Why I refuse to participate in the Pledge of Allegiance

Glory Yount, Staff Writer
September 19, 2016

As the announcements come on over the crackling of the intercom, hundreds of sleepy students rise; right hands over their hearts, reciting the Pledge of Allegiance: a daily ritual in which students across America seal their promise of Patriotism to the flag by repeating the famous poem written by Francis Bellamy in 1892.

I, however, am included in the handful of students that remains in their seat during the Pledge. Some see me as lazy, some see me as unpatriotic and some may believe I hate America. However, none of these assumptions are true.

First and foremost, “pledge,” by definition, is a solemn promise or undertaking. I don’t make promises if I don’t know exactly what it is that I’m promising, and until I researched it on my own, I didn’t understand what the phrases I was chanting in unison with the other students meant. I’m confident that many other students, also, spent the majority of their school life uninformed of what the Pledge of Allegiance truly means. Most American students are raised being told to learn and participate in the Pledge, without any real explanation. I was always advised to never sign a contract without reading and understanding the terms and conditions, so why should saying the pledge be any different?

I’ve never felt comfortable saying the Pledge, considering that most teachers seem to pressure students into reciting the mantra, or shame them if they don’t. Although I wouldn’t necessarily call America a cult, it feels eerie and strange to hear students simultaneously chant phrases, most of them probably having no knowledge of what it means or why they’re saying it. Like a form of brainwash.

Aside from the technicalities regarding the lack of knowledge about what the Pledge of Allegiance means, I refuse to recite the pledge because it simply isn’t true. I’m a Christian, and I don’t believe that America is “One nation, under God.” Claiming to be a “nation under God” clearly hasn’t influenced very many government decisions, not to mention that Christianity isn’t the only faith that Americans believe in. “Indivisibility, with liberty and justice for all” is another phrase in the pledge that proves to be inaccurate. Political parties are, inarguably, a prime example of division. Justice for whom? Justice for all? Where was the justice for Brock Turner’s victim? Where is the justice for innocent people slain by law enforcement? Where is the justice for innocent law enforcement slain by people? A more accurate phrase would be “justice for some.”

Lastly, I strongly disagree with the argument claiming that saying the pledge helps students form into proud American citizens. However, if that claim did end up being true, it would only prove my aforementioned point of brainwash. My refusal to blindly participate in ritualistic American traditions doesn’t make me any less American. Yes, I still support the troops. The fact that some people have the mere audacity to assume that refusing to stand for the pledge equates into the lack of supporting the troops disgusts me. Although I’m most likely disrespecting the inanimate object best known by the stars and stripes, I do my best to not disrespect the other students by refusing to stand. And mostly, I’m not disrespecting people fighting for this country or the people working to improve America. I simply will not stand for what I don’t believe in.