As high school starts for millions of students around the country, the morning ritual of standing and pledging to a three colored piece of cloth perpetuates. The idea that one person could force another person to stand for their views is insane. Many seem to think that students have no rights in school, but the Constitution and court rulings seem to disagree. To be coerced into participating in a borderline cult ceremony and to be indoctrinated by thuggish teachers, who overstep their bounds, is repugnant in a free country. The Pledge of Allegiance just seems to be another way schools destroy and suppress any token of individuality in a student.
People, who blindly stand because of the groupthink mentality instilled within them at an early age, seldom know of the history behind the pledge. They don’t know that it was conceived by Francis Bellamy, a man who referred to himself as a Christian socialist and sold flags to public schools in the 1880s and 1890s. Bellamy injected his Christian socialist crap into the pledge and also had something to gain financially as well. The picture to the right of this article of the students exhibits American children in school performing what was known as the Bellamy salute. You might be thinking, “Wasn’t that used by the Nazis to hail Hitler?” Yeah it was. Before World War II, the Hitler salute accompanied the Pledge of Allegiance. After it was learned that this salute was being used by Hitler, people began placing their hands on their chests during the pledge.
Standing for 10 seconds doesn’t bother many people, but if that’s your mentality, ask yourself if you’d have a problem with extending your arm for Hitler in the 1930s since it only takes 3 seconds. It’s a matter of principle not of practicality. If you’re an atheist, agnostic, or not religious, standing for someone’s imaginary friend might annoy you quite a bit, but even if you believe in a creator, the idea that you should stand for a flag representing a government that has strayed so far from the Constitution should be repulsive to you. Doesn’t the Bible say something about it being a sin to pledge allegiance to false idols?
To call someone unpatriotic for refusing to stand for the pledge of allegiance is a joke. Do you think that the Founders of the United States would have agreed to standing and pledging to an authoritarian government? Do you think that the same people who overthrew the most powerful empire in the world would bow down to an insecure “teacher” on a power trip? Considering that the United States was founded on dissent, the most patriotic thing a person can do is dissent and refuse to follow unjust orders. By refusing to stand for the pledge, you are standing up for your rights.
By the way, the “under God” in the pledge was thrown in back in the 1950s, during the Red Scare, in order to somehow be a defense against the lack of religion in communist countries. It made absolutely no sense back then and it makes no sense now. Pledging your allegiance to a government does have its place though. That place is North Korea. Fascist and totalitarian governments want their citizens to be indoctrinated with the idea that they are owned by those governments. Here’s something to think about—the definition of the word ‘allegiance’ from the Merriam-Webster dictionary:
“1 a : the obligation of a feudal vassal to his liege lord”
