I Pledge Allegiance To No One\r\nAuthor: Stephen\r\nDeVoy<\/i>\r\n<\/p>
Every morning Elizabeth joined her classmates in reciting the Pledge of\r\nAllegiance. She never thought about what it meant, she just followed\r\nthrough with the other students repeating the words which came out like one very\r\nlong run-on sentence. It was a mechanical exercise.<\/b><\/p>\r\n
Today was different. A new girl, Amy, had transferred to her school\r\nfrom a school in another city. When the time came for the Pledge of\r\nAllegiance<\/i>, she remained sitting, drawing on her notebook. No one ever\r\ngave much thought to the process before, until that day, but it was as if\r\nsomeone had scraped their fingernails on the chalkboard. Everyone felt\r\nvery uncomfortable and they knew it was because one student was not reciting the\r\npledge but they did not know why this bothered them.<\/b><\/p>\r\n
The students began scanning each other, looking out the corners of their eyes,\r\nwith an expression of incredulity. Never, in all their years, had they\r\nseen someone sit down and draw during the pledge. Amy seemed completely\r\nunaware of the tension and happily drew upon her notebook.<\/b><\/p>\r\n
As they finished, the teacher looked over towards the class and was shocked\r\nto see Amy sitting there, drawing, rather than joining in the ritual.<\/b><\/p>\r\n
\"Amy!\" said the teacher. \"Why didn't you stand up with\r\nthe rest of us and say the pledge?\"<\/b><\/p>\r\n
Amy's head raised up from the notebook. She looked at the teacher and\r\nsaid, \"I don't say the Pledge of Allegiance<\/i>. I never have and I never\r\nwill.\"<\/b><\/p>\r\n
\"Amy, you are required to say the Pledge of Allegiance<