What would you replace the "pledge of allegiance" with?
In the US most students recite "the pledge of allegiance" every morning before school, which is kind of crazy. If you were in charge, what if anything would you replace it with?
In the US most students recite "the pledge of allegiance" every morning before school, which is kind of crazy. If you were in charge, what if anything would you replace it with?
Free breakfast.
Damn that's a good answer.
Yes and
can it be nothing. why not nothing
And do the same for the national anthem before every fucking sporting event. I’ll be damned if I’m standing and praying to a flag at every summer swim meet that is already going to take 4 hours to get done.
Don't even get me started. My high school didn't just do sports events, but they did the anthem or the pledge before just about every single event held in the building.
Cultlike behavior.
Actually, no. Just Cult behavior.
I never understood why Americans do that. For international events where the anthems of both teams are played, sure. But otherwise? Do you guys forget which country you are in?
It’s an effect of the crazy religiosity that Europe shipped over before the country was even founded. So much nutty Protestant fervor has rippled through American society since then. It infected secular institutions over time.
Which makes it even more crazy to me.
I live in a very Protestant area in Europe. In fact, many of the Protestants who got driven out of France around 1700 have settled around here, so roughly a similar timeframe to the ones in America. And we turned out entirely different. Here, Protestants are considered the "technically Christian on paper but probably hasn't seen a church from the inside in a decade" kind of person while (some) Catholics are the conservative hardliners who want bibles and crosses in classrooms.
Might have something to do with the fact that, in Europe, they had to live alongside other people. In America they had their little bubbles where the crazy could echo and become stronger. Combine that with the amount of opportunistic grifters that came to and were bred in America. The “land of opportunity” inspired an individualistic greed that was more than happy to use religion to feed itself. The Mormons are the classic example.
Catholics in America were a minority and there was bigotry directed at them. They were more inclined to keep separate—not so much now. In my town, the catholic school kids would have Catholic slurs shouted at them by the public school kids. These days the conservative Catholics are more or less allied with the evangelical Protestants.
It’s part of the militarization of everything, and acts as patriotism propaganda.
Not only the anthem, but they usually have armed forces people, equipment, sponsorship, etc. and why it’s such a big deal with athletes don’t fawn enough over it (eg. the take a knee “scandal”)
Sports are a strong recruitment tool, being popular with men throughout their lives, and have been wildly taken over with military propaganda as a result.
How dare you propose freedom in the land of the free. No freedom for you! Not until you pledge an allegiance.
A pledge enumerating the basic human rights of all people.
No flags, no governments, no religion needs a pledge. We need to pledge to be honorable human beings above all else.
It's a bit long, maybe do one article per day?
https://www.un.org/en/about-us/universal-declaration-of-human-rights
Nothing. Just let the kids do their morning uninterrupted.
It's state law where I live. Fucking crazy.
Nothing, propaganda pledges don't have a place in institutions of learning.
Nothing.
If you want your citizens to be loyal, give them a good life, not a brainwashing.
I am a Swede, my life has been good, I may not be physically fit for fighting, but I absolutely would join the military and do support for the fighting for Sweden if needed.
I, too, would fight for Sweden, which I've only visited a few times to see my new in-laws.
Sweden is THAT awesome.
Fucking unrealistic, like the shire but with unreasonably gorgeous and decent people.
I'm an American moving to Sweden right now.
I'd fight for you in a second. You're good people and I don't think you'd start shit without a reason.
So I guess "And you have my state of the art military AI drone technology!"
This one sounds kinda good:
Satanic laugh
... insomuch as doing so doesn't harm others.
(Don't want the vaccine, get your tent and your polar bear rifle (just kidding; those things will fuck you up before you even see them coming).)
Delete the middle.
“I pledge allegiance to liberty and justice for all”
I would replace it with education. Which is the purpose of schools.
How about nothing? Why do we need to indoctrinate children with any kind of this bullshit?
I just never did it, why even replace it. just remove it entirely.
No pledge. And "God bless America" should be dropped in favor of "Yippie-Ki-Yay, motherfucker".
The 7 sacred tenants of the Satanic Temple
Ironically, I think the Satanic Temple would oppose such a policy.
By Grabthar's Hammer, by the Suns of Warvan, you shall be avenged.
daily affirmations would be nice for the kiddos
2 minutes of deep breathing to relax and concentrate, repeated through the day.
That's it, just give everyone a chance to relax and center before getting back to the crazy.
Square breathing
That's it, makes a big difference when you need it.
The Team Rocket motto
Gee, I dunno...How about learning something?
I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain.
Nothing. Maybe a “good morning, do your best, and remember to be kind today”
Silent meditation.
Nothing. There would be no replacement and the pledge would fade from memory.
I pledge allegiance to the drag of the United Queens of America.
And to the queer for who we stand fabulous?
I dunno. I'm trying too hard.
"we love our bread, we love our butter, but most of all we love each other" 🥰
The I Love Egg song. No shortcuts.
Could even make an entire assembly about it. Every morning, spend five minutes dancing and showing allegiance to the vitamins and minerals in you, and oodles of the proteins too (oodle doodle)!
The navy seal copypasta
I vow to live my life in a way that supports the thriving of all life in perpetuity.
Back when I was an extremely earnest 14-year-old I wanted to replace it with Carl Sagan's Pale Blue Dot speech, but honestly that's probably too long and I don't think forcing 5-year-olds to recite something they won't even understand is a good way to instill anything worth instilling.
I drink it from a cup.
I drink it from a bottle.
I drink it from the belly button
Of a super model!
Apple juice and vodka!
Apple juice and vodka!
Why you drinking water?
Apple juice and vodka!
Just let them visit amongst themselves for like two minutes and get ready to tackle the day.
