 I Pledge Allegiance... [06.30.02]http://www.cnn.com/2002/LAW/06/26/pledgeofallegiance.ap/index.htmlYou want to talk unconstitutional, huh? Personally, I agree with the statement that the Pledge of Allegiance is unconstitutional. But not for the reasons listed in that article. Who cares what we're under? The real unconstitutionality of this whole "pledge" comes from forcing people to recite it, like we're some sort of Nazi or Communist government under the protection of the "Almighty," or the "Big Brother." Woo. My biggest problem with it in school? The wording. The wording didn't make any sense to me. Why would I want to pledge my allegiance to a flag? "I pledge allegiance to the piece of cloth that's manufactured and distributed by some company making lots of money in the American Way, because it's supposed to symbolize something with its flashy colors and weird designs." I felt like a damned Crusader. My way is right, and I pledge allegiance to this clothy symbol of my way, and if you fuck with my way well then you must be an evil Heretic! That was always strange to me.. How I could get in trouble for not reciting a stupid pledge. Something that nobody even cared for the meaning of, anyway. Oh sure, they're dissecting it all they want with the petty words, but they forgot what it was supposed to mean. It's like one of those stupid laws, the ones that nobody knows how they ever got voted through, like you can't walk your dog on Wednesday in the park, or you can't spit off the roof of a thirty story building during a thunder storm. Or something. "One nation under God.." - Leave it to Americans to question the small problem and forget the big problem. "indivisible.." - bwahaha. Was this written antebellum? "with liberty and justice for all." - that's great, as long as you recite it like all the bible verses and hymns that have lost their meanings to you. What baffles me even more, now that I was talking about it with my boss, is the bomb drills he used to have to do. [He was talking about what he thought about the pledge, and other things he thought were kind of ridiculous.] The alarm goes off for nuclear war, and everyone gets under their desks with their hands over their heads, in the "tucked" positions. Hm. I never knew my desk could withstand nuclear war! Wow! And all these people were foolishly spending their money on bomb shelters and silliness. Hah. In a way, they're kind of related. The masses following something without really considering the meaning of it. A desk isn't gonna protect me against a nuclear blast.. A pledge isn't going to make me any more or less loyal.. and saying the pledge doesn't prove my loyalty in the least. What the pledge really proves? Who's able to subvert themselves to make someone else happy. Who's willing to forego their own ability to think and decide under the peer pressure of everyone else saying it. Who would make a good little soldier, marching on the field and ready to die for something he doesn't understand, simply because someone else told him to. + Back to Menu |