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Not saying pledge of allegiance destroys America
January 21, 2015 at 12:15 pm
Quote:In North Carolina, the Hendersonville Elks Lodge held a contest for kids in which they had to explain “What the Pledge of Allegiance Means to Me.”
And the winner of her age bracket was an eighth-grade student named Madison who had this to say about the Pledge:
“’America will never be destroyed from the outside,’” Ogden read from her essay. “’If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.’ So if you do not say the Pledge of Allegiance to this nation and support America, you will be a part of that destruction.”
… the fuck?
First of all, how does that win a contest?! How bad were the other entries?
Second, it’s just factually untrue. There are people who don’t say the Pledge for religious reasons or personal reasons, and they’re no less patriotic than anybody else.
Third, who are the adults who read that essay and said, “That belief needs to be rewarded”?
The Elks Lodge is a group that promotes belief in God, as if that’s a virtue, so I guess this isn’t all that surprising. But it’s still appalling that anyone would be rewarded for saying that people who don’t stand up for the Pledge are ruining the country.
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyath...g-america/
"Never trust a fox. Looks like a dog, behaves like a cat."
~ Erin Hunter
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RE: Not saying pledge of allegiance destroys America
January 21, 2015 at 12:21 pm
As odious as I find the Jehovah's Witnesses otherwise, they did a great service to the country in their SCOTUS case on the pledge of allegiance.
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RE: Not saying pledge of allegiance destroys America
January 21, 2015 at 12:28 pm
I don't think that reciting the pledge of allegiance every day is what's going to hold this country together. Blind loyalty to your country is one of the things that could tear it apart, since it leads some people to believe "My country, right or wrong". Why pledge allegiance to a country that's gone from a representative republic to an oligarchy? Why show loyalty to a country that professes freedom, yet we have to fight for centuries to ensure civil liberties and equality for everyone who isn't a straight white male christian?
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RE: Not saying pledge of allegiance destroys America
January 21, 2015 at 12:30 pm
I've been to a local small town city council meeting a few times and they start the meetings with the pledge. Considering the low wattage intellects present on that council, I always chuckle that they can seem to remember the words.
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RE: Not saying pledge of allegiance destroys America
January 21, 2015 at 12:47 pm
When I was a kid, we did the pledge outside every morning. Of course I thought nothing of it as a child, and that's why all these groups want to get them while they're young. They're impressionable, and many kids are already used to their parents having authoritarian control over them.
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RE: Not saying pledge of allegiance destroys America
January 21, 2015 at 12:58 pm
(January 21, 2015 at 12:15 pm)Sionnach Wrote: “’America will never be destroyed from the outside,’” Ogden read from her essay. “’If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.’ So if you do not say the Pledge of Allegiance to this nation and support America, you will be a part of that destruction.”
I love it. It recognizes the problem and then boldly states, "I want to be part of the problem!"
Even if the open windows of science at first make us shiver after the cozy indoor warmth of traditional humanizing myths, in the end the fresh air brings vigor, and the great spaces have a splendor of their own - Bertrand Russell
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RE: Not saying pledge of allegiance destroys America
January 21, 2015 at 12:59 pm
From a foreigner's perspective...
Making children say the Pledge every day or at all just looks like brainwashing.
But maybe I'm just jealous. How come we don't have a pledge?
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RE: Not saying pledge of allegiance destroys America
January 21, 2015 at 1:00 pm
(January 21, 2015 at 12:59 pm)Xeno Wrote: From a foreigner's perspective...
Making children say the Pledge every day or at all just looks like brainwashing.
But maybe I'm just jealous. How come we don't have a pledge?
Even while I was in school it creeped me the fuck out.
In every country and every age, the priest had been hostile to Liberty.
- Thomas Jefferson
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RE: Not saying pledge of allegiance destroys America
January 21, 2015 at 1:03 pm
(This post was last modified: January 21, 2015 at 1:05 pm by Norman Humann.)
Cause it is creepy. Little children all standing up and reciting this weird, over-patriotic promise of obedience in unison.
Kind of reminds me of back when I used to go to church. One day I accidentally walked in on a large group of old ladies and nuns reciting some litanies or something, in unison. And as more people came in the church for the mass that was taking place later, the old ladies were talking louder and louder, at some point they were almost shouting and then just like that they finished and all walked off. I felt like I walked in on a cult meeting... which I kind of did, when you think about it.
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RE: Not saying pledge of allegiance destroys America
January 21, 2015 at 1:04 pm
(January 21, 2015 at 12:58 pm)Faith No More Wrote: (January 21, 2015 at 12:15 pm)Sionnach Wrote: “’America will never be destroyed from the outside,’” Ogden read from her essay. “’If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.’ So if you do not say the Pledge of Allegiance to this nation and support America, you will be a part of that destruction.”
I love it. It recognizes the problem and then boldly states, "I want to be part of the problem!"
Yeah, it sounds pretty contradictory. I agree with the first part, but the conclusion doesn't fit the observation.
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