S3 E46 Pledge of Allegiance

Episode discussion topics

• Why do we have it?
  
  • Flags became all the rage in the 1880s. They embodied a symbolism that was cemented during the civil war around flags and loyalty oaths to a new, slavery-free nation. 
  • Through to today, it still serves its original purpose of indoctrinating young citizens and immigrants to honor the republic.
  • According to this Boston Review article: "George T. Balch, a West Point graduate and veteran of the Civil War, organized a number of flag-related patriotic ceremonies for schoolchildren, and published the first pledge in his 1890 paper titled, 'Methods of Teaching Patriotism in the Public Schools'."
  • It is now also used by some to honor all those who have fallen in defense of our republic.
• The history (Wikipedia) shows few changes, but momentous they are nonetheless. Besides the original, plus a minor grammatical change (it was being used in schools after all), there were only two other major iterations:
  • 1923/1924 A reference to the "United States of America" was added as context for what flag, inspired by nationalistic tendencies in response to immigration and other domestic tranquility issues.
  • 1954 It was adopted into the U.S. code, laws, by congress and had the language "under God" added  to, "fight against the evil of communism and, by extension, atheism." This is according to the Boston Review article previously mentioned and it is backed up by our other research. The implementation of "under God" and " in God we trust" was all conducted during the anti-communism fever of the 1950-60s.
• All the controversies that need not be so.
  • Not for any good reason, other than maintaining the status quo, the courts have not deemed the pledge or its expressed deference to a god as unconstitutional because as a practical matter, it is just too ingrained.  Congressional legislative sessions have been making reference to a god since 1787. Of course, none of the arguments make sense, they are just lazy. What is right is usually the hard thing to do. Look at how much effort it took to remove the worse parts of slavery.
  • People have all the rights to refrain from participating in the pledge. Children in school do too, but they have to overcome a higher bar than adults. In some schools, kids face harassment by teachers and administrators for refusing to recite the pledge.
  • The U.S. legal code articulating the pledge and the proper salute to the flag, is prefaced with "should" and not "shall, will, or must."
• Calls to Action:
  • Whether hand to heart or taking a knee, either peacefully supporting or peacefully protesting the pledge is the right thing to do. Express it any way you want within your first amendment rights. That is the American way.
  • Shall we honor RWJ and restore the original pledge of allegiance from 1892?
    • "I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."
  • Or is it high time to adopt something like MVP's recommendation on a revised pledge to amend and extend the history books?
    
    • “I pledge allegiance to the Constitution of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation among the stars, indivisible, with liberty, and justice, for all.”

Your hosts: Michael V. Piscitelli and Raymond Wong Jr.

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