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Why the "Pledge of Allegiance" Needs to Be Rewritten
Should I "Pledge Allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America?"..........or...............
Should "I Pledge Allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America?"
Many a morning, I have stood hand-over-heart reciting the "Pledge of Allegiance;" however, over time, it has come to occur to me that the way in which the pledge is written represents a misguided placement of the meaning of allegiance.
Our flag is a symbol of what America represents. It is NOT America, it is NOT Americans, it is NOT the United States Constitution, it is NOT the Declaration of Independence, the ideals upon which our great country was founded.
I Propose That the Pledge of Allegiance be Rewritten
It seems to me that a more appropriate wording the the Pledge of Allegiance would be "I pledge allegiance to the United States of America and to our flag which symbolizes our republic, freedom, life, and liberty." I have no qualms about the rest of the Pledge of Allegiance, I just think the order of the wording is not appropriate to express how our allegiances should be prioritized.
There are many who believe that the words "One nation under God" should be removed from the Pledge; however, I disagree with them. You have a right to your own beliefs, but America was founded on the grounds of religious freedom. Also, the pledge should be recited every morning by every student in every school in America (other than those who have religious beliefs that prevent it).
I'm sure that the author of The Pledge of Allegiance had good intentions and probably didn't think about the fact that he was authoring a piece of important literature that had misplaced priorities. "The Pledge of Allegiance was written in August 1892 by the socialist minister Francis Bellamy (1855-1931). It was originally published in The Youth's Companion on September 8, 1892." quoted from https://www.ushistory.org/documents/pledge.htm
Perhaps, the fact that the author was a socialist may have influenced his misguided ordering of priorities. This was not long before the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917, the prelude to Communism, which was why the words were changed in 1954 to read "one nation under God."
There is still a great threat of Communism in our world, primarily from North Korea, a country whose engages in the sinful practice of idolatry by worshiping their psychotic leader, Kim Jung Un. We need to keep those words in the Pledge of Allegiance in order to differentiate ourselves from the rogue nations and extremist Islamic terrorist groups whose only goal in life is to eradicate Christianity and to kill Americans. Long live the USA!
Red Skelton's Pledge of Allegiance by Charlie Daniels
Do You Agree?
Do You Agree With My Suggested Rewrite of the Pledge of Allegiance
In Summary: The Pledge of Allegiance Places Misguided Priorities Between Our Country and Our Flag
There are many countries today in the world who have misguided priorities, and I would like to see the United States of America step away from the misguided priorities that are characterized by The Pledge of Allegiance as it is currently written. North Korea, Iran, Iraq, and Afghanistan are on the top of the list of countries who have misplaced priorities. The existence of these countries where extremist ideals is the norm, is dangerous for America and dangerous for the world. We need to change the wording in our pledge, so we are set apart from these countries, and so that the world knows that we do not idolize a symobol of freedom, it's the freedom itself that we idolize. Many men and women have bravely fought and died so that we can enjoy those freedoms, and our allegiance should come first to our country, our Constitution, our Declaration of Independence, our military, our government, and lastly our flag.
I Pledge Allegiance to the United States of America! I Pledge Allegiance to the Constitution of the United States of America! I Pledge Allegiance to the Declaration of Independence! I Pledge Allegiance to the government of the United States of America! I Pledge Allegiance to the men and women of the Armed Forces who bravely defend the United States of America! Let freedom ring!
© 2020 John Fisher