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I never liked doing it. Got in trouble a few times for not doing it, though that didn’t matter to me since I got in trouble a lot when I was in school. Those dipshits (the counselor) thought I had “Gender Identity Disorder” and was reacting because of “distress” (Not because I wouldn’t say the pledge, I did many worse things than that), they also used the fact that I also had long hair and sometimes would wear a skirt as evidence I had GID. What fun people I spent my childhood with sarcasm I’m glad my parents are and were nice people otherwise I might not be here today.
There was always one kid that sat down during the pledge in my class. None of us thought he was annoying or weird. I admired him.
“I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America…”
I mean, you can stop right there. The rest is all fucked up too, but that shit’s weird. How can one owe allegiance to a flag, of all things?
And, it’s not “as representing the Republic for which it stands”, it’s “and to the Republic for which it stands”. The flag is a separate thing, the second clause is about allegiance to the republic, but the first part is just about the fucking flag.
the pledge of allegiance is brainwashing at NK levels.
I sat down because I was lazy.
You’re welcome
I have never seen a kid sit down for O Canada unless they are in a wheelchair. Of course getting sent to the principle’s is not worth it but I would admire a kid who had the balls to do it.
Dear America:
Most countries don’t do this shit. At all. It’s weird and off putting
I stopped in elementary school.
At the time, it was because I was convinced that the pledge was essentially worshipping a false idol, and if I continued to do it, I would go to hell. Teachers couldn’t fight that argument. Students didn’t fuck with it either. I stood. I didn’t cross my heart, and I didn’t say it.
About 6th or 7th grade, I started challenging my “faith” and realized that the pledge was essentially swearing fealty to something that was supposed to serve the people, not the other way around. By highschool, I didn’t even stand for it anymore. It was nationalism.
If only there were more in this world with such critical thinking, maybe we wouldn’t be in such a shit state.
It doesn’t make sense. Critical thinking enables survival. Sometimes it’s not fun. Sometimes it doesn’t feel great.
But it’s typically more rewarding that not. That’s what I don’t understand.
Unfortunately for us tribalism also enables survival
To get those rewards you typically have to endure some hardship or struggle first tho, and many people can’t tolerate that. They just want their creature comforts. It’s how you get hoarders drowning in their takeout buckets.
Given a choice, the brain will always take the laziest path. Which is why watching a screen and turning off your brain is so easy. The fact that it’s also designed to give you a dopamine hit makes it hard to stop.
I was about the same. Around junior high I was like, “wtf am I doing?” For me the first part was “under God,” that got to me. I had found it weird as a child even to say that and then I realized I didn’t want to say that at all. I thought it was strange when supposedly, we’re allowed to believe whatever we want. I never felt the connection or belief in the Catholic God (what I was, very, loosely raised under) and it started there. Hand on heart omitting , “under God.” Slowly it progressed to just standing and saying nothing. It’s probably been well over a decade since I’ve been in a situation to say the pledge, but if I were, I know I wouldn’t stand anymore.
I also, do not always stand for the National Anthem.
I don’t think I could even silently protest the pledge of allegiance anymore. Fuck nationaism.
So the Anthem thing I sort of get, at least for like sports. Lemme explain:
Sportsmanship keeps the games fun. Establishing sportsmanship starts in the mind - “we’re all here to have a good time.” In nation exclusive sports, (NFL for example) the entire stadium gets “in sync” at that moment. It’s also a useful way to start. In international sports, standing for the opponents anthem is a sign of respect for the other team.
I don’t really remember where else it plays though.
I did the same. Stopped in elementary school. Cited religion and worshiping “something above God”
Never stood up for the anthem in homeroom again.
Fiest time I had to do the pledge, I just got to America from Taiwan and I honestly thought the pledge was a Christian/religion thing because of the “…under god” thing. So I told my teacher that my family is Buddhist and can’t do the pledge.
You weren’t wrong, exactly
Fun fact! “Fun”, actually.
Under God wasn’t in the original version. It wasn’t added until 1954 because they didn’t to be like communist countries and be seen as a secular government.
Good old fashion forcing religion on your citizens.
That makes sense. It did seem like the under god was out of place. Everything else flowed pretty well until the under god part.
This was also the same time “In God We Trust” was added to all coins and paper money.
This shit has always been creepy. Always. Greetings from Germany o/
True, but they start you off doing it at the age of 4 or 5 so it is completely normalized before our brains are developed enough to question it
I moved to the US as a kid, and this shit gave me massive cult vibes from the start. I refused to participate.
I was suuuper popular in middle school…
Agreed
“Our country is really the best, all the other countries suck… God bless Johnson & Johnson…”
Internet Germans convinced me to sit down for it in high school. And yeah its such cult shit
Good choice with the forward slash. Good choice.
Generally, the main problem with being “far left” is being ridiculed for being right earlier than everyone else.
I sat down every time and my teacher would get pissed. I finally told her that my grandpa fought in WWII for my right to protest and that shit her up real fast. I’m not going to pledge my aliegence to an inanimate object, I shouldn’t have to prove my love for my country with a pledge.
This is the kind of shit that leads to nationalism over patriotism. Blindly teaching kids to pledge allegiance without teaching them what comes with that or why.
That or the fact that your government should be pledging allegience to you, not the other way around. We the people do not serve the government.
Americans are cultists
