There are some religions that do not allow reciting the Pledge. Jehovas Witnesses might be one of them. If that was the case here, it would not have made the media.
Choose your battles, this isn't one of them. This kid doesn't say the Pledge. Okay, move on.
Pittman3, you are the problem with America. You are the reason half the world hates your nation. You're a dimwit :-)
While the U.S. has its imperfections...
Love it or leave it!
"So let me see if I got this right? You want to live here in America, where you were born. But, you do not agree with our government? You use and maybe even abuse the first amendment, and yet refuse to show any allegiance to that very same government that obtained that 1st Amendment.
OK. I understand now.
You want the freedome to say what you want, and abuse the right to have freedom of expression. Yet, you are against the very same government that obtained that right for you.
Let me ask you a very simple question. Ever serve your country, or do you just live in it?"
Spoken like a true fascist.
What does serve your country mean? Carry out the agenda of the rich and powerful people who call the shots?
Olathe Runner, how nicely oversimplistic. Perhaps you don't realize WHY we love it. Partly, it's because it's not a place where you have to recite stuff like the pledge.
mighty porn stache wrote:
X-Runner wrote:They can leave the anthem before games but get rid of God Bless America at the 7th inning stretch and bring back "Take Me Out to the Ball Game"
Preferably a taped version from a drunk Harry Caray.
Agreed 100%. Harry Caray was awesome.
Just for the record,, a White Sox tradition w/ Harry Carry long before the Cubs started doing it.
[quote]X-Runner wrote:
They can leave the anthem before games but get rid of God Bless America at the 7th inning stretch and bring back "Take Me Out to the Ball Game"
quote]
I could understand doing that for a year but it has really ticked me off the last few years when they do that (which really only seems to be televised national events)
AMerica is the greetist place on erth. Do what we say and you cin have all the freedom you need. Say the pledge, love the flag, and sing the anthem loud. Show that you love God and that God loves America
These kind of threads are ALWAYS so much trolling stupidity.
Notice how almost all of the poster names are none of the regular one's you would recognize?
Same two conservative wack jobs posting over and over again with different names to "flood" the thread to make it look like (well, only the stupid would be gullible enough) there is some conservative majority to their claptrap opinions here.
Lame.
The pledge of allegiance?
Ever notice the glassed over eyes of all the kids in school repeated those words?
The pledge means nothing, because it is forced on kids too young to really understand it and it becomes a rote stupid habit forced on kids by adults...that is meaningless.
And there is nothing more American that freedom of speech.
And not being brainwashed into saying something so lame is freedom.
You right wing wacko's can go jerk yourselves all the hate froths you want - you will never control others to your way of thinking.
America was founded on free thought, free speech, separation of church and state.
And THAT, is a good thing. It protects the reach of us from ilk like YOU.
Is it the same thing to say the pledge of allegiance and to SHOW allegiance to the country? In elementary school, I refused to say it because of the unconstitutionality of loyalty oaths and the addition 'under God'.
Where were all you sons of bitches when the video of the children practically worshiping Obama?
I'm fine with kids choosing not to say the pledge. That's one of the freedoms we talk about when we say "with liberty and justice for all." But I'm always a little amused with these self-styled rebels who assert their individuality in lockstep. A 10-year-old, refusing to pledge over gay rights? Come on. Some aging hippie parent probably put him up to that, still "sticking it to the man" after all these years. Probably while wearing a mass-produced Che Guevera t-shirt made in a Chinese sweatshop. Bah.
Nobody should have to say the pledge. The pledge is modern indoctrination. They didn't have it for 100 years after the country was created. People shouldn't have to put their hand over their heart during the pledge or the national anthem either.
Don't you all find it ironic that we are discussing the forcing of someone to say the pledge....to force it, in the land of the free? Nazi America, perhaps???
I Dont Suck wrote:
I think too many people put too much thought into the pledge. No one is making you say anything. Fighting the Pledge is just pointless media whoring.
This is a great country b/c you can ignore the Pledge, don't these people get it?
Think of the Pledge like the Star Spangled Banner or Jingle Bells. It is celebrating something we all enjoy. If a certain part rubs you the wrong way (I hate open sleighs), just ignore that part and roll your eyes.
Don't be a big crybaby over nothing. No one is making you do anything.
Oh, I get it just grin and bear it! Just grin and bear unjust wars and rampant inflation, not to mention illegal taxes and a narrowing of american rights. Just look away from the bad parts and ignore them. If people are forcing you to living in concentration camps, who cares? At least they're not forcing you to be happy about it!
