Reply to pledge of allegiance in schools?

Forum Index » Schools and Education General Discussion

Reply to "pledge of allegiance in schools?"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I like having kids say the pledge -- it's a way to establish a national identity. Unlike many other countries, the United States was and remains a polyglot where there are fewer shared cultural traditions. It's supposed to represent what we have in common and create a common vision. We all came from somewhere else within a relatively few generations, so nation-building is a bit more crucial here than in places where people go back 1000+ years on a single bit of land.

I used to live overseas and sing in local choirs, as well as travel in a large international choir. One of the things that I found odd, was that when we went somewhere and had to sing the local national anthem, much of the time the only people who knew or memorized the local national anthem was the Americans. We tended to think it was a respectful way to thank our hosts.

Independence is good, but deciding to opt out of a national tradition for any other reason than a deep established religious/moral conviction is just another example of the rise of the "special snowflake". Just do the civics part of your education.[/quote]

You think a pledge is a way to establish a national identify?  You think that's what we need?  Understanding and respecting the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution remain the best way to establish a national identify, not some stupid pledge that a lot of people have problems with.  The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution are what we identify with.  That's what the 'civics part of education' should be.

My experience overseas is that far more non-Americans know their national anthems than Americans - how many singers have flubbed our national anthem?  More than I can count.

Finally, the pledge of allegiance is hardly a national tradition and since we live in America, I don't have to have deep established religious/moral convictions to not say it.  I just don't have to believe in it for any reason.  [/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics