I Pledge Allegiance...

So, the pledge of allegiance…

Pretty cut and dried, huh? You stand up, place your hand over your heart, recite the litanic words, and it displays your patriotism and respect for our country. How could there be anything wrong with that? Why would we choose to allow people to have the right NOT to stand up or NOT to HAVE to recite the words when they are spoken?

There’s this cartoon I’ve seen passed around that shows a classroom full of students standing during a pledge with one boy smack dab in the front seated with his feet on his desk, his arms crossed, and a rather surly expression on his face that clearly reads, “I don’t have to stand for this shit” while a teacher stands beside a war veteran in a wheel chair and says, “Kevin, it’s your right not to stand during the pledge… But let me introduce you to someone who CAN’T stand because he was defending that right.”

Should make that kid and anyone else who has the nerve to be so disrespectful feel pretty shitty, am I right?

NO.

My first thought about this cartoon was that something seems a little off about dying (or in this case losing the ability to stand up) to give a particular right to people and then getting all high and mighty when they choose to use it. But, upon further review I think there may be something quite a bit more insidious going on here.

A friend of mine understood what I was getting at but pointed out that she felt the cartoon was more about appreciation. I totally agree and that’s where it gets kinda fuzzy and turns into something of a religious debate. Wha-huh? That’s right, a religious debate.

One of the many things I hate about religion is that it basically tells people, “This is the correct way to worship and if you do it any other way not only are you wrong and a bad person, but you’re going to hell!”

Isn’t this basically the same thing?

If you don’t appreciate our veterans and show your patriotism in the WAY I FEEL YOU SHOULD (by standing and reciting the pledge) you’re a disrespectful, unpatriotic, and evil person who doesn’t deserve the liberty your country has afforded you.

Now, just as I feel a person has a right to worship god (or not worship god if he so chooses) in whatever way he pleases, I feel people have the right to honor the flag (or not) in any way they choose and we should not make them feel bad about their choices.

Look, I said the pledge every school day morning from kindergarten to twelfth grade (13 years) and I can tell you that NOT ONCE did I do it with any patriotism or sense of national pride. Forcing a child to stand and say some words will not have that effect. It simply automatous.

Each person has his own responsibility to decide if he 1) chooses to respect his country in any, all, some, or none of its facets and 2) how he wants to show (or not show) that respect. And what fucking business is it or yours anyway???

If you speak out against the President or US policies aren’t you being disrespectful to America? Any self-respecting Republican would argue against that sentiment until he’s blue in the face, correct? We have a god given (and American-given) right to bash Obama as much as humanly possible. Of course those same people would have argued just as fiercely in the other direction a few years ago when we had a different fellow in the White House.

You see, that’s the principle our country was built on: Freedom! Freedom to choose. Freedom of expression. Freedom of speech.

It’s ok not to like someone for whatever reason you want. It’s ok to express your distastes. But it’s NOT OK TO INJURE THAT PERSON IN ANY WAY BECAUSE YOU DON’T LIKE HIM (neither physically, mentally, or any other way there is of doing harm).

And that’s what rules about the pledge are doing; they’re telling you not only to look down on someone who may show his appreciation in a different way then you do, but make him feel guilty (which IS an injury). And do you think it stops there? When do Kevin’s schoolmates, stirred up by their parents who are appalled that he didn’t stand up during the pledge, beat the shit out of little Kevin on the playground after school?

Think that’s ridiculous? They’ll do it if he’s a different religion… Or a different color… Or a different sexuality…

And it IS from the adults. It’s learned behavior. Children don’t hate other children for their ideology on their own.

Well, I hope this didn’t become too convoluted and that it didn’t make anyone who wants to stand and say the pledge stop doing it. Patriotism is great. So is showing respect for those you have it for. Do it as much as you like. Only please don’t force your ideas on others. That’s UNAMERICAN.