I pledge allegiance
To the flag
As we work towards becoming the UNITED States of America
And to the Republic
For which we need it to stand
May we become one nation
Indivisible
With Liberty and Justice for ALL
This is a pledge I can make. I am not trying to “diss” our country or destroy what was written over a century ago and has already been revised twice. What I see now, right now is not a UNITED States. I do not see us as being indivisible. I do not see liberty and justice prevailing for all.
I want to. And I’ve been thinking about this a lot recently. (You can probably tell, right?)
When we pledge our allegiance to the flag, a symbol of our nation, those words need to mean something. We need to make them real and true. When they are not, we need to do something about it. We need to WORK to make the pledge honest.
I want us to become UNITED. That’s not just something that happens overnight. It is something that requires work. It requires communication. It requires tolerance. It requires respect.
I want there to be liberty and justice for ALL. That also is not something that will just happen. It requires work; hard work.
If we are going to say the pledge (no matter what incarnation it might be) we should MEAN it. We need to make the words true. Not just one of us, but all of us. If you don’t mean it; then don’t say it. If you are not willing to work towards liberty and justice for ALL (even the people you can’t stand), then forgo the pledge. They are not just words; they are YOUR pledge.
So I have written my pledge because it’s what I believe in and what I stand by now. I hope that it DOESN’T stand. I hope that it becomes pointless because we are willing to work to become what the “real” pledge says we are. Because it is what we should be.
Beth Shorten is a life-long resident of Verona. For more than six years, she has been chronicling life here on her personal site, Bfth’s Boring Blog.
Beth, I think a lot of people are frustrated.
I have always felt that having students reciting the pledge for 12 years, diminishes it’s meaning. After a while they are repeating the words just to get through it and don’t really listen to what they are pledging.
Also, they no longer teach civics courses in school and as each graduating class leaves the public-school system, most of them have no idea how government is supposed to work.
That provides the opportunity for special-interest lobbyists to influence politicians, applying a zero-sum game approach to government. If one side gives up anything, it means your side loses. That the other side is your perceived enemy. I remember a time when both sides of the aisle would work together to achieve the important goals for both. Before the word compromise became a dirty word. Until we get back to that, we will have a hard time working together to fight our real enemies.