Pledge of Allegiance?

[marano35]

I have started something new for me lately. I will no longer stand for or recite the pledge of allegiance nor stand for or sing the national anthem. It is not that I do not love my country. It is just that I now have a differing opinion of what is my country and what makes my country great. I think at one time...probably way before I was a part of this country that expressing the sentiments of those two acts were noble. However at this point in time I find that I can not in good conscience participate in either of these activities. I refuse to pledge my allegiance to a government that is dominated by people who have no allegiance to me. At this point in time it is my firm belief that we, the American people are being governed by Corporate America, ...by the richest people in the nation through a hostile takeover, to use one of their own terms to dictate to us how it is going to be. I still believe that this is a great nation... I just believe that the American people, my peers are the reason that this country is great. I do not agree with the present controllers of this nation that the richest 1%, the entrepreneurs, the investor class is what made this nation what it is...or what it used to be.

I still believe that for the most part people are good. My allegiance is to all of my fellow Americans who stand for eight, ten, twelve hours a day in forced allegiance to that 1%, the investor class for what has become and is becoming more every day little or nothing. I owe them my allegiance and I will sit in silence and think about every one of them while the pledge is being mouthed or the anthem being sung off key by the many who choose to not see what is happening to our country or for fear of being called unpatriotic will not join me in my act of allegiance to them.

Recently Stephen Colbert called the 30 some odd percent of Americans that still approve of the president basically backwash. I believe that 30 some odd percent of people is made up of about three types of people. I think that third of America is made up of a majority of two types, ignorant and stupid. I used to think that ignorance was less offensive than stupid...until I got to thinking about it. I then came to a revelation in my mind and it may not be factually accurate but it makes sense to me. I have started to think that ignorant comes from the root word... ignore. I have began to believe that this group of people are the most offensive because they ignore facts. No matter how appear ant it becomes that we are being screwed by the people that are in place....no matter how appear ant it is that the president was not elected by the people twice, that he lied about something as serious as starting a war, giving billions of dollars to people who already have more money than they could ever use and on and on and on....this group because they are unwilling to give up their back wards views on things like abortion, gay marriage, racist ideals and other things that defy logic are unwilling to face facts that the horse they bet on is a loser. Then there is group two, the group I will just call the apathetic. This group pays more attention to American Idol, rasling, Nascar, football and fox news constant coverage of Natalie Holloway than to events that effect them. I blame this group on the erosion of the education system by group three... who finally are the 1%, the super rich who benefit directly from the give aways from the people in control, they are the Dick Cheyney's of the world who have the education who know exactly whats going on and are out to get for themselves what they can at the Nations expense.

So I dare any of the people who occupy one of these three groups to say anything, to nudge me or to say a Fucking word about me not rising and reciting my allegiance to the people who are doing wrong by my people because if they are in one of these three groups they are at least contributing to the reason I will not participate.

[goddess40]

1. I never have done either - at least since it has been my choice

I don't simply because I don't need to prove my love of country by a PDA. Being forced to do it as a child when I was at school was the only time I ever stood and I think that took any joy there could have been perceived from it.
I don't do anything because it's tradition, I need a valid reason and just because everyone else is doing it isn't good enough.

[lindisfarne]

2. Way to go. The wearing of patriotism (and religion) on one's sleeve is

at the least, disgusting. Your actions towards other humans in your day to day life speak far louder than whether you stand up for the pledge/anthem.

As for anyone who questions you: ask whether they support the constitution - a patriotic thing to do!

[Warren DeMontague]

3. It'd be nice if we used that time to teach kids about the Constitution

instead of having them stand up and chant something by rote.

[Scoody Boo]

4. When I recited the Pledge...

for the first time as a citizen of the US (I was 18), has always been one of the proudest moments of my life. The Pledge, The Star Spangled Banner, Our Flag are icons that to this day, put a lump in my throat.

[classof56]

5. Thanks and welcome to DU.

I'm just a tired old cynic who remembers reciting the Pledge of Allegiance at the start of the school day before "Under God" was added. Symbols they may be, the flag, the pledge, the anthem, but they are symbols of a country I love and have felt blessed to say is mine. I take my citizenship seriously, and I am in a state of agony about what is happening to it now. Can I love my country while still hating the way it's being governed and undermined? I hope so, because that's where I am today. Like you, the "symbols" still get to me because of what they stand for. People can stand or not during the pledge, etc., decline to put hands over heart during the anthem or decide not to salute the flag. That's one of the great things about this country of ours--its freedoms. How sad to see them erode so rapidly. Meanwhile, out of a sense of gratitude for all my country means to me, I'm sure I'll always feel a twinge when I see those icons and contemplate what they mean. I pray I'll be long-gone from this earth before they fade into memory. Seems like that time is coming on far too fast.

Tired Old Cynic