Patriotism and the Pledge of Allegiance

I feel so much safer now that school is about to start. The legislature in its infinite wisdom this year, decided to add patriotism to academics and passed a law requiring that each morning the students and teachers must recite the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag.

We will have about three quarters of a million Coloradans reciting the Pledge every morning before they start in on math and that, according to Rep. Bill Crane, R-Arvada, "builds good patriotism and good moral character."

Those are certainly desirable characteristics in our young people, to say nothing of our adult population, but I don't believe you can legislate patriotism. Good teachers have always taught love of country, and perhaps there should be more classes in government. But patriotism cannot be taught by a law which requires that kids repeat 31 words, however beautiful and significant the words may be, every school day for thirteen years.

Before somebody sends John Ashcroft after me, let me state that I have recited the Pledge, and meant it, many times in my lifetime. I do feel deep allegiance to my country but it is such a natural part of me that I don't feel the need to brag about it. Many organizations that I have belonged to through the years have started meetings with the pledge. Public meetings often start with its recitation. Even sports events sometimes start with the pledge. But it is voluntary, the choice of the organization and of those saying the words.

Now in Colorado it is not voluntary in school. The law requires that every day in every classroom every student and teacher must recite the pledge. And that is the difference. I guess the governor and the Lege felt that this would make every student in Colorado an instant patriot. It just doesn't work that way. As a matter of fact, rote recitation of the Pledge daily for 13 years is far more likely to diminish the importance of the Pledge than to enhance it. The Daily Sentinel editorialized, "Expressions of patriotism should be heartfelt, not regulated."

There are limited exemptions to this government-mandated patriotism. Students are allowed to omit reciting the pledge on religious grounds, if they are not citizens, or if their parents have sent a letter to the school principal requesting that they be excused. In other words, patriotism is selective.

What exactly are we talking about? The American Heritage Dictionary says that "patriot" means "One who loves, supports and defends ones country." Certainly that makes me a patriot, but It does not require me to say so every day.

How did this Pledge of Allegiance to a flag replace the U. S. Constitution and Bill of Rights in the affections of many Americans? In 1892 a socialist Baptist minister named Francis Bellamy created it for the "Youth's Companion", a national family magazine for young people. There have been several changes through the years, and the controversial phrase, "under God" was added by Congress and President Eisenhower in 1954.

Perhaps a team of social scientists and historians could explain why over the last century the Pledge of Allegiance has become a major centerpiece in American patriotism programs. Maybe the time has come to remember the Declaration of Independence, "We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal and are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights, that among them are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness," and the Gettysburg Address, "...a new nation conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men (and women) are created equal."

Apparently over the last century Americans have been uncomfortable with the word "equality." Perhaps the time has come to see that this allegiance should be to the U. S. Constitution.

But for now we are safe when school starts.