Stealth2,
Thanks for replying, and for putting your thoughts down so clearly. I appreciate that you've taken the time and effort to make your argument.
I think where we disagree is not so much making a pledge, but in what exactly the pledge says. I agree that our children need to be reminded of what binds our nation as one--to reaffirm what our Founding Fathers put down in Latin as "E Pluribus Unum" (From many, One).
But the Pledge doesn't clearly state what it is that binds us. It tells us that we pledge our allegiance (a promise to be faithfull) to the flag, and to the republic (our country) that it represents. But it doesn't say WHY. It urges that our country remain cohesive ("one nation, indivisible") and then finally gives one vague idea for why we should be indivisible ("with liberty and justice for all").
I'm betting that between us we could write a better pledge; one that would remind us of what binds us as a nation, and one that reminds us of what we must respect of each other, and what aspects of our lives should always be out of reach of government (e.g. religion).
I'm glad that you respect my objections to the religious wording in the Pledge. Most American's don't know that the "under God" wording was added in the 1950's, during the drive against communism. It's this part that I and many Buddhists find troubling. We're a nation that claims religion is to be kept from from government--and vice-versa.
I have a big problem putting my children into a school that wants them either to make a pledge that includes a belief in God. I have just as big a problem with school personnel thinking that a six-year-old would not feel uncomfortable being excluded from making the pledge (and that at some point the others might single out the other). I like the idea that you can have your religion, I can have mine, and neither of us have to worry about the government getting involved. That way, the idea of E Pluribus Unum can thrive. We can have every religion, and none of them will intrude on the others. That's why our Founding Fathers made it the First Amendment. They knew that religion needed to be protected from government. But they also knew that government should be protected from religion. I like the idea that no government worker should ever need to ask my religion. And I should never ask the same question of them.
I lived overseas for many years, and in meeting people from other countries, I found that the U.S. is different from most because we are not bound by ethnicity/race, color, or religion. We are bound by our ideas: that a common cause can bind us. I think what bothers me most is that the one document that best defines us as Americans (the Constitution) is not nearly as well known as the Pledge, which is poorly written and aimless. How many students who graduated last year actually know the Constitution?
And where do you find a lack of self-respect in my posts? I find that most people who stand up by rote, say something by rote, and defend that act by rote without clearly understanding what they're doing are the ones lacking in respect. When I make a pledge, I make sure I know what I'm saying, and that I fully understand the impact of my words. That's the level of respect I give to myself.
