Yesterday in my car on the way home, I was practicing the new, Constitutionally
valid, Pledge of Allegiance:
I pledge allegiance to the flag
Of the United States of America,
And to the Republic for which it stands,
One nation, indivisible,
With liberty and justice for all.
Actually, I think it has a nicer rhythm that way. And I was never quite sure what
the phrase "under God" was supposed to imply. That the nation is run by God and so
"under" in an org-chart sort of way? That we are only pledging allegiance when and
if the nation is run under God's principles? And if so, whose God? (Of course,
that was the court's whole point.) Actually I agree with
href="http://akkelly.diaryland.com/020627_17.html">ak that those words don't
mean much to anyone anyhow, but my problem with saying them is that I do take the
word "pledge" seriously. I keep my promises and I don't want to be "pledging"
anything unless I know exactly what it means.
After that I started thinking about it further. The whole "one nation,
indivisible" thing must be a reaction to Civil War issues, and doesn't really seem
to be all that in need of emphasis these days. In fact, I think the Pledge was
written and intended as something of a loyalty other to the reunite Union, in the
days when memories of the Civil War were still alive. I don't like loyalty oaths;
they make me think of McCarthy. I like them much less when they're forced on
schoolchildren well under the age at which they have the experience to make
lifetime oaths. So take out the "one nation" line, too. That brings it to:
I pledge allegiance to the flag
Of the United States of America,
And to the Republic for which it stands,
With liberty and justice for all.
I really hate the idea of pledging allegiance to a flag. It's a symbol, nothing
more, and I support the right to treat it as such: I believe both in proper
treatment of the flag and in the right to burn it or use it in art. If I am
pledging myself to something, I want it to be a real thing. So now I'm down
to:
I pledge allegiance to the Republic
With liberty and justice for all.
Not bad, but then I thought about it from another direction. What does it mean to
pledge "allegiance"? It's an awfully vague term. What does it bind me to do? What
should a responsible citizen do for her country? That needs to be spelled out in
more detail. So here's what I came up with. I think we need a new Pledge entirely,
and I offer the following as a starting point:
I pledge allegiance to the Republic
Of the United States of America,
And to the freedoms for which she stands.
I vow to fight those without and within
Who seek to curtail her freedom and her general welfare,
And to work for liberty and justice for all.
It probably needs some tweaking, and would definitely be stronger with input from
others, but this is a pledge I can speak, and one I consider worth upholding.