As I sat reading your Local Speak article of May 14 written by Mr. Todd Nuttman (“Pledge of Allegiance or blind obedience,” pg. 8) I had a glimmer of his underlying mindset: do away with inconvenient or not-understood national traditions, even though they be tried and true.
So what if they were deliberately chosen and set in place by our forebears? Or paid for in blood?
The traditions Mr. Nuttman says are “meaningless gestures put upon the American public…”
Let’s follow Mr. Nuttman’s opinion “as most traditions go, this one (Pledge of Allegiance) needs to go permanently” a little further down the logical path.
In addition to doing away with standing for the Pledge of Allegiance, how about ending the requirement that immigrants wishing to become United States citizens make a formal Pledge of Allegiance?
What does it matter that someone enjoys the benefits of living in the U.S. and use of the resources of our country? Why say they should pledge their support for our nation? After all, it’s just an oath of loyalty to our nation, a public proclamation of patriotism to the nation that protects us all and our rights.
No, not the kind of “rights” Mr. Nuttman attributes to the high school students who just didn’t WANT to stand.
In fact, why not do away with standing for the national anthem?
That would save us from having to put down drinks and food at ball games.
Keep going down this path, and this country soon wouldn’t be recognizable to those who came before. No Pledge of Allegiance: no respect for our nation’s symbol, our flag: no honor to country for which it stands.
Hmm, I wonder if Mr. Nutman gets WHY the photograph “Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima” taken on Feb. 23, 1945 by Joe Rosenthal won the Pulitzer Prize for photography, and why it is significant and still popular?
Rather than jump on the bandwagon of supporting any and all unthinking claims of “rights,” let’s THINK first, and consider the big pictures of both space and time.
TIME: When and why these traditions were put in place. For example, listen to the explanation of the pledge given by Mr. Red Skelton: patriotfiles.org/Pledge.htm (if you don’t have a computer, ask a librarian to help).
SPACE: Ask an immigrant why they chose to leave their families and homeland to come to a strange culture, or learn how people in other countries live and are governed.
Hopefully we’ll better appreciate the values and traditions of the United States of America.
Bridget Marks
Kent
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