There is a bigger issue than the tacked-on "under God" in the rote recitation of the Pledge: the REST of the pledge. Let's break it down.
"I pledge allegiance..."
The term allegiance is derived from its root word "liege," which Merriam-Webster defines as: "having the right to feudal allegiance or service" or "obligated to render feudal allegiance and service." Dictionary.com defines the noun liege as "a feudal lord entitled to allegiance and service" and the adjective form as "owing primary allegiance and service to a feudal lord." Merriam Webster defines allegiance itself as "the obligation of a feudal vassal to his liege lord."
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| At least I'm not a serf. Those guys are fucked! |
The feudal system is antithetical to the principles of the American government. The keeping of the people in serfdom by a king and his appointed lords and vassals constitutes a form of slavery which is thoroughly incompatible with the concept of liberty, and with the foundations of the United States of America. The Declaration of Independence states that:
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all
men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain
unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of
Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men,
deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever
any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of
the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its
foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to
them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.
The key phrase here is "from the consent of the governed." It is the very basis of the American system that the government is only legitimate through the consent of the American people. As a form of republican government, meaning that the vox populi is the true ruler of the state, and that is expressed by the people's chosen representatives, who rule in their name with with their voice. If the people are displeased, they are within their rights and powers to remove that representative from office. But if the people are "obligated to render feudal service" then they are not free citizens. And to whom are they promising this service?
"...to the flag of the United States of America."
To the Flag. Not the people, or even the nation itself, but the symbol of that nation. An argument can be made that this is a usage of metonymy, and the flag stands in for, and even means the United States as a whole. That is all well and good, but placing undo reverence on the symbol can lead to a distancing from the reality of the thing itself.
Symbols are used by those who understand their power. Because we have invested so much energy into The Flag--every child in America has chanted their promise of service to it every morning at school for years and years and years--politicians use this fixation on the flag and can very easily confound and assail our senses by using this symbol as a shield to deflect suspicion. You can see this in display when candidates for office wear prominent flag pins, or more extremely, by competing over who can display the most, or the biggest flags.
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| Do you think he's compensating for something? |
"...and to the Republic for which it stands..."
Oh right, there's actually a government! So we are also pledging to serve the republic; the system of representative government meant to serve us. Hey wait a minute...
Yes. They've actually gotten us to turn it around in our heads so that instead of making the government promise to serve the American people, the people promise daily to serve the government. And this happens on a daily basis throughout the nation at our schools, at an age when we are at our most malleable and impressionable. Something sounds hinky.
Oh right, there's actually a government! So we are also pledging to serve the republic; the system of representative government meant to serve us. Hey wait a minute...
Yes. They've actually gotten us to turn it around in our heads so that instead of making the government promise to serve the American people, the people promise daily to serve the government. And this happens on a daily basis throughout the nation at our schools, at an age when we are at our most malleable and impressionable. Something sounds hinky.
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| Abby's on it! McGee is there too. |
"...one nation under God..."
Ok, so this one is divisive. Some people like it and will bristle if you try to take it out. Apparently these people represent a majority of some sort. At least in government. But while there isn't anything objectionable as such in "one nation," the phrase "under God" is another matter. The phrase was added in 1954 by congressional legislation which is a violation of the First Amendment, which states that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." Why does this violate the amendment? Because it gives national respect to the idea of god which is present in many, but not all religions. It imposes upon American patriotism a religious hue, and not just in general, but specifically monotheistic religion. Furthermore, this is not simply stating the existence of such a god, but that the United States is a nation under that god; subservient to him. If the nation was meant to be religious in nature, and meant to be second to the will of God there would have been some mention of god or religion somewhere in the US Constitution. There isn't. Don't believe me? Go look for it. I'll wait.
"...indivisible..."
Well...
Secession didn't work. We had a whole Civil War about it. Though technically if you have tens of thousands of Americans killing each other en masse over whether the nation can be divided or not, isn't the nation already divided? So are we talking about legally here? Because that's true-ish if you're assuming that the United States is eternal or something, but chances are that some day; years, centuries down the line, it will cease to be, and then all bets are off.
They certainly can't mean politically. The whole basis of the US was so that there could be disagreement politically. And while George Washington might have told us not to form political parties, we didn't listen. Now Americans are SUPER divisible! They divide along party lines, issues, and Donald Trump's hair.
