I for one haven't been saying the pledge for 4 years, ever since I was
old enough to
understand the words and how many of them
contradicted my own
value system and
morals. I've been
reprimanded several times for not saying it, but nothing
real has come of it yet.
The
pledge was also used as an
integral part of the
plot of
The Children's Story... (but not just for children) by
James Clavell, (author of
Shogun), to demonstrate how easily someone's
beliefs can be
manipulated.
I returned to school this year, now a big bad 10th grader. Today it is
September 11th, 2002, that is, the first anniversary since the
terrorist attacks. I haven't said the pledge for about two years, I reckon. When a teacher tells me to stand up, I do, otherwise I sit in silence while the pledge is recited.
Today our
principal came on the
loudspeaker and told us all to stand and say the pledge. I did it. I put my right hand over my heart and I said it, with my classmates, recited every word.
It felt so wrong. We may be guaranteed the right to not pledge, but that doesn't account for what people will say and think if you don't.