Broad Stripes and Bright Stars

I'm linking to this 1989 article by John W. Baer and also to this 2002 column by David Greenburg because they make a couple of important points about the pledge flap. (ha ha flags flap!! Get it? huh? It's funny!!!) The compulsory loyalty oath imposed on all American school children known as the Pledge of Allegiance was written by a radical socialist named Francis Bellamy as part of a scheme by a magazine attempting to sell flags to schools. The original pledge read "I pledge allegiance to my flag and to the Republic for which it stands -- one nation indivisible -- with liberty and justice for all." The bit about "justice for all" is there to placate those who felt that "liberty and equality" sounded a little too idealistic, or as Sean Hannity might say, a little too French. Two other language changes are notable. The words "my flag" were changed to "the flag of the United States of America" in order to eliminate doubts that recent immigrants may not be pledging to the appropriate flag. The phrase "under God" is not only a departure from the intentions of the author of the pledge it is a piece of Cold War propaganda initiated by the Knights of Colombus who felt it essential that little boys and girls began every school day by reminding themselves that, "we are certainly not a bunch of godless commies over here." Or, as Baer puts it, "To the fear of immigrants, it added the fear of communism." Baer concludes

Perhaps a team of social scientists and historians could explain why over the last century the Pledge of Allegiance has become a major centerpiece in American patriotism programs. A pledge or loyalty oath for children was not built around the Declaration of Independence -- "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal..." Or the Gettysburg address -- "a new nation conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal..."

Apparently, over the last century, Americans have been uncomfortable with the word "equality" as a patriotic theme. In 1992 the nation will begin its second century with the Pledge of Allegiance. Perhaps the time has come to see that this allegiance should be to the U.S. constitution and not to a piece of cloth.

Better yet, why do we subject children to this at all? Is it truly necessary to the survival of the state that it requires sixth graders to daily reaffirm that they are not engaged in active rebellion against it? The pledge is an ugly thing. It reeks of a religious and nationalist paranoia that should seem un-American on it's face. In fact, it sounds a little more like.. well this item from the Baer article kind of says it,

"The original Pledge was recited while giving a stiff, uplifted right hand salute, criticized and discontinued during WWII."

also see: The pledge powerpoint