Kids Refusing to Say Pledge of Allegiance
I read this post at Blacksheep Speaks this morning and it really got me to thinking. The post says that the fourteen year old daughter of the blogger casually mentioned over breakfast that some of her classmates were refusing to say the Pledge of Allegiance at school, sitting while the other students stood to recite the pledge.
Blacksheep Speaks did a great job of defining the meaning behind the words of the Pledge of Allegiance. But what struck me is the fact that these kids seem to totally equate government with country. This is not their fault. How could they think otherwise when you are controlled so strongly by government? I admire their courage, knowing what they do, that they refused to say the pledge of allegiance, because their reasons are honorable, wanting not to show support for a government they don’t agree with.
The time has come that we start teaching our children that our government is NOT our country. That the country belongs to us. That is what freedom is all about. It is also time that government gets its dirty paws out of people’s business, then kids will stop seeing it as an all powerful entity. Our government was formed to protect us. However, over the years these children have not seen that, what they have learned by watching is that government rules over lives. But these children at least understand that they have to right to refuse to say the Pledge of Allegiance without fear of punishment. And THAT folks, means we ARE still free.
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Comments
I really love this post. As for James and his comment…I wholeheartedly believe in the “under God” part. Our country was founded on those beliefs.
Thank you. This post means that there are still people that believe that we are free although that freedom is being stolen away from us, little by little. We need to stand up for our country and our flag and for those who died to help us do so. YAH!
Thanks, Jaz. And I agree with you about the God part. I don’t care what the naysayers believe, our country was founded on religious freedom, yes, but our forefathers meant the choice to worship God as you choose.
Thank you VERY much! I really appreciate that you read AND UNDERSTOOD. You wouldn’t believe how much feedback I have had from people who missed the point entirely, or claim I said things I didn’t. It is GREAT to know someone other than me cares about this!!!!!
You betcha. This has been a very interesting discussion and the one at your blog too. We need to talk about this kind of stuff. It is much better to disagree than to be apathetic. At least when we can still get excited!
so when the “under god” part was added to scare off communists, that means our nation was founded on religion? or the fact that our constitution has one mention of any deity and that is in the date?
i absolutely respect people’s right not to say the pledge, but it is disrespectful to the people who believe in saying it not to stand. if you went to someone’s house where they said prayers that you didnt before dinner, would you start eating?
i personally dont say the pledge out loud, but thats because it is a pledge from me to improve my nation, not a group pledging devotion to our govt.
I would be interested to see where you got the information that “under God” was added to scare off communists, SoccerDrew17.
As far as what you said about not standing, that’s the beauty of this whole discussion, we all have the right to our own opinions.
The original Pledge was drafted by a Methodist minister, yet did not include the words “under God.” That phrase was only added later, by Congress, to distinguish America from “godless communism.”
http://writ.news.findlaw.com/hamilton/20040325.html
United States should oppose communism not because the Soviet Union was a totalitarian regime but because its leaders were atheists.
http://www.slate.com/?id=2067499
that took me two seconds. i googled “under god communism” and got the first two results. the original pledge had no religious affiliation. there is not evidence anywhere that the founders wanted specific religion. they gave people the choice and kept it seperate from govt because: 1)would screw everything up 2)would screw the minority religion which could one day be christianty.
Soccer Drew,
Two things. One–It shows a real lack of fair play on your part that you did not leave your URL so that we can see who you are, especially since you seem to want to argue rather than debate. That’s not very brave of you.
Two–I am sure me and everyone else knows how to use Google. But I doubt it only took two seconds. When you become condescending you lose whatever ground you might have otherwise gained in a debate. Debate 101
But thanks for the history lesson. ;-
i dont give out any info that could be traced to me, so no url.
the comment about google was that you can find it immediately. im sure by now you have checked it out and found that its not hidden at all. this is not some conspiracy theory (the red scare might have been though), but actual truth.
fact is, we dont have a christian government. never have, hopefully never will. religion and government together is a bad thing. crusades? radical muslims? germany? when the extremists can flourish in normal society, the society becomes worse off.
that goes both ways, the harder it is to have a fringe view, the more stable things are. we still need fringe people, because those are usually the people who make change, but too many is a bad thing.
Whew. I should have checked back here sooner, sorry 
You know, in reference to SoccerDrew17… it used to be a JOKE when someone said. “It must be true… I read it on the internet!” As far as whether or not this country was based on God and His principles… perhaps you should be aware, SoccerDrew, that the reasons given to King George of England for America’s emancipation included 27 Biblical violations. This, and several other trackable, physically documented historical facts supporting this country’s Christian base have already been talked about in my original post, nto which there is a link in the ABOVE post (thank you!)
You can’t rely on Google for accuracy. I once saw a very believably worded website claiming that Barbie was a plot copied from the French (I think) to undermine human sexuality in America. (and if you don’t see the problem with that, you DO have issues). Always do some actual research on your facts, SoccerDrew17. I believe it was actually Eisenhower who brought in the revised version, and it didn’t have anything to do with scaring communists.
I know a lot of students who refuse to stand and say the pledge because it still says “Under God” in it. I agree with them.