When I recited the Pledge of Allegiance as a child, I thought it was good. I loved the poetic cadence. I felt a warmth of love for my country. Each time I made the pledge, I felt a bond and affection. I'm sure that on some tired mornings it felt tedious to stand and say it again. But it's so short, less than half the length of the Lord's Prayer, it takes more effort to grumble about it than to just stand and say it. But I when I think back to the vault of memories of age 10 and less, I see the flag standing proudly in the corner and me rising thankfully to my daily civic proclamation. My feelings began to change when I reflected on the literal meanings of each phrase. I began to see increasing conflict between the Pledge of Allegiance and important principles in American history.
Many people feel the Pledge is an important expression of patriotism. They ought to continue doing so. My concerns about the meaning of the Pledge will not resonate with everyone. My goal is to show how I think about the meaning of our words and actions in American civic culture. The Pledge stands today as an important tradition of our society. I feel it's important to express how I feel about this tradition. It's possible I might shed some new light on the meaning of what it means to be an American. And it's possible, I might give an explanation that seems trivial to some people. To others it might even seem harmful.
I don't expect to win everyone over because that is not possible. But I hope you'll see an honest effort on my part to tap into the roots of our deepest convictions. The American spirit is unique in the world. Our history is unlike any other. Is our liberty dampened today that our founding fathers lived and died for? Are we living our lives to the fullest? Is the purpose of our government today to defend our rights? Looking into the Pledge of Allegiance is like a window into our national civic spirit. What do we see? Do we like everything there? Is anything not useful or helpful? If it's not, what do we do about it?
Here is the Pledge as it stands today. "I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."
My first objection is that I don't believe I should be pledging allegiance to the government. This is a reversal of priorities. If any one is pledging, then our government should pledge to us. I can think of several things that government officials could pledge to the American people. Can you think of anything? And what would be the value of their words if they did this? Would you believe them?
Yes, Congress opens their sessions with the Pledge of Allegiance. That's nice. It's sort of like government officials pledging to the American people, but not. If we take their poetic words literally, they are pledging to our government. That is definitely not the American people. I think the difference shows. They prioritize government over people.
"And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor." This is the little known pledge at the very start of our nation. I call it the 4th of July Pledge. It is the last sentence of the Declaration of Independence. It is beautiful and poetic. It is an actionable statement. I make this pledge to you, the American people, now and forever. The words are written on my heart. The words inspire and motivate me when I read them, speak them, and act out their meaning.
The 4th of July Pledge is focused on the solution. When those words were written, it was life or death. They didn't know if the pledge would bring success or not, but they knew that failure was death. Well, it worked. Those words gave birth to the nation we live in today. That pledge was the bond that invited them to sign their names. It is a pledge that is proven to work. We don't need another pledge. I'm sticking to the original.
As president, my administration will fully support your right to recite a pledge or not recite a pledge, to the contentment of your heart. My suggestion would be to find a pledge that inspires and motivates you. Perhaps you'd like to compose a pledge yourself? Have you ever thought that there are new words that could express our love of nation, our commitment to each other, and the principles that protect us from an abusive government? Our government is formed to protect us from worse government. It's the least bad one out there. It's a beautiful, ugly thing. What might we pledge for this, to each other? Another reason I don't recite the Pledge of Allegiance is what I perceive as a veiled threat of violence. Yes, a threat of violence. It's in the part about '...one nation, indivisible..." What does it mean to have an indivisible nation? It means it cannot be divided. Does the Pledge say that our nation cannot be divided? That question needs some closer examination.
The first question that comes to mind is "What? Are we the mafia? Once you're in you're in and that's that?" Well, that's creepy. I imagine that everyone reciting the Pledge is looking out of the corner of their eye, looking for anyone that might think about separating from the United States. And if they find anyone trying, they'll show them what indivisible means. The problem
Purely by coincidence, a member of the House of Representatives recently tweeted:
"We need a national divorce. We need to separate by red states and blue states and shrink the federal government." Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene. That was in February 2023. I wonder if Rep. Taylor Greene recites the Pledge of Allegiance? After a web search I found her leading the Pledge on July 7, 2023. She recited the full, 1953 version. This included the indivisible part. Did she change her mind? Or was she simply
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