A group of students stand together with their right arms extended, chanting words of devotion. It’s the early 1940s, and national pride is at an all-time high. Before the group lowers its arms, they say, “with liberty and justice for all.”
Congress put an end to the Nazi-like salute in 1942, but most states across the country still require public schools to recite the Pledge every day. It’s supposed to be a symbol of patriotism, but in reality, it is unnecessary, overdone and downright creepy.
Most children start saying the Pledge of Allegiance at five years old, before they know the meanings of the words “pledge” or “allegiance.” That is the definition of indoctrination.
Rather than allowing children to learn to love their country on their own, schools ingrain nationalism into their minds and teach them to blindly support America. While supporting your country isn’t inherently a bad thing, it isn’t something a free country should impose.
There are many underlying issues with the Pledge, but a lot of irony surrounds it as well.
Francis Bellamy, an author and minister, composed the Pledge of Allegiance as we know it today. However, Bellamy also supported something many Americans would consider anti-American: socialism.
If Bellamy was around in the 1950s, he would have been labeled anti-American and pro-Russia. In fact, if he brought up his pledge in that time period, you could consider him blacklisted with all the other Hollywood stars and folk singers.
Though some Americans have come to support socialism in today’s political environment, it is not what you think of when you think about traditional American values. If you ask a hardcore proponent of the Pledge, they would most likely say our values are supposed to be capitalistic, conservative and, perhaps most importantly, Christian.
Bellamy may have been Christian, but more and more Americans today are not. In fact, nearly 23 percent of the population does not affiliate with any religion at all.
In 1954, the government added the phrase “under God” into the Pledge of Allegiance. Despite the fact that the First Amendment called for a separation of church and state, the country added it to help counter communist beliefs.
In 2014, the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts ruled that the Pledge of Allegiance does not discriminate against atheists. It said that the words “under God” represent a patriotic, not religious, exercise.
This could not be further from the truth. Putting “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance makes theism synonymous with the country itself. There is nothing wrong with practicing religion, but it has nothing to do with the secularity that founded this nation.
It’s time to get rid of the Pledge. Loving our country is not about memorizing and spitting out words that were written over 100 years ago. We are a different country now, and we are progressive enough now to know that a person can love America without being taught to do so, no matter what.
Lynne Bunch is an 18-year-old mass communication freshman from Terrytown, Louisiana.