The Courts
In 1943, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that government schools couldn’t force students to recite the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag of the United States. Schools get around this ruling by asking but not forcing students to recite the Pledge monthly, weekly, or for students in Mariner High School, on a daily basis.This past year [possibly late 90s], the Mariner High School board changed the pledge recitation from weekly to daily. The Mariner student-body president is fighting back. She is leading a campaign to convince the school board to stop the daily pledge ritual.
Since Mariner students already do not have to recite the pledge, many of them protest the pledge by pounding their chests or improvising words. Some students say that the daily pledge is an attack on their intellectual independence and makes them act like robots.
“It’s like a brainwashing technique,” said student Sheila King. “You can’t pound someone into patriotism.”
Mariner students already do not have to recite the pledge but many of them engage in the daily ritual to avoid making trouble. In addition, many teachers do not tell students that they have a right to sit during the pledge due to the 1943 Supreme Court decision.
The court’s opinion stated, “We think the action of the local authorities in compelling the flag salute and pledge transcends constitutional limitations on their power and invades the sphere of intellect and spirit which it is the purpose of the First Amendment to our Constitution to reserve from all official control.
We set up government by consent of the governed, and the Bill of Rights denies those in power any legal opportunity to coerce that consent. Authority here is to be controlled by public opinion, not public opinion by authority.”
Veteran organizations are often the lobbyists who persuade school boards to embrace a daily pledge. Presumably, since a raised flag is the symbol of a victorious battle, the veterans would like students to commemorate the efforts of American soldiers.
Ironically, these veteran groups are ridiculing the efforts of deceased American soldiers who fought to preserve the Constitutional freedoms of the United States. Many deceased soldiers would be shocked to see the American government force its citizens to recite a pledge, much like Hitler forced German citizens to salute him with a raised hand.
They would be equally shocked to find that government teachers routinely neglect to tell students their rights. Most students do not know they do not have to recite the pledge. More astonishing is that many government teachers and school lawyers think students must recite the pledge.
The general counsel for the Washington Education Association, said he thought students must have a “religious or philosophical” reason not to say the pledge. If they don’t, they’re simply failing to follow teachers’ directives and threatening classroom order.
However, a Seattle spokesman for the ACLU said. “You don’t have to explain the basis for your unwillingness. It’s not practicable or reasonable for the government to stage inquisitions into people’s motives for why they don’t want to participate.”
Therefore, remember that you have to right to not recite the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag of the United States. You may sit in your chair without fear of punishment.
If your government teacher tries to punish you for taking advantage of your Constitutional rights, then you can mention the 1943 Supreme Court Decision that affirmed your right to not recite the pledge. If they still want to mess with you, then you have the right to sue them for violating your rights.
It is more patriotic to stand up for your rights than to stand up for the pledge.
Homage Ceremony?
Also consider if the pledge recital is like the homage ceremony in feudalism:
Homage in the Middle Ages was the ceremony in which a feudal tenant or vassal pledged reverence and submission to his feudal lord, receiving in exchange the symbolic title to his new position (investiture). It was a symbolic acknowledgement to the lord that the vassal was, literally, his man (homme). See more at Wikipedia.
In these united States, each man and woman has the power of a king. One can own land and carry out one’s own affairs without interference, as long as one does not interfere in the affairs of another. Would a king pledge allegiance to the service government he or she created?
A pledge to a corporation?
This is from Anna Von Reitz’ For a Deeper Understanding:
Look at the “Pledge of Allegiance” — “I” (securing individual consent) “pledge” (an ancient feudal act of serfs and subjects to a king) “my allegiance” (individual obligation to serve) “to the United States of America” (a deceptively named imposter — not “The united States of America” (Major)” but a sound-alike imposter) — “and to the Republic for which it stands” — so, now, ask yourself — “Why would the Republic, our nation, our government, need or want anything else to “represent” it or “stand for” it?”
The Pledge of Allegiance is a deceptive verbal contract giving us notice that this “thing” — this private, for-profit, mostly foreign owned corporation — is usurping our rightful government and that it is “representing” or in other words, “standing for” our lawful government however it sees fit, and that by repeating this oath of allegiance to it, we are giving our individual consent to serve the corporation as serfs and servants thereof.
Now is it beginning to be clear what has been done “for” you?
You and every other American have been defrauded of your birthright and your organic state has been plundered by a foreign “nation” merely calling itself “the United States of America (Minor)” composed of what we think of as “federal territories and possessions” — Guam, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, — the “Seven Insular States” and by foreign banking cartels.
- Review these slides
- Read this,
- review this diagram of US vs USofA,
- read these six PDFs,
- watch Richard McDonald's seminar intro
- learn to speak like a simple man
- If this site ever goes down, the archive is on the wayback machine.
Great article. Hope this message gets out to everyone
Teenagers are not entitled to all of the civil rights of adults. They do not (thankfully) have the right to walk into a store and buy a gun. They do not have the right to vote until they are 18, and they can't serve in the military until they are 18. If you think really hard about it, you'll understand why. Similarly, teenagers are not allowed complete freedom of expression in a school setting because an orderly environment is necessary for the safety of all and the education of all – teenagers may not interrupt instruction and they may not dress inappropriately even if showing off their underwear is the current popular “freedom” of expression.
