Patriotism is defined as the love of country, and the willingness to sacrifice for it. I adore this definition, but I feel like social inclination to say the Pledge of Allegiance everyday has morphed this definition to “Patriotism is saying the Pledge everyday because ‘MERICA.’”
I don’t think that reciting the Pledge of Allegiance everyday reflects Patriotism, and I’ll argue why. I’m not the most avid church-goer, but I’ve observed a parallel between people throwing their hands to the sky in church and teens in the class room just before reciting the pledge: social obligation.
Let’s take a closer look. How many people stand for the Pledge of Allegiance because they want to, and they feel like standing up in means of reflecting their Patriotism? Very few.
See, the reason we stand up and recite the Pledge everyday is because we’re taught to, and that not doing so is viewed as unpatriotic. It’s been thoroughly put into our head that not standing and reciting the Pledge is disrespectful.
Refusing to stand for the Pledge is offensive in the same way that occasionally not wanting to take a shower is offensive: sometimes you just don’t want to, because you do it ALL THE TIME, and not doing so doesn’t make me anti-American. The Pledge of Allegiance has become a daily obligation, and, in my opinion, has lead to a nation that is patriotically desensitized.
Now let’s look at the church-going aspect of my argument. Students who attend a church that utilizes a youth band for worship can relate to the obligation to raise your hands because you’re “feeling the Spirit.”
But in all honesty, how many students actually raise their hands because they “feel the Spirit”? Wouldn’t you say that a majority of the time they’re only doing it because other people are, therefor putting a social obligation on their shoulders?
The two are comparable because either way, but especially pertaining to the Pledge of Allegiance, people are doing these things because they are obliged to, not because they feel the genuine impulse to.
There are going to be people who say that my outlook is disrespectful to our troops (and I invite you to find me so that we may discuss further) but they couldn’t be further from wrong.
I respect the people who preserve my rights and liberties as the Bible says you should worship God: privately (Matthew 6:6 for any of you scholarly folk).
I don’t have to project my patriotism by singing the loudest during the National Anthem or by having the best form when I recite the Pledge of Allegiance. I do that in my everyday, private life. I don’t put it out for everyone to see, because what other people think of how patriotic I am doesn’t matter to me.
I thank my family and fellow citizens who served in the armed forces by thanking them in person, which is much more genuine than “thanking” them by forcing myself to standup during Physics and recite that thing that we all recite everyday that’s supposed to be related to the USA somehow, but I don’t know why, all I know is that I say it because that’s what I’m supposed to do.
I’m saying farewell to the Twitter-using, Pledge-abusing, wide-open patriot. Because, for me, Patriotism is private.