Thanks, I think I've got this grin and bear it thing down.
shut up wrote:
I Dont Suck wrote:I think too many people put too much thought into the pledge. No one is making you say anything. Fighting the Pledge is just pointless media whoring.
This is a great country b/c you can ignore the Pledge, don't these people get it?
Think of the Pledge like the Star Spangled Banner or Jingle Bells. It is celebrating something we all enjoy. If a certain part rubs you the wrong way (I hate open sleighs), just ignore that part and roll your eyes.
Don't be a big crybaby over nothing. No one is making you do anything.
Oh, I get it just grin and bear it! Just grin and bear unjust wars and rampant inflation, not to mention illegal taxes and a narrowing of american rights. Just look away from the bad parts and ignore them. If people are forcing you to living in concentration camps, who cares? At least they're not forcing you to be happy about it!
Thanks, I think I've got this grin and bear it thing down.
good. now put it into practice and shut up.
This article is just further proof that the "news" in this country is becoming more inane and ridiculous by the day. We honestly have CNN covering disciplinary issues at an elementary school? Is their next big headline going to be something like "Sally Smith of East Lake Middle School Skips 3rd Period?" I didn't think it was possible, but they've found something even more meaningless to report on than their usual celebrity gossip.
The Bare Facts wrote:
Guppy of newe wrote:The pledge is some serious weird shit. It's the kind of thing a totalitarian state does (for the same stated reasons people are using here). The point of school shouldn't be to churn out nationalistic drones. No one needs to pledge allegiance to understand the country, and I seriously doubt elementary school kids know what they're doing.
Totalitarian states have kids pledge allegiance to a person, like Hitler or Kim Jong-Il. Our pledge is to our ideals of democracy and liberty. There is a difference.
All the kids are really doing is pledging allegiance to the very concepts that allow them to refuse to say the pledge if they want. Funny, isn't it?
Our republic is far from perfect. We must all try to make it better. But I'm still waiting for someone who hates our government to tell me what better form of government, invented by human beings, exists besides modern liberal democracy? There used to be seriously committed communists in our country, but after the wall fell most of them have faded into the background. Democracy is the only game in town these days. We're just arguing on how it should best wrok, not if it should exist.
No, they're pledging their allegiance 'to the republic' (i.e. the government). So, the difference is only the people they're pledging to. In authoritarian states, they pledge to a person, yes. And here they pledge their allegiance to multiple people that make up the government (and just throw in that part about morals and ideals on which our country was built to make it feel nice). Either way, it's still a forced pledge of allegiance, and you should not have to pledge your allegiance to anybody. I don't agree with this kid's reasons, but fundamentally, he's right about not being forced to say the pledge.
Think about it this way: would you try to force college students to say the pledge? Would you make it mandatory at your job or everyone else's job? If not, don't force it on kids! Ignorance doesn't make everything okay.
shut up wrote:
No, they're pledging their allegiance 'to the republic' (i.e. the government). So, the difference is only the people they're pledging to. In authoritarian states, they pledge to a person, yes. And here they pledge their allegiance to multiple people that make up the government (and just throw in that part about morals and ideals on which our country was built to make it feel nice). Either way, it's still a forced pledge of allegiance, and you should not have to pledge your allegiance to anybody. I don't agree with this kid's reasons, but fundamentally, he's right about not being forced to say the pledge.
Think about it this way: would you try to force college students to say the pledge? Would you make it mandatory at your job or everyone else's job? If not, don't force it on kids! Ignorance doesn't make everything okay.
That's why I said in my first post that the kid shouldn't be forced to say the pledge if he doesn't want to. Why don't you read the whole thread before you make an ass out of yourself.
Just pointing out that the U.S. is not a totalitarian state, a fact that apparently has escaped some dumb teenagers in this country.
Frankly this stupid story would have NO traction if it werent for the 'Gay' thing! If Little Willie had refused to recite the Pledge because he felt justice wasn't real in America anymore since the current political crop in washington is getting away with abuses to the law that ordinary citizens cant get away with, it would have been ignored. It would have been considered a non-story. But this story plays with Political Correctness and the ever present gay rights agenda. Sorry to call it like it is!
When the hell does a 10 year old "TEACH" the masses and have moral clarity. I doubt he is that aware. More likely he is reiterating the tripe he hears at home and the parent, instead of training little Willie to be respectful (with all due respect [insert sarcasm]) is training our little free spirit to be, well...,disrespectful. You don't fix one wrong by not correcting another. The teacher was wrong to go balistic, the BOY was wrong to say what he did. correct both! The fact that this is an issue though is not because Little Willie is clear and grounded in his understanding of right and wrong. WTF! stupid story by a stupid media.