It’s Time to Replace the Pledge of Allegiance
Let’s all recite something we actually believe — or should
If you went to grade school in the United States, there is one lie that you have said aloud more than any other. No, it’s not “Those pants don’t make you look fat,” or “I was thinking of you the whole time — I swear to God.” The one lie you have spoken out loud more than any other is the Pledge of Allegiance.
I stopped saying the Pledge of Allegiance in fifth grade for the simple reason that I started paying attention to the words. There is nothing about the pledge that I agree with. Chances are, if you found your way to this article, neither do you. Let’s break it down:
“”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.”
First of all, I don’t side with, support, or endorse any institution, action, or country automatically. All the positions I take are decided on a case by case basis and subject to change as I learn new information and as my thinking evolves. How could it be any other way? This was very clear to me at ten when I stood politely, lips sealed, hands at my side as most of my classmates mechanically droned on. Both my fifth grade teacher (and every homeroom teacher who followed) and the Supreme Court respected my decision.
I’m like this with family and friends as well. They get some benefit of the doubt and leeway, but personal loyalty can only go so far. What if someone I care about becomes a serial killer, tries to tip less than 20%, or turns out to be a Trump supporter?
Second, it is very dangerous to pledge allegiance “to the flag” or any inanimate thing. When people pledge loyalty to an object and are willing to kill and die for a symbol, they are brainwashed. That we begin inculcating children as young as five years old to do this unthinking worship of a thing is unconscionable. Now we are paying the price for this indoctrination. A symbol can mean different things to different people at different times. That same flag means one thing at any Olympics and quite another at any Trump rally. And its meaning can be manipulated to justify actions or cause people to do things once thought unimaginable. On January 6th, we saw these flags and the poles that bear them used as weapons against the very thing they represent. This was like a symbolic snake eating the tail of the actual snake it symbolizes.
The whole “one nation under God” thing is problematic because it seems to suggest that the United States uniquely has divine permission to do anything it wants and therefore should not be questioned. That can’t possibly be right, and it’s an insult to all the other countries, especially the ones where the gods Americans worship were invented. Never mind that the phrase is alienating to atheists and probably God too: any supreme being would see right through this shameless sucking up, the way an instructor sees through a child vying to be the teacher’s pet just to get a good grade.
“Indivisible with liberty and justice for all”
The problem with the rest is that it just isn’t accurate. As a nation we are so divided. Whether online, in person, or at home seething in our heads, we are oppositional, confrontational, and hostile with each other. Antagonism is a past time for many, a hobby for some, and, maybe a profession if you have a platform. It is hard to recite “liberty” with a straight face with over two million citizens in literal prisons and millions more incarcerated in low-wage soul-crushing jobs with little to no hope that their situations will change. And chances are, if you are doing comparatively well, that success came at a cost of freedoms and time you once held dear. You compromised liberty for stability.
Indeed, we have “justice for all,” but that phrase is meant to offer an assurance of safety and prosperity to the privileged few (who are usually well-off whites) as the same phrase is meant as a threat of punishment for the service class (the poor of all races and ethnicities) not to step out of line. Very clever getting a majority of the population to affirm its own subjugation.
Some history
There is nothing hallow about the Pledge. It was originated by a racist named Francis Bellamy in 1892 to boost patriotism and sell flags. Bellamy considered putting the word “equality” in the Pledge, but superintendents from the National Education Association that he was working with were against equality for women and African Americans. Thus, you could argue that the Pledge is misogynistic and racist for intentionally omitting the word “equality.” The Pledge has had three main modifications since its creation — with “under God” being added in the final one in 1954.
It’s time for a new iteration of the Pledge. But this time, let’s start from scratch and say something we can truly believe in.
A new Pledge
The pledge that I propose is called the Pledge of Harmony. It is thirty-one words, just like the current one. It is said with people standing in a circle, facing each other, addressing each other. It goes like this:
“I pledge to live in harmony with all accepting people in the United States of America, a diverse nation ever in development, that should enable liberty, prosperity and security for all.”
This pledge is not to a government, but to each other. It recognizes and celebrates that we are a diverse collection of people from all over the world. It acknowledges that it takes effort to live in harmony in this bubbling, sometimes contentious, but powerfully creative, mélange of humanity. This is why we actively pledge to do the work to create and maintain harmony. Racists, misogynists and bigots of all kinds don’t get to get away with their intolerance. The pledge calls them out. They are the ones who are being un-American.
This pledge celebrates that the nation is ever changing and that it belongs to and is in the care of the people who are here now. The living are the stewards of the country. We have a responsibility to make it better for those who come after us, and we can not be bound to maintain the dogmas, mistakes and intentional evils of the past as a misguided way of honoring tradition and legacy.
Finally, this pledge asserts that this nation, which is a collective of all of us, has an obligation to take care of each and everyone of us. Through its systems of economics, education and government, America should foster ways for its inhabitants to develop and reach their full potential.
For starters, enabling “liberty, prosperity and security” could mean make quality education attainable for all children and adults. It could mean ensure a livable wage and provide health care to all, which would allow workers to leave jobs to start businessesI without having to worry about the benefits package for themselves and their families. It could mean safeguard people from violence and guns and a sudden fall into poverty through no fault of their own.
It does not mean that the government gives handouts. Rather, it is a directive that the systems that govern our lives give more opportunities to a far broader, more fully inclusive range of the population than it does now. This pledge is an declaration that we need to invest in ourselves. All of us. The dividends the country will make from this investment will more than pay for itself for many generations to come.
The gesture of placing one’s hand over one’s heart would remain — both to affirm what is offered and to embrace what is received.
The takeaway
Words we ask our children to say on a daily basis should be ideas we actually believe. They should be motivating for them — and for us. These words should be optimistic about the future, inclusive of everyone, and inspire each of us to be our best selves. Every day with this pledge the children would be calling out the hypocritical actions of adults and call for us to do better by our youth and the country they will inherit.
Will it help? Who knows? It sure couldn’t hurt.
