Reflection 5—

The pledge of allegiance has garnered a bad reputation; it has become an enormously controversial institution in the United States. The fact of the matter is that it is not that controversial and not that important. There is the “under God” portion of the pledge, which is understandably divisive, but how much does that actually matter? If you don’t believe in God then don’t say “under God.” The pledge of allegiance by its nature is a personal pledge to your country, and if you don’t think that your country is omnisciently governed then omit that part; the words still flow quite nicely. The day that your government starts installing camera’s in every elementary school to see if each child is mouthing the words “under God” in the pledge of allegiance, is the day where you can be upset about it.

However, the crux of the dilemma with the pledge is that if people are upset with their government they refuse to say it. Where are the words “congress, president, government, vice president, cabinet, governor,” or any other word relating to contemporary government officials in the pledge? Hint: there aren’t any, so stop complaining about the pledge because you have a problem with George Bush or think a democratic majority in congress “sucks.” If every morning in your first period in high school you’re exhausted from staying up until 2am the night before playing Modern Warfare 2 and you don’t feel like standing up because you’re having trouble keeping your eyes open, then by all means stay seated. But if you stay in your seat as a pitiful act of ignorant protest against a pledge that promotes the ideals of “liberty and justice for all,” then maybe you should move to Canada.