Opinion
The Problem with the Pledge
Photo by Jenna Anderson.
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here are few situations in which a citizen’s patriotism is called into question more often than during election time. Considering situations like Colin Kaepernick’s kneeling for the national anthem, the discrimination of minority Americans across the country, and the debates surrounding the treatment of veterans, it’s hard to imagine even more digressions to American patriotism. Controversy has surrounded the Pledge of Allegiance since it was approved by Congress in the 1940s. Recitation requirements, the inclusion of the phrase “under God,” and the morality of indoctrinating our nation’s youth every morning in school are all subjects the courts of the U.S. have decided on in the past several decades. In Iowa, there is no statewide legislation requiring public schools to enforce the recitation of the Pledge everyday, however there are some places in the state where this soon may be changing. In Waukee, school staff in high schools are now required to conduct the student body into the Pledge of Allegiance at least once a week, per the Des Moines Register. Although the Waukee school board decided on this issue earlier this year, the state of Iowa has on statutes requiring the Pledge to be recited at any interval. However, that is not the case in almost every other state in the US, as laws compelling schools to lead in quoting the Pledge are in place in over 40 states and territories. The legality of Pledge renditions cannot be questioned- at least, whenever questioned, the Pledge almost always stands against its detractors- but there’s another side to this little sliver of pa-
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triotism that finds itself in many children’s daily lives: the moral aspect. To many Americans who grew up reciting the Pledge every morning, there doesn’t seem any reason for someone to not want to partake in the roughly 15 second activity; it’s a perfectly normal operation at this stage in life. But when a closer look is given to this standard American procedure, there is a sign of something few often consider. The daily repetition of a stanza that is essentially “I love the flag,” is in stark contrast with the stirring Star Spangled Banner to which it is often compared. The singing of the national anthem invokes a beautiful feeling, one of heart clutching joy and tear jerking emotion, including lines every American feels burning in their lungs before sporting events, on national holidays, and just about any other special occasion across the country. Just compare the lines “The land of the free and the home of the brave,” with “I Pledge Allegiance to the flag.” One, performed to any quality, tugs at the strings of American hearts. The other, a dry indoctrination of supposed “ideals” of a true American republic. There is nothing heartwarming about the Pledge of Allegiance, nothing that makes other countries’ citizens jealous of how beautiful it is, nothing about the lines that makes a man love his country. The Pledge is patriotic conditioning, boring propaganda that is only successful literally due to the fact it was pushed through to law over seventy years ago, and now it is time we as a nation move on. Donovan Screws