Anonymous
Post 09/25/2017 09:27     Subject: Take a knee during Pledge of Allegiance in VA Elementary school?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:This whole thread is so sad to me. Some people truly do not give a shit about our country.


+1 im also amazed at the lack of understanding of our most basic Constitutional rights. Or the inequities that run throughout our society. Or the fact that our military fights for rights, not a flag or a song.


+1 it is sad that people are not educated about the injustices on lesser represented communities. If people gave a shit about our country they would stop these injustices.
Anonymous
Post 09/25/2017 09:27     Subject: Take a knee during Pledge of Allegiance in VA Elementary school?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Those of you who see encouraging or suborning protest during the pledge/anthem as political indoctrination of children: how is it not political indoctrination to encourage/expect children to recite the pledge of allegiance and to stand at attention during the anthem? You are simply encouraging a different form of indoctrination with this "my country, right or wrong" attitude.


We are standing because "WE" are our country, NOT some leader, monarch or individual. We the people. We are standing to honor our ideal: liberty and justice for all.

We are standing to honor those who bled on the battlefield to protect "WE" Americans and our ideals above, and for those whose coffins come back wrapped in our flag.

The red stripes on the flag symbolize blood shed on the battlefield btw.

The flag is not Trump, or Obama, or any president, politician or political party. The flag is we the people and the ideals that we aspire to and fight for.

When they are protesting the flag, it is not a symbol of Trump they are insulting. They are insulting our ideals and those who fought and died for those ideals.

That is what is so insulting about this stupid "protest"


Nope. It's a symbol. The ideals can exist without the symbol. In fact, worshiping the symbol is often a distraction and can lead to ignoring those ideals and values underneath - whether it's a flag, the cross, a hijab/modesty, etc. You get caught up in protecting the wrong thing - the actual "meat" of what the symbol is for, instead of the symbol itself.
Anonymous
Post 09/25/2017 09:25     Subject: Take a knee during Pledge of Allegiance in VA Elementary school?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Those of you who see encouraging or suborning protest during the pledge/anthem as political indoctrination of children: how is it not political indoctrination to encourage/expect children to recite the pledge of allegiance and to stand at attention during the anthem? You are simply encouraging a different form of indoctrination with this "my country, right or wrong" attitude.


We are standing because "WE" are our country, NOT some leader, monarch or individual. We the people. We are standing to honor our ideal: liberty and justice for all.

We are standing to honor those who bled on the battlefield to protect "WE" Americans and our ideals above, and for those whose coffins come back wrapped in our flag.

The red stripes on the flag symbolize blood shed on the battlefield btw.

The flag is not Trump, or Obama, or any president, politician or political party. The flag is we the people and the ideals that we aspire to and fight for.

When they are protesting the flag, it is not a symbol of Trump they are insulting. They are insulting our ideals and those who fought and died for those ideals.

That is what is so insulting about this stupid "protest"


Also, we stand out of pride for ourselves. Not kneeling or bowimg to some monarch or supreme leader. We stand as equals with our heads held high, not cowing on the ground as someone worth less than others.
Anonymous
Post 09/25/2017 09:23     Subject: Take a knee during Pledge of Allegiance in VA Elementary school?
Anonymous wrote:Those of you who see encouraging or suborning protest during the pledge/anthem as political indoctrination of children: how is it not political indoctrination to encourage/expect children to recite the pledge of allegiance and to stand at attention during the anthem? You are simply encouraging a different form of indoctrination with this "my country, right or wrong" attitude.


We are standing because "WE" are our country, NOT some leader, monarch or individual. We the people. We are standing to honor our ideal: liberty and justice for all.

We are standing to honor those who bled on the battlefield to protect "WE" Americans and our ideals above, and for those whose coffins come back wrapped in our flag.

The red stripes on the flag symbolize blood shed on the battlefield btw.

The flag is not Trump, or Obama, or any president, politician or political party. The flag is we the people and the ideals that we aspire to and fight for.

When they are protesting the flag, it is not a symbol of Trump they are insulting. They are insulting our ideals and those who fought and died for those ideals.

That is what is so insulting about this stupid "protest"
Anonymous
Post 09/25/2017 09:23     Subject: Take a knee during Pledge of Allegiance in VA Elementary school?
Anonymous wrote:I remember being in elementary school and thinking FOR MYSELF that the "under God" bit was bizarre and wasn't really thrilled about saying it

How do we know that elementary schoolers haven't made these observations for themselves?


