniform should remain silent, face the flag, and render the military salute.

I find this all entertaining. I once had a student who did not want to recite the pledge. I asked her why. Her response was that she had the freedom not to say it. My response was: The flag represents that freedom of which you enjoy. Don't you think that by saying the pledge you are honoring that freedom to which you enjoy?
Do I always agree with the phrase "under God"? Not realy. That was just a Mcarthism gone wild addition. Do I feel that it will change the values of children. Nope. ungrateful American citizens will always remain ungrateful. They live in a country that allows them more freedom than any other in the world and they still complain. Ti those people I say If you can find a better and freer country than the US, you are welcome to leave at any time.

Ralph,

You don't understand. The flag doesn't represent the freedom that we enjoy. Saying the pledge doesn't honor freedom.

No one here is "ungrateful" for freedom (if I may speak for the others here). Quite the contrary, the people here... who willfully act on their values in against the normal ritual... understand freedom more than most Americans.

As a teacher... what are you teaching your students?

You are teaching that a mindless ritual... a set of words that are repeated each morning... "honors freedom". You are teaching that by not following the crowd... students dishonor the country.

You teach students shouldn't question, shouldn't go against the crowd and shouldn't "complain" when things are wrong.

But your student (and students like her) was displaying the qualities that made the greatest Americans what they were.

Would you teach Rosa Parks to go to the back of the bus? Or Henry David Thoreau to shut up and pay his taxes?

The question I ask you is what kind of teacher you want to be? What kind of citizens do you want to produce?

Do you want your students to go along with the crowd mindlessly... unwilling to break to mold or raise questions?

Excellent! BM

Interesting people in the US are effectively forced into pledging allegiance to the flag. I would have thought that vey much a two edged sword.

In England there is no such daily ritual in schools. Allegiance to flag and country develops naturally as the child grows older....or doesn't.

I think on the whole our way is better. I get worried when I see young minds pledging allegiance to anything.

of course when i said england i meant scotland northern ireland wales lincolnshire er rest of england

isle of wight

isle of man

orkney islands hebrides

isles of scilly (dont be)

and bits of the rest of the world we have not formally renounced sovereignty over, possibly including our american colonies. so there