This past Monday, June 14th was Flag Day.  One of my favorite radio stations has a segment on their morning show where they go to a local elementary school and lead the kids in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance.  This got me thinking about the content of the Pledge, it’s origins, and why schools say it every morning.  My hypothesis was that the Pledge of Allegiance was born during the Cold War, as a daily reminder to keep kids off communism.

I was wrong.  Mostly.  Here’s what I found.

History of the Pledge of Allegiance

The original Pledge of Allegiance was penned in 1892 by Francis Bellamy, a Baptist minister who also happened to be a socialist.  Gasp!  Don’t tell Fox News!  The original text:

“I pledge allegiance to my flag and the republic for which it stands: one nation indivisible with liberty and justice for all.”

I think Bellamy considered his little pledge a unifying salute for a country seeing a huge influx of immigrants and less than 30 years removed from civil war.  It was first recited publicly on Columbus Day 1892, and has been a staple in schools ever since.

In 1924, some clarifying text was added so pledgers would know exactly which flag they were talking about, and so other countries couldn’t steal our pledge:

“I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands; one nation indivisible with liberty and justice for all.”

And then in 1954, the Pledge we know and love today was finalized with the addition of the words, “Under God.”  This move was almost certainly a Cold War-inspired attempt to put ourselves above the godless commies.

My Translation / Commentary

Here’s my beef with the Pledge.  It’s indoctrination.  Young schoolchildren are made to memorize and recite it daily, long before they have any hope of understanding what the words mean.  It’s like baptizing babies; grown-ups think it’s the right thing to do, but the kids really have no idea what’s going on.

I pledge allegiance — I promise to be loyal

to the flag — to a symbolic piece of cloth, but a piece of cloth nonetheless

of the United States of America — phew, I mean I saw the purple mountain’s majesty and the people protesting stem cell research but just wanted to make sure what country we were talking about

and to the republic for which it stands — a country with such severe insecurity issues it makes millions of kids pledge their unquestioning allegiance every day

one nation — it’s cool, nobody’s trying to secede anymore

under God — haha because God only cares about America…see “liberty” below

indivisible – one nation, indivisible, can’t be broken, united, homogeneous, we got it!

with liberty and justice for all — except those who take issue with any part of this pledge

Why not teach our kids to be good citizens of the world instead of trying to brainwash them with outdated xenophobic recitals?

I find some irony in the fact that our country was founded by a revolution from Britain.  Maybe it never would have happened had they instituted a mandatory pledge of allegiance in the colonies!  The Declaration of Independence is based on this idea of a social contract and the government’s right to rule is granted by the people.  The Pledge of Allegiance leaves all that out, substituting Enlightenment thinking with unquestioning loyalty.  Not exactly what our founders had mind.

Other Interesting Pledge of Allegiance Facts

Originally Bellamy (the socialist author of the Pledge) intended people to salute the flag with an arm outstretched toward the flag.

Does this pose look familiar?  FDR thought so too, so he changed the salute to the less Nazi-esque hand-over-the-heart pose. (Image courtesy of wikipedia.)

Forty-four states require schools to offer the Pledge every day.  Of those, 24 states require students to stand and recite it.  Liberty and justice for all?  Um I believe freedom of speech includes freedom of not-speaking when you don’t want to.

A 10-year old boy made news last year for refusing to stand and recite the pledge until “liberty and justice for all” became reality and homosexuals were granted equal rights.  Love me some pre-pubescent activism!

I love America, we have just weird traditions.

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