A pledge to democracy and democratic values
Well it does pledge to the republic and to the values of the republic. Which is appropriate for a republic.
Probably just the New Colossus poem enscribed beneath Lady Liberty.
I actually feel a sense of patriotic pride when I read that.
Same vein, make "This Land" the National Anthem.
A lot more down to what music most Americans actually value in their day to day anyways.
Yeah, we don’t need a song about war to remind us how we got here, we need a song about togetherness to remind us how we should be.
Can we make a pledge to be a good and productive person?
If anything, get them to find/research their own that they identify with and explain what makes it personal to them.
Lol I can't wait to hear everyone recite their respective pledges at the same time
mushrooms and puppies
With red or white wine?
I pledge to be fair, stay curious and stand up for those who cannot stand up for themselves. To never forget we are a people dedicated to a just and free society for all. To be welcoming and inclusive of all peoples, rich or poor and the regardless if the color of their skin or their faith or gender or sexual orientation. Except Donald Trump. That guy is a jerk.
Decades in the future people only know Donald Trump as "the guy who's a jerk according to the Morning Pledge"
Teacher: "What is best in life?"
Students (In Unison): "To crush your enemies. See them driven before you. And hear the lamentations of their women."
I really can't remember the last time I said it in school, would have been super early on, 1st or 2nd grade back in the 70s. Definitely not after that.
hmmm, the tao of bill & ted kinda works for me.
Give them 5 minutes with fidget spinners or other fidget toys.
Only half joking, stimming be good for you.
Something based on the scout oath. "a scout is trustworthy, loyal, honest..." Except based on what an American should be. "An American values the opinions of others, is a safe shot with a gun, does not live with someone without their consent, keeps their property secure, demands due process of the law, uses a lawyer, believes in the jury trail, does not apply cruel punishment, believes there are rights we don't know reserved to us, and believes in limited government" (you should find each article in the bill of rights above) Of course better wordsmiths than I should rewrite that, and we probably need a lot of debate.
Note that I never pledge allegiance. As a christian my allegiance is to God and so it would be a lie to pledge allegiance to anything else. Thus making me recite the common pledge is a violation of the first amendment. (this is much clearer if you read the 12 amendments as originally proposed - for better or worse what actually passed isn't as clear)
A conga line.
give them shovels, and the person who digs the deepest hole gets given a non monetary prize
The Pledge of Ethics?
An elevator music rendition of the national anthem, if anything is needed at all (or maybe use this opportunity to remind students that individual towns/cities have flags, anthems, and pledges too).
Shower thought: What do deaf kids do for the pledge?
"most students"? "every morning"?
My class only did it until we had it memorized, and then never again.
Guess you weren't "most" then. That's definitely not the norm.
It is a law in my state that all students must stand and all teachers must recite. Most of the students recite too, but no one but teachers are forced to.
That law has been unenforceable since 1943.
Students are not being compelled to salute or say the pledge, only stand and be quiet. Teachers are the ones compelled to recite the pledge every day.
Pledges reek of authoritarianism to me, so maybe replace it with a common saying like "Be excellent to each other because we have no more or less entitlement to this world than any other being and our individual perspective is at best a tiny viewport not to be confused with reality"
The Pledge of Allegiance... To Science!
Keep the same wording but replace with operative terms such as flag with Israel!
It's about having pride in your community. Nothing wrong with an anthem. But this one does not reflect the values or even represent most of the community it's meant to hype.
Not my type of music, but Kendrick Lamar seem to have hit the right note this summer.
You're thinking of the National Anthem, which is wholly different from the Pledge of Allegiance.
Yeah...teach me too poop and pontificate
The Pledge of Allegiance is what kids say, not the Star Spangled Banner. The Pledge is a little light on drama and more nationalist than patriotic imo. Not too terribly bad, except for the "under God" part they added in 1954.
The Nicene Creed
Just a couple of judicious edits...
If you take out "by their creator" you need to remove or change "endowed"
How about...
Okay replacing men with persons is just nitpicking, and I don't think it's grammatically correct.
It's absolutely not nitpicking, it's inclusive
Men in this use case is already gender neutral.
I understand that historically "men" was used to refer to humans in general, but language evolves, and it's important to use terms that are explicitly inclusive. By saying "persons" instead of "men," it ensures everyone feels represented/included, and reinforces that these rights apply to every individual (bc they used to not, and lots of folks still want them to only apply to cishet white men)
Not just historically. It's a literary term, but still a thing.
Other than that, inclusivity is important, but inclusivity theater is just annoying. Literally nothing will change if you change that one word in the constitution.
I'm guessing you're a cis man? It would actually be a meaningful change for a lot of women and nonbinary people, even if subconscious.
Personally, I get a little bit annoyed every time I read/hear the general use of "men," and that would change if we change that one word in the constitution, so not literally nothing
i don't think the government would like that, democrat or Republican
I, [Insert full name], swear by Almighty God that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to His Majesty King Charles, his heirs and successors, according to law. So help me God.
I have never seen the pledge of allegiance recited in a classroom, not met a person who did this.
As far as I can tell, it’s a myth.
I did everyday K-12. Nice to meet you.
I definitely did growing up in elementary school. Every morning, during the school wide announcements, the principle or whoever was talking on the PA system would recite the pledge and students were pretty much expected to stand and put one hand on their chest and at least listen if not recite it.
It seemed to taper off in my middle school years, and basically only ever happened at football games once I was in high-school.
This is all in a fairly blue area of a generally pretty blue state.
Blue state blue country and we were expected to recite the pledge every morning of k-8 (I don't recall it being a thing in high school.) I remember kids whose parents were politically active being punted out of class for not participating. About half of us would just follow along with "blah blah blah blah blah blah blah" at the cadence of the pledge.