The Pledge of Allegiance- if you could change the Pledge, change how/when it’s used, what would you do?

As I teacher, I’m expected to stand up every morning and teach my little students how to recite the Pledge of Allegiance. I have some mixed feelings about this practice, but I go along with the expectation when the morning announcements say “please stand for the flag salute.”

Admittedly, I never knew the original version of the Pledge. While I still think it’s odd to start every day with this ritual, I like the earlier version better. Here’s a brief history of it:

I don’t believe in blind patriotism and I don’t believe in using social pressure to force people to conform. I think the phrase “under god” is problematic in s country where the church and state are meant to be separate. More than that, I think those words are supposed to be said with meaning and intent. What is the point of the Pledge if you are just repeating the words without any thought? Most kids don’t even understand what they are saying.

If it was up to me, the Pledge would not have “under god” in it and would not be recited every day at schools.

(CC- this is my attempt at bringing something debatable to the table before I join you all on the other post to lament the good ole days when CC was really engaging. I’ll try harder for a more original topic later in the day and after I’ve had some coffee.)