Ok, so this one is divisive. Some people like it and will bristle if you try to take it out. Apparently these people represent a majority of some sort. At least in government. But while there isn't anything objectionable as such in "one nation," the phrase "under God" is another matter. The phrase was added in 1954 by congressional legislation which is a violation of the First Amendment, which states that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." Why does this violate the amendment? Because it gives national respect to the idea of god which is present in many, but not all religions. It imposes upon American patriotism a religious hue, and not just in general, but specifically monotheistic religion. Furthermore, this is not simply stating the existence of such a god, but that the United States is a nation under that god; subservient to him. If the nation was meant to be religious in nature, and meant to be second to the will of God there would have been some mention of god or religion somewhere in the US Constitution. There isn't. Don't believe me? Go look for it. I'll wait.
"...indivisible..."
Well...
Secession didn't work. We had a whole Civil War about it. Though technically if you have tens of thousands of Americans killing each other en masse over whether the nation can be divided or not, isn't the nation already divided? So are we talking about legally here? Because that's true-ish if you're assuming that the United States is eternal or something, but chances are that some day; years, centuries down the line, it will cease to be, and then all bets are off.
They certainly can't mean politically. The whole basis of the US was so that there could be disagreement politically. And while George Washington might have told us not to form political parties, we didn't listen. Now Americans are SUPER divisible! They divide along party lines, issues, and Donald Trump's hair.
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| You're responsible! You're the one to blame! It's YOUR FAULT! |
"...with liberty and justice for all."
That's cute. It's just not true.
It's incredibly naive to think, much less chant as a daily ritual, that everyone actually gets liberty and justice in America, just by virtue of the fact that this is America. Regarding liberty, that is becoming questionable in the ever-more-police-state-looking modern day America. Since the Patriot Act (at least) the government has been spying on us & accumulating information to determine whether we are good loyal citizens or not, and since the NDAA the Feds can hold you indefinitely and without charges on the suspicion of terrorism. This is not to mention that the US leads the world in mass incarceration. We have more prisons than colleges, and some for-profit prisons are now suing the government for not providing enough prisoners. That's right, there is actually a demand for prisoners. A whole industry around making sure that large numbers of citizens are locked up, and making sure that we have enough citizens locked up. It's disgusting that we have an industry that creates this kind of demand for crime and punishment.
Don't get me started on justice! Was there justice for Tamir Rice and his family? Not only the the police officer shoot dead an innocent twelve year old boy on sight, but the state actually sued his family for the cost of the ambulance. Insult to injury much? And the officer involved was never even tried for the unnecessary killing. Let me make sure that is understood: he wasn't found not guilty in court, he was never taken to court at all. They just refused to investigate. And that's just ONE of the many many cases of injustice throughout America, so to say that this is a land that achieves liberty and justice for everyone is just a lie.
That's cute. It's just not true.
It's incredibly naive to think, much less chant as a daily ritual, that everyone actually gets liberty and justice in America, just by virtue of the fact that this is America. Regarding liberty, that is becoming questionable in the ever-more-police-state-looking modern day America. Since the Patriot Act (at least) the government has been spying on us & accumulating information to determine whether we are good loyal citizens or not, and since the NDAA the Feds can hold you indefinitely and without charges on the suspicion of terrorism. This is not to mention that the US leads the world in mass incarceration. We have more prisons than colleges, and some for-profit prisons are now suing the government for not providing enough prisoners. That's right, there is actually a demand for prisoners. A whole industry around making sure that large numbers of citizens are locked up, and making sure that we have enough citizens locked up. It's disgusting that we have an industry that creates this kind of demand for crime and punishment.
Don't get me started on justice! Was there justice for Tamir Rice and his family? Not only the the police officer shoot dead an innocent twelve year old boy on sight, but the state actually sued his family for the cost of the ambulance. Insult to injury much? And the officer involved was never even tried for the unnecessary killing. Let me make sure that is understood: he wasn't found not guilty in court, he was never taken to court at all. They just refused to investigate. And that's just ONE of the many many cases of injustice throughout America, so to say that this is a land that achieves liberty and justice for everyone is just a lie.
So there is something problematic with almost every part of the Pledge, not just those two little words that have received so much of the attention, but we continue to, if not force then at least coerce, our students to repeat it day, after day, after day, often without really knowing why they are doing it, or what it is they are really pledging. We need to rethink the pledge.
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