The Pledge of Allegiance

[Little Jerry Lawler]

When I was a senior in high school, we were required to stand and say The Pledge of Allegiance every morning. I complied and did it but over the next few months I started thinking to myself about why do I have to stand every day and say it? I knew where my allegiance was so why did I have to say it every day to confirm that. I thought about not saying it but I did because I was afraid of what the consequences were. I was of the mind that we should have said it the first day and that was it or the first day of every week.

So if you were in my position, would you have said the Pledge of Allegiance every day. Or would you not because you knew your allegiance was to the United States?

 

[Tenta]

I personally have no qualm with the pledge of allegiance. I'm sure it gets a tad annoying from time to time, but when you really think about, it's not asking too much from you. All you have to do is stand for about ten seconds, mumble out a few words, and sit back down. I feel it's the least I could do for my country. Admittedly, people give up far larger sacrifices than I do to keep our nation safe, and to allow the freedom that we have now. I won't get on my high horse about the matter, but really, it kind of seems inconsequential when one considers the spectrum of life.

I can also see where you're coming from, and the redundancy of the matter, but I feel that, unless you were completely opposed to the idea of the pledge, it's really not too bad. Now then, if you had an issue with the words, I could see your argument. I've heard people say that they believe that "Under God" should be taken out of the Pledge, but what harm is it doing by having it in there? I can see where an atheist or an agnostic may come from, but at the same time, is it likely that hearing "Under God" is that much of a burden upon you? My feeling is that when it comes to words like "Under God", you can always simply choose to not say those words, and to simply move on from "Indivisible". Yes, it gets a tad annoying from time to time, but what's the ultimate price you're paying to do it? A possible cramp of the elbow as you go to put your hand on your heart? In the long run, The Pledge of Allegiance really is just ten seconds, and nothing more.

 

[X]

I stopped reciting the Pledge of Allegiance in 6th grade. I no longer saw the point to reciting it, considering I was going into a very athiest and anti-establishment phase in my life. It was a minor little way of rebelling against the authority of both the schools I attended and the injustices that our government has committed over history. That said, I love our country. I just hate the government. Big difference.

I really don't see the point in the pledge to be honest. It has absolutely no purpose or value whatsoever, it doesn't instill people with pride for their country or anything. The only thing it does is start controversy over things like whether or not the word "God" should be included. It does more harm than good, and quite frankly I think it's about time we got rid of it.

 

[Nate DaMac]

I always recited the Pledge until High School. We had the option whether to participate or not, but everyone in the class always did it. I wasn't the kind to go against the grain even though I was questioning my beliefs on religion as a whole. One day, I grew some testicles and stayed seated, and sure enough I caught all kinds of shit about it. From that moment on, I never did it again. It isn't the "Under God" as much as the "One Nation Under God" part. Simply put, our entire nation is no longer under God and I find it to be extremely arrogant to label an entire country as diverse as ours as Christians. Furthermore, isn't one thing we as Americans pride ourselves on our freedom?

 

[TwistofRKO]

If nothing else, it's just a signal of respect for what people have done to provide you your freedom. Same with all formalities, I don't think it's asking much at all.

Classic mountain-mole hill example right here.

 

[HereComesThePain101]

I agree with uh matstadon tentazord because in reality they are just words. every one above me said they stopped saying as a way to rebel because they were atheists or agnostic. who gives a S**T. I am atheist yet i stand up every day of school and say it even though i have a choice not To. Because i am an american and damn proud of that fact and if my country only asks that i stand every day for ten seconds i can do that.

 

[laxfan41]

I don't mind saying the Pledge every day, you stand up say the Pledge for fifteen or twenty seconds then sit down and go to work. Also, I think that it shows that you are patriotic and love your country for not doing things that they could do to you, like being Communist or taxing everything that you earn. We live in a great country and it's the least you could do for not being born in Cuba or Venezuela. I think it is good that schools have you say the Pledge every day.

 

[Freddy4190]

It never really bothered me, I understood why I was saying it, and I never had a problem saying it. I'd always try to recite it in different voices or whatever to take the staleness of saying it every day out of it, but it was always a respect thing for my country and those who serve it.

 

[Monkey_Mania]

Why should it bother you? If you are an American, why does it pain you so much to say the pledge of allegiance everyday? It shouldnt, it takes out about 30 seconds of the school day. Wow, better stop the presses, thats severe loss of education time right there. There should be no reason why you can't say it. Because after all, it's only 30 seconds, and it's only a pledge of allegiance to the country that you so graciously live in. Man, it must suck to do it....

 

[xAsianRejectx]

I've had to do the Pledge of Allegiance since elementary and ya it's a little annoying to have to stand up everyday for it. But I did it because it's just a simple sign of respect for the country I love and live in. I complied because it was a very simple and easy task to do. Plus my teachers always preached the importance of doing it and I didn't want to piss anyone off. And a lot of the times people like myself would just stand and put our right hand over our hearts, but not recite the Pledge. This is fine to some people because we can't force anyone to say it.

The point I'm trying to make is that doing the Pledge of Allegiance is just a small act we can do to show respect to our country and the people who fight for it. This is why I do it anyway.

 

[Evan Snow-Wolf]

We did the Pledge since Kindergarten, AND we did America The Beautiful right afterwards. To be honest, I miss it. I wound up moving to las Vegas in 94, and realized what an empty and hollow place of education it was. No one cared about anything. I went from a school that had a flag in every class room to a school that didn't have a flag period. It was really depressing.

I love my country. The 5 minutes out of an 8 hour schoolday to do this was not a chore.

 

[Goo Punch]

If it's a public school, I'm pretty sure nobody can force you to do it. I stopped standing for it when I become more informed about the country and never got in trouble for it. Just like they can't force you to pray.

 

[Ambiguous Turd]

I'm Agnostic and I have no qualms with the words "under God" being in the Pledge of Allegiance. Where as I am not convinced our Creator is necessarily the Christian God, I do feel that there is some supernatural force way beyond our comprehension that is responsible for the Universe. We just don't know what it is. Hell, for all we know the Creator is actually no longer with us. We just don't know.

But I have no issue with this Force responsibly for our Creation being termed "God" and nor do I have a problem with it being in the Pledge of Allegiance. Again, because when the words are said, I personally am not equating "God" to the Christian God.

As far as the Pledge being said daily, obviously I had to do the same in school. It is a form of indoctrination, however I personally don't have a problem with it. It really isn't that big of a deal.