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acroyearPharyngula: Oh, well, that's all right then.:
I'm increasingly of the opinion that patriotism is one of those that the less you declare your patriotism, the more likely you really are patriotic.
In this, it is much like piety and faith: the less you talk about your piety, the more pious you probably are.
All loyality oaths are garbage, a means for one side in power to feel in control over you for having you state the obvious, the same obvious that someone who actually had nefarious plans would state and be lying through their teeth.
Nobody ADMITS they want to overthrow the government before actually attempting to - it would totally defeat their purpose.
Why pledge to the "flag" or to the "republic"? Why not pledge to the Constitution itself that defines the Republic, without the respect for which, it would just fall apart in a heartbeat? If kids had to actually know the Constitution (and not just some 1 paragraph "pledge"), they'd know a lot more about the Republic other than its something associated with some flag and one of the two parties uses it in their name.
Update - the funniest comment on that page: How about replacing "under god" with "under Canada"?
I don't say the pledge of allegiance; I actually find it rather offensive that I'm expected to give a loyalty oath to a political entity if I attend a school board meeting. So I was a little sympathetic to this story of a student was kicked out of school for refusing to recite the Pledge of Allegiance. But then…the school administrators made a fast about face and decided to let her return to school. Why, you might wonder…but I think you can guess.*sigh*
She simply said she was a devout Christian and could not make oaths to anyone but her god.
Zooom! Excused!
So this means an atheist student wouldn't have an excuse and could be compelled to recite an oath to a nation "under god"? Charming double standard there.
I'm increasingly of the opinion that patriotism is one of those that the less you declare your patriotism, the more likely you really are patriotic.
In this, it is much like piety and faith: the less you talk about your piety, the more pious you probably are.
All loyality oaths are garbage, a means for one side in power to feel in control over you for having you state the obvious, the same obvious that someone who actually had nefarious plans would state and be lying through their teeth.
Nobody ADMITS they want to overthrow the government before actually attempting to - it would totally defeat their purpose.
Why pledge to the "flag" or to the "republic"? Why not pledge to the Constitution itself that defines the Republic, without the respect for which, it would just fall apart in a heartbeat? If kids had to actually know the Constitution (and not just some 1 paragraph "pledge"), they'd know a lot more about the Republic other than its something associated with some flag and one of the two parties uses it in their name.
Update - the funniest comment on that page: How about replacing "under god" with "under Canada"?
