Photo by Robin Jonathan Deutsch on Unsplash
There's something about pledging allegiance to a flag that doesn't quite resonate with me. It's not that I lack patriotism or appreciation for our country's symbols, but I believe our expressions of loyalty should align more closely with the principles that truly define us as a nation.
Since its creation in the late 19th century by Francis Bellamy, The Pledge of Allegiance has functioned as a touchstone of American civic culture. However, as we navigate through the 21st century, I feel it's time to rethink this pledge.
Why not shift our national pledge from the American flag to the U.S. Constitution?
Imagine a scenario where, instead of standing for the national anthem at a sporting event, we rise and recite a pledge to the Constitution. This act would remind us of our dedication to the democratic principles of liberty, equality, and justice. It would separate our expressions of patriotism from mere symbols and direct them toward the enduring ideals that shape our republic.
Bellamy's original pledge was less about the flag and more about the values represented by the republic. It was primarily designed as a tool to instill patriotism among American youth. The initial iteration of the pledge, "I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all," underwent changes over time, incorporating phrases like "the flag of the United States of America" in 1923 and "under God" in 1954. These additions brought about certain controversies as they seemed to impose a religious undertone and an unquestioning allegiance that some found exclusionary.
A shift towards pledging allegiance to the Constitution could mitigate these concerns, given that the Constitution enshrines our fundamental rights and liberties. By focusing on the Constitution, we symbolically pledge our commitment to the foundational principles of our country instead of a physical emblem.
The existing practices of elected officials across all government levels support this potential transition. When they assume office, they swear an oath to uphold and defend the Constitution, showcasing their dedication to the democratic principles underpinning our society. This ritual of upholding the Constitution extends from local officials, like mayors and city council members, through state officials, including governors and legislators, to federal authorities, such as the President and members of Congress. These practices emphasize the importance of our Constitution at every level of governance, and it is supposed to reinforce our system's foundational principles.
Suppose we began shifting our civic pledge to the Constitution. Wouldn't it constantly remind us of the democratic principles that bind us? By embracing a pledge to the Constitution, we can realign our commitments and reaffirm our dedication to the democratic ideals that have made our country what it is today.
Traditions surrounding the national anthem, especially during sporting events, often feel like a forced ritual rather than a genuine expression of patriotism. The reverence appears directed towards the symbols rather than the ideals these symbols are meant to represent. For people like myself, the rituals of reciting the Pledge of Allegiance or standing for the national anthem seem disconnected from these principles. I never liked doing it at sporting events or at school. And what is the deal with the tradition of taking off your hats and putting your hand across your heart? As if that means anything once the chant has ended with most people.
Over the years, the tradition of standing for the national anthem, amplified during World War II and escalated post 9/11, has closely tied sports with military honor and patriotism. Why must we intertwine sports, a realm of entertainment and competition, so tightly with military honor and patriotism in the first place? Transitioning our national pledge from the flag to the Constitution could be a way forward.
How do you think people would react if, tomorrow at a baseball game, instead of standing for the national anthem at a sporting event, copies of The Constitution were handed out with a small statement saying the following:
I pledge allegiance to support and defend The Constitution of the United States.
With its principles of popular sovereignty, limited government, and individual rights, our Constitution establishes a government by and for the people, with checks and balances to prevent abuses of power.
I will protect individual liberties, uphold the rule of law, and foster a democratic and just society.
If we repeated this regularly, we could reaffirm our commitment to the principles of liberty, equality, justice, and limited government.
Shifting from pledging allegiance to the flag to pledging allegiance to the Constitution can align our patriotism with the values that shape our nation. It prompts us to rethink our traditions and adopt a commitment that better reflects our democratic ideals.
Are you ok with pledging allegiance to the flag, and does a pledge to The Constitution resonate with you more meaningfully?
Pardon what will pass as cynicism on my part, but here goes anyway.
For years I have come to avoid being in any setting where such offensive pageantry as the reciting of loyalty oaths and singing of nationalist fight songs may be expected, or any other form of flag-waving rituals. For reasons I cannot explain to anyone else but cannot deny within my own conscience, such behavior fills me with revulsion, at an instinctive level, which I cannot simply wish away and which becomes very hard to conceal from others.
Patriotism itself is over-rated. I believe in the Constitution only to the extent that I can deploy its tenets on occasion to protect my interests from a public sector which on the whole regards it, and the very concept of the rule of law, as a procedural nuisance requiring continual workarounds, and me as its enemy.
I have no use for flags and oaths and anthems and don't think I ever did. I regard myself as free because I have seen to my freedom myself all my life, in a society which falsely equates retail prosperity and consumer credit as liberty and couldn't care less about the law and most of whom have never even read the Constitution, including the vast majority of public officials 'elected' and otherwise.
Rule of lawyers is not freedom, and I am not available for pretending ritually that it is. If children were given intensive instruction in law, beginning very early in elementary school and continuing on as multiple prerequisites for any diploma or degree from then on, there would be no need for any of this mindless behavior of needing to be seen genuflecting properly toward a national ideal that has zero to do with how things really work in America. Freedom in America is about not allowing a bloated and imbecilic state apparatus to deny it to us, because it does, has, can and will at every turn if we don't stand up and cause it not to.
Saluting the state disgusts me, because it was never the state which granted me my liberties. I was born with those, and if the state cannot properly salute me, by recognizing and upholding them upon every interaction, the state is the enemy. Nothing about my life is any of its business nor ever has been, and conversely, nothing about its false claims and feudal power structures and hostile practices is of any concern to me at all, other than they not be aimed at me.