The reasoning behind the Supreme Court decision wasn't solely about the 1st Amendment, because the original case wasn't about freedom of expression. As you've noted, it was about freedom of religion, but that wasn't all: it was also about the 14th Amendment. Due process was not being allowed to the parents of the Jehovah's Witness children who were expelled from school for being “insubordinate” and the parents were charged and fined for their children's “delinquency.” The ACLU hijacked the case and made it solely about freedom of expression.
Teachers are not dictators of their own little regimes, trying to force everyone into robotic compliance for their own maniacal pleasure: they have wording written into the contracts with the districts that say they will uphold district policy (or they will be fired for breach of contract) and district policy usually will allow students to “opt out” of reciting the pledge if their parents send a note, because the students are children who have to have parental permission for just about everything. Teachers get around this ruling by asking the students who don't wish to say the pledge to at least stand up, because that is the social norm. After all, if you were in a foreign country and their national anthem were broadcast and everyone around you were to stand up, you would too, out of respect. Some teachers will also allow students who vehemently oppose the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance to step outside of the classroom during the ceremony to protect the peace in the room and their contracts at the same time.
In response to your math teacher very informative however I disagree about the standing part that is still considered as participating if you can stand why not recite it as well. A mute person will stand to show support because they can not speak. If a student that doesn’t believe in the pledge stands he is still perceived as participating. The key issue here is forcing and or not informing a student that they have a right to refuse after all this is an environment of teaching why not teach the children that they do not have to feel forced to participate in the pledge.
Anyone, yourmathteacher or otherwise, who forces or even who helps to coerce children into saying a pledge at odds with their beliefs, is in fact acting as little dictator. “I was forced to do it. I had my orders” is ever the cry of underlings in a totalitarian state. Any such orders from a school board are strictly legally unenforceable in any public school in America. Any teacher who insists on such conformity, and who does not acknowledge that the pledge is optional is, in my opinion, a coward and morally inadequate to be a proper teacher for anyone.
What did you do, get to the part you disagreed with and stop reading to post your own rant? Try reading it to the end. Â The teachers don't want to force anyone to do anything, we just want you to learn the content.
I am a teenager. I love the constitution, and what our country was founded on. But, given the way that our government operates within our country and the rest of the world, I will not pledge to this republic.
If you're going to live in this country and be able to live free, then yes, you should stand and pledge to your country. You're not only saluting the country, but the men and women who FOUGHT for you. Put their lives at risk for YOU, who thinks you have the “right” to sit down and not even give them a minute of your time? I am 18 years old and out of high school and I was the only student in all of my classes to stand up and salute our flag. Well, MY flag. If you dont stand up it shouldn't be considered yours. Our country was fouunded on those beliefs, and for whatever reason you dont agree with them, then this country isn't the place for you. America should be a place for patriotism and people willing to stand up for it, not people who dont even have the common courtesy to stand up for it. “It is more patriotic to stand up for your rights than to stand up for the pledge.” Right. Next time you choose not to stand up, remember what our flag stands for, and the people who gave you what it stands for. If you dont appreciate that, get the hell out of this country.
I love brainwashed Patriots like you.
The troops are nothing more than thugs.
They serve no one except for their masters known as politicians.
Politicians are so lucky they have people like you campaigning for them, they're also glad they have so many idiots willing to die in the name of patriotism!
Wait wait wait…you actually think that the flag and pledge has ANYTHING to do with troops? I don’t want to live on this planet anymore. My flag? I’d rather have my rights. I would gladly leave this country if I wasn’t poor, and young. So please, continue to be ignorant. I applaud you and your holier than thou attitude.
I appreciate your comment however I believe you are misinformed
giving your age of 18 years it’s understandable and forums like this is good for informing and getting informed. The pledge of allegiance has nothing to do with the soldiers that are fighting to keep our freedom intact if you asked a soldier what they are fighting for none of them would say a Flag. The pledge starts out by saying I pledge allegiance to the flag notice no mention of soldiers or freedom. I ask you to look up the definition of pledge and allegiance after reading these definitions see if you feel the same way. Sometimes we repeat what we heard or what has been told to us without finding out where it really came from and what was the real purpose. You have a mindset of let me research this before commenting or believing.
UNDER GOD.
Any one see that as a religious view atheists should not have to say the pledge
Lol i don’t believe in countries so I don’t say it. If your given two pictures of landscapes in different countries or two pictures of people from neighboring countries, you won’t be able to tell them apart.
Countries evolved from kingdoms and empires, which were smaller kingdoms that were governed by bands of tribes. Tribes came about from several clans, and the clans came about from several families.
When you look at it, were just taking more and more steps into the unification of humanity. And as long as you hold onto the idea of your own country being better, and you want to hold onto nationality, your really holding back the progress of humanity as a whole. I know that believing in a country is comforting, but its enlightening to look at things in a global scale.