If you were to tell someone that you refuse to participate in the Pledge of Allegiance, they would likely respond by calling you “un-American,” but the truth of the matter is that in this growing age of diversity, the only thing infringing on American ideals here is the Pledge itself.
[tweetable message=”The Pledge of Allegiance is insensitive and has no place in our diverse society”]The issue with the Pledge is not necessarily that students need to demonstrate allegiance to their country, but that it has been transformed and manipulated over the years to become a propaganda tool and a sign of insensitivity.[/tweetable]
While the Pledge of Allegiance has been made optional, a day single day in any classroom would be enough to prove that the option to not participate is very hard to come by, as it takes extreme courage to stay seated while the vast majority of the class is blaring the pledge that they do not believe in.
By continuing to use the modern version of the Pledge of Allegiance, which has been recited in schools since Eisenhower adopted it to counter communism in 1954, we are forcing students who are not from the United States or who do not believe in God to be stuck in a tough predicament where they either fear the disapproval and wrath of their classmates, or are forced to recite a Pledge they are opposed to.
This is not to say that no pledge should be recited in schools, but rather that schools should revert to using the original Pledge of Allegiance, which was created by Francis Bellamy in 1892. The main distinctions between the original Pledge and the current Pledge are that the original version used the ambiguous “my flag” instead of “the flag of the United States of America,” and that it did not include the “under God” phrase, which was added in as propaganda.
By reverting to the original version, students of all nationalities and with all different beliefs can demonstrate their patriotism without being forced to recite a Pledge which has no place in our modern, diverse society.