Yeah, I disagree with previous commenters. Depending on the child, especially older elementary students might very well be able to think about these issues and legitimately want to protest. My DD who's in 7th grade this year, would certainly have been able to think critically about these issues last year. I would support her if she decided to kneel during the pledge. I think it's legitimate in this context and not necessarily disruptive. I'm not thrilled with the pledge being forced on kids anyway, especially the "under God" part. And then in VA, they have their "moment of silence" too. /blergh
Anonymous
Post 09/25/2017 09:15     Subject: Re:Take a knee during Pledge of Allegiance in VA Elementary school?
My children (8 & 11) are welcome to peacefully protest at anytime, but they need to do research and develop a well-reasoned argument why they are protesting. A polite conversation with their teacher would be needed before protesting so their behavior is not disruptive.

Following the crowd is not acceptable, developing their own well reasoned position is encouraged.
Anonymous
Post 09/25/2017 09:07     Subject: Take a knee during Pledge of Allegiance in VA Elementary school?
Those of you who see encouraging or suborning protest during the pledge/anthem as political indoctrination of children: how is it not political indoctrination to encourage/expect children to recite the pledge of allegiance and to stand at attention during the anthem? You are simply encouraging a different form of indoctrination with this "my country, right or wrong" attitude.
Anonymous
Post 09/25/2017 08:56     Subject: Take a knee during Pledge of Allegiance in VA Elementary school?
Anonymous wrote:This whole thread is so sad to me. Some people truly do not give a shit about our country.


I think that's largely because increasingly our country truly does not give a shit about a large segment of its people. That's articulated nearly daily by the Troll in Chief.
Anonymous
Post 09/25/2017 08:56     Subject: Take a knee during Pledge of Allegiance in VA Elementary school?
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:I remember being in elementary school and thinking FOR MYSELF that the "under God" bit was bizarre and wasn't really thrilled about saying it

How do we know that elementary schoolers haven't made these observations for themselves?


+1

I thought it was weird. I stood, but did not put my hand over my heart, and did not recite, especially the "under god" part.

People tend to get caught up in the symbol (ie, the flag, the pledge, etc) instead of actual behavior and actions about what it means to be patriotic - and respecting freedom of speech is part of that. I don't think kneeling/sitting is disruptive at all - shouting and banging would be disruptive. Maybe it'll invite discussion later, which is a GOOD thing.


Yes. Proven this weekend when people booed the NFL players during the anthem. If you think silent kneeling is disrespectful, I sure as hell don't understand how shouting BOOOOO is respectful.
Anonymous
Post 09/25/2017 08:55     Subject: Take a knee during Pledge of Allegiance in VA Elementary school?
Anonymous wrote:I remember being in elementary school and thinking FOR MYSELF that the "under God" bit was bizarre and wasn't really thrilled about saying it

How do we know that elementary schoolers haven't made these observations for themselves?


+1

I thought it was weird. I stood, but did not put my hand over my heart, and did not recite, especially the "under god" part.

People tend to get caught up in the symbol (ie, the flag, the pledge, etc) instead of actual behavior and actions about what it means to be patriotic - and respecting freedom of speech is part of that. I don't think kneeling/sitting is disruptive at all - shouting and banging would be disruptive. Maybe it'll invite discussion later, which is a GOOD thing.
Anonymous
Post 09/25/2017 08:54     Subject: Take a knee during Pledge of Allegiance in VA Elementary school?
Anonymous wrote:This whole thread is so sad to me. Some people truly do not give a shit about our country.


Exactly. There is great injustice in our country and some people care more about appearances. Wish they really cared about our country and the people in it.
Anonymous
Post 09/25/2017 08:54     Subject: Take a knee during Pledge of Allegiance in VA Elementary school?
Anonymous wrote:This whole thread is so sad to me. Some people truly do not give a shit about our country.


+1 im also amazed at the lack of understanding of our most basic Constitutional rights. Or the inequities that run throughout our society. Or the fact that our military fights for rights, not a flag or a song.
Anonymous
Post 09/25/2017 08:52     Subject: Take a knee during Pledge of Allegiance in VA Elementary school?
Anonymous wrote:If this is your idea...no.
If a kid thought of it on their own...yes

There is nothing more disgusting than adults pushing political issues on kids.


+1,000,000
Anonymous
Post 09/25/2017 08:50     Subject: Take a knee during Pledge of Allegiance in VA Elementary school?
Anonymous wrote:This whole thread is so sad to me. Some people truly do not give a shit about our country.


I think this thread is addressing an issue that will never happen.

Whether protesting is respectful or disrespectful is a reasonable conversation, but Kaepernick was not protesting, appropriately or inappropriately, because he doesn't give a sh!t about our country. People are protesting (and I think it's dumb but not wrong of them) because they do give a sh!t.
Anonymous
Post 09/25/2017 08:49     Subject: Re:Take a knee during Pledge of Allegiance in VA Elementary school?
Anonymous wrote:Teacher: Class, please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance. Larla, what are you doing on the floor?
Larla: My mom told me to kneel during the pledge.
Teacher: Why?
Larla: