“I pledge allegiance...” You know how it goes. So many children repeat those words not knowing what “pledge” means or what a leejunce even is. It’s just something you’re supposed to say about witches’ hands and liver tea. It means you’re patriotic.
It’s really a promise to offer loyalty to the republic (which the flag represents) in the same way that a vassal once pledged loyalty to his liege lord. A vassal’s responsibility traditionally included military service and counsel as requested by his lord. Our country asks us for military service in various ways and also asks our counsel in the form of votes, involvement in government, participation in jury duty, and so on. Children who repeat the pledge are promising that they will always vote, never evade jury duty, and step up to offer their lives if necessary when the military calls for that. That’s a pretty big ask from a six year old.
Kids repeat it as though it were an incantation instead of a solemn oath. Many Republicans never miss an opportunity to repeat it apparently without thinking much more bout it than a child does. Even as they say “one nation, under God, indivisible,” a significant portion of the party is very much hoping for a civil war that would divide our nation in two.
Many oppose “Black Lives Matter,” a movement that presses for the police to protect and respect the freedom of Black people. They call for people who are not white (including Native Americans, go figure) to “go home.” Immigrants who may or may not have a right under the law to remain in the country, depending on each one’s individual circumstances, deserve justice at the least. Many right wingers prefer that they be roughed up instead. So they really don’t support “liberty and justice for all.”
And about that flag: many Republicans fly the flag of an enemy of our nation, the flag of the Confederacy. More often they fly the flag of an autocrat who demands loyalty to himself personally over loyalty to a country based on the rule of law. They also fly the stars and stripes but don’t always respect the rule of law of the country for which it stands. They pick and choose, supporting the second amendment while calling for the government to suppress the first amendment’s guarantee of freedom of speech, of the press, and of association for anyone who speaks out peacefully against them.
So I’d like to propose two things, one serious and one tongue in cheek. First, seriously, we should never require a child under age 18 to make such a serious, solemn, and potentially life-sacrificing promise that he does not understand and is too immature to make. That’s not unpatriotic. In fact, it would be more patriotic to call on adults to understand the gravity of that promise and treat it as the oath that it is rather than “just something you say.”
Secondly, revise the pledge so that it works for modern conservatives. “I pledge allegiance to a flag under God.” The end. (See, I didn’t even take the God part out.)