This is how I feel about the Pledge of Allegiance

[The Man]

Yes it is a Comedy Show, but it describes exactly how I think of it.

Q2BfqDUPL1I

[PhoenixAsh]

I was wondering...do you really have to say that shit every day?

[Euronymous]

Yep, and it's a requirment here in Washington. I dunno about federal law though.

[PhoenixAsh]

That explains a lot.

So...what happens if you do not?

[Q]

Maybe protest in a subtle way by saluting at the flag:

http://www.toysoldiersclub.com/secure128/Images/ToySoldiers/LAH130.jpg

Subtle, yes?

[anarchomaniac]

I have gone without saying it, but in Florida teachers always ask you to at least stand up, because some kids have gotten in fights over it. Indeed, I've ranted my ass off to whole classrooms explaining why I won't say it when asked.

And sometimes, just to be cheeky, I turn in the opposite direction. :P

[Jose Gracchus]

You can't be punished for not saying the Pledge under court precedent from the Supreme Court of the United States.

[PhoenixAsh]

Can parents excuse their kids from it?

[The Man]

Can parents excuse their kids from it?


You need to have a written letter to the school (Where I got to), from your parents to not do the Pledge.

[anarchomaniac]

Not punished, sure, but most kids who go in deciding not to say it are just that- kids. They either charm the shit out of the teacher and get away with it (like I do), or give in to pressure.

[PhoenixAsh]

You need to have a written letter to the school (Where I got to), from your parents to not do the Pledge.
Thanx

And otherwise you have to be there and say it or get som kind of consequence?


This may seem to be 1000 questions...but I am trying to figure this thing out. One of my friends was in the States as a kid and he always said he was getting punished... eventhough he wasn't a national

[The Man]

Not punished, sure, but most kids who go in deciding not to say it are just that- kids. They either charm the shit out of the teacher and get away with it (like I do), or give in to pressure.


I don't do it cause I don't want to pledge my life to a government that kills innocent people in various countries.

[Q]

On our elementary we had a tradition of praying (I believe it was before we did lunch, but this is ~20 years ago, so...). One day I decided I was going to be an atheist and said out loud that I wasn't participating in praying after I was asked. That was ok.

But I guess a nationalistic prayer designed to instill a sense of "pride" in the country you live in is somewhat more difficult to dismiss.

[The Man]

Thanx

And otherwise you have to be there and say it or get som kind of consequence?


This may seem to be 1000 questions...but I am trying to figure this thing out. One of my friends was in the States as a kid and he always said he was getting punished... eventhough he wasn't a national

I'm not sure what the consequences are, but I know this: If someone was punished for not saying the Pledge of Allegiance, the Supreme Court could come in, and punish the school.

[Agent Ducky]

My school is awesome, full of people who don't say it or stand up and yell random parody versions (my friend and I made a good communist one, lol). The teachers there have no problem with people not saying it... Art school ftw.

[Dunk]

I wonder if teachers who don't stand or require their students to participate in it get fired.

[Le Socialiste]

During rallies at my high school (which I'm so thankful to be out of), all the assembled kids had to both sing the national anthem and state the Pledge of Allegiance. How I wish I'd been more aware back then; I was just so blissfully blind to the pressures I now associate with both anthems. Every time we had a rally, there would always be a small handful of kids who would always refuse to stand for either one. They'd just sit there and ignore us, but we couldn't ignore them. Every single time we had a rally this happened, and every single time all the other kids would shout down at them, throw stuff (mostly just wadded up paper), and then the teachers would come and escort them out of the auditorium. Then, once the "troublemakers" were gone, we would finish both anthems. Sometimes, when I reflect on those moments, I wish I'd had the courage to stand up with them as they were removed from the rally. However, like I said, I was too blissfully unaware of what they were doing, what they were protesting. Thanks for the video, it's great.

[Dumb]

I used to pledge allegiance to made-up countries instead - "I pledge allegiance to the united states of Mordor" and stuff like that. (Hey, I was 12...)

[Pretty Flaco]

I pledge with my left hand (which pisses of a lot of people) and then change the words up a little sometimes. Usually I say half of it in spanish (which also pisses people off) and I typically say "one nation, under (insert one-syllable name of people in my vicinity)".

When I argue with people about it, I never directly attack the country but I usually say "why should I have to say it more than once? why should I have had to say it even when I was seven?"

[Skammunist]

I have gone without saying it, but in Florida teachers always ask you to at least stand up, because some kids have gotten in fights over it. Indeed, I've ranted my ass off to whole classrooms explaining why I won't say it when asked.

And sometimes, just to be cheeky, I turn in the opposite direction. :P

Eh, I also go to a Florida school. I'm the only one in my class that doesn't say it, but I stand up out of respect. It's not "giving in" really, it's just a matter of not looking like an ass. My teacher's a Marxist, so he understands me not reciting it though.

[Catmatic Leftist]

HAHAHAHA. I never stood up for the Pledge of Allegiance in school. My parents even forced me into the JROTC program against my will for my 4 years in high school and I never stood up even in uniform. I sure got a rise out of the instructors. :laugh:

[A Revolutionary Tool]

Wtf are you all serious? I haven't been in a class where we did the pledge since I was in 3rd grade and I think we only did it that year because of 9 11. I remember doing it like once after that in 11th grade. My super conservative teacher said it would be nice to do it one day and like 10 kids stood up. Although we did it during rallies and stuff nobody gave a fuck if you didn't so I never did. Although one time my foreign exchange friend caught me just standing there with my hands in my pockets and he was surprised, surprised because he never saw a unpatriotic American. Anyways that sucks for all of you that had to. Take a little comfort in knowing that it was written by a socialist.

[Zav]

I'm not sure what the consequences are, but I know this: If someone was punished for not saying the Pledge of Allegiance, the Supreme Court could come in, and punish the school.
Unfortunately not. I was threatened with detention thrice before the school realised I really would neither say it nor stand. Finally, I threatened to call the ACLU, and no one has been made to stand since. Problem solved. :cool:


Take a little comfort in knowing that it was written by a socialist.
That is horribly ironic.

[NoOneIsIllegal]

In elementary school and middle school, there weren't any kids who made any obscene objections, or even refused to, in any of my classes. I remember in 5th grade some people whispered about the Jehovah's Witness ("they don't worship false idols"). When I entered high school, about half my class would do it. Sometimes the teacher would say "come on guys..." and they would simply stand up and not recite it. After a while, I simply just put my head down and pretended I didn't hear him (I was usually finishing my homework at the last minute anyway).

Red state, y'all.

[NoOneIsIllegal]

Take a little comfort in knowing that it was written by a socialist.
And had a nazi salute before Hitler thought it was cool :cool:

http://www.freedomsphoenix.com/Uploads/000/Graph/american-school-children-bellamy-salute.jpg

NAZI'S (ohai kidz) SALUTING AN AMERICAN FLAG, WHILE RECITING AN ALLEGIANCE TO THE STATE WRITTEN BY A CHRISTIAN SOCIALIST. FUCK YEAH.

[RedRise]

Being an Australian, the idea of making kids themselves to their country every morning since they started school sounded very much like brainwashing and creeped the hell out of me. We had a school hymn that I thought was too full of patriotism to be a hymn but we only sang that on special occasions. The thing was, it was only ever implicit that it was directed at the country of Australia. I realised this when I was singing the line "land of our birth, we pledge to thee..." and happened to glance over at a Japanese-born classmate and thought, does this mean she's singing for Japan?

[deLarge]

I stopped doing that around middle school. Got into a number of arguments because of it, actually.

[Johnny Kerosene]

At every school I've been at it's been up to the individual teacher. I haven't had one teacher in high school that gave a single fuck about actually saying the pledge or not. In middle school one of my friend's got written up for refusing to say it by one teacher. In elementary school I don't think anyone I knew, including myself, had any particular desire to smash the state, and therefore didn't think twice about it.

[L.A.P.]

Not punished, sure, but most kids who go in deciding not to say it are just that- kids. They either charm the shit out of the teacher and get away with it (like I do), or give in to pressure.

Yeah, over here we just stand-up and keep silent.

[LordAcheron]

I never say it, and Ive had several teachers who wouldnt say it. Hell, I dont even put my hand over my heart for the anthem.

[Smyg]

Here, this kind of shit could never pass. Singing the anthem at graduation is barely acceptable. :lol:

[∞]

I love these guys.
b9Zls2AReVI

[∞]

I don't even stand.

[∞]

Also the allegiance was changed to "under god" by Eisenhower for fear of secular communism. Which is the part that upsets me the most.