Supreme Court won’t review Fla. Pledge of Allegiance law

The Pledge of Allegiance, as it is taught in the schools and repeated from memory on a daily basis, does not teach children much in the way of love and respect of country, or of what patriotism is.  There’s no deep understanding of what the words mean, where the creed came from, and certainly no discussion of when and why the words “under God” were inserted, words that I myself skip over simply because the origin of that insertion is chauvinistic rather than nationalistic.

Then again, I also think the Star Spangled Banner is an incredible war relic, but the song itself pales in comparison to “America the Beautiful”, to which I do sing all the words because that is what the original author intended.

The Pledge is an exercise in memorization and group activity, not that different from everyone moving to the lunch line in relative order and silence.  It is what it is and that is not an indictment of teachers—after all the Pledge of Allegiance is not in the SOL exam, as far as I know, and the teachers get rewarded for teaching the test.  It’s like the Gettysburg Address—we teach it early, often before kids can understand and fully appreciate the words.

On the other hand, when the children say the Pledge of Allegiance on Veteran’s Day, with veterans in attendance who were standing and being recognized for their service, it makes that basic memorization and group activity skill very worthwhile, in my opinion.  I wish my parents could have attended those assemblies when my kids were in elementary school, but both parents are American Legion members and have activities in my home town.

I’m willing for there to be a bit of rote memorization and group indoctrination so that kids learn that it is important to act in unison when that is what is appropriate.  Like knowing that one stands at attention when the Flag passes at parade, and having the smarts to quickly rise to your feet when a horseman presents the flag for a quick lap at a rodeo. 

That being said, when a kid reaches high school and doesn’t want to engage in all that, for whatever reason, and the school enforces a “you must have parental permission to abstain” I ask myself why the school administration is saddling themselves with tracking permission slips rather than just letting the kid opt out.  On the other hand, if one kid opts out and it spreads like a contagion, for no apparent good reason other than kids wanting to do other than what is normally expected, then I think a civics lesson is in order and I would start with a discussion of how well-to-do men in the 1860’s paid a fee to avoid conscription, which was clearly unpatriotic, and ask the contagion to consider the irony of opting out of the pledge given the need for citizens to do the right thing in today’s troubled times.

So I guess I can see the merit of requiring parent permission—if you don’t kids will opt out for no reason other than to opt out, and that’s not a legitimate reason.

But I certainly wouldn’t make a big issue of it.  I’d spend more time revisiting the Gettysburg Address and ensure that the high school student does have the full appreciation of the story.

As for Tinker v Des Moines, that case pertains to freedom of speech and expression and the courts have made subsequent decisions that set bounds (no profanity, school jurisdiction applies to non-campus activities sponsored by the school) but in this case, the availability of an opt-out by parental permission provides a balance of individual rights and the need for the school to maintain order.  In general, the Supreme Court avoids applying one ruling to make a decision in another ruling unless the link is very strong, and there’s probably a bunch of stronger links on the “opt out based on parental notice” rather than a link to Tinker which mostly focused on freedom of speech, but not freedom from participation in a group exercise that includes speech.

JB,

For the Grand Prize: what was the text of the Pledge BEFORE the McCarthy/Red Scare era?

Indoctrination, indeed.

The United States of the Offended vs. the world!

1954 to present

“I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands: one nation under God, indivisible with liberty and justice for all.

2009 and beyond

“I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands: one nation under Gods, Ee i ee i oh with a indivisible here and a liberty there and justice for all Ee i ee i oh!

Ya gotta love this country, God bless America!

Tinker vs. Des Moines, anyone?