Comments on: I Pledge Allegiance . . .

By: Mandy

Mandy — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 18:20:53 +0000

I know of no instance where anyone has been forced to recite the Pledge of Allegiance. I agree, no one should be forced to say it. However, if one wishes to say it, they also have that right.

By: DJH

DJH — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 02:50:29 +0000

For better or worse, words mean things. So the meaning of “allegiance” — a term which makes sense only in a feudal context — is important.

If one wants to take a “loyalty” oath, that’s certainly possible, but in the US this is done only in specific contexts … such as when joining the military. In a representative republic populated by free citizens, not everyone is forced to submit to a loyalty oath, nor should they be.

Again, you appear to have trouble with the concept of “citizenship in a representative republic.” In such a system, one’s rights and responsibilities are inherent, specified by law. They are not given in exchange for an oath, or anything else. And the state is not owed loyalty by the people. The state is “owed” NOTHING by the people.

Yes, indeed, this does in fact mean that the people are free to let the state go to pot if they choose to. That is their right under a representative republic. That is what makes it “representative”; it’s an organ of the people, not the other way around. The very notion of a state being owed “allegiance” — or loyalty, or whatever name you want to slap on it — is the EXACT OPPOSITE of what the US was founded on. Forcing people to say a “pledge of allegiance” is the worst kind of betrayal of the Founding Fathers that I can think of.

By: Mandy

Mandy — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 13:16:37 +0000

So what if the word allegiance has it origins in medieval times? Many of the words we use have origins that no longer apply to the usage of today. Take the word “gay” for example. It usage started in the 1200′s to mean merry and lively. By the 1700s it took on a sexual connotation meaning promiscuous. By the mid 1900s the usage took on the meaning of homosexual.

Allegiance today means loyalty. Loyalty to one’s country is not wrong and our Founding Fathers were big on being loyal to their new ideals and form of government.

By: Entreview.com

Entreview.com — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 14:53:58 +0000

I Pledge Allegiance . . ….

We say the Pledge of Allegiance a lot. My 4 year old even knows it. However, how many of us really know the background and history behind the Pledge?…

By: DJH

DJH — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 02:40:10 +0000

Spare me the righteous indignation for those who “fought and died.” I know of NO ONE who fought, let alone died, so that America’s schoolchildren could be forced to say a pledge of allegiance.

If you’re so hot on “tradition” and the things that make the US great, cherry, remember that the American Revolution was all about establishing a republic in which no one owed allegiance to anyone! The very goal of the independence movement was to ensure that NO American would ever have to swear allegiance to anyone, ever, for any reason!

Everything stated in my earlier comment is factual. The notion of “allegiance” is, in fact, medieval, and owes its origins to the feudal system. It is also a fact that the US is not a feudal state. I dare you, cherry, to show that either of these things is not true. Go ahead … I’ll wait.

Anyone who TRULY “loves” this country, must appreciate the fact that the US is beyond medieval notions like allegiance. They must be gratified that we are not serfs swearing fealty to liege-lords, we are instead citizens of a representative republic. We owe it to the people who established this country, and to everyone who “fought and died” for it since its inception, to actually put our words into action. We can start by NEVER AGAIN swearing allegiance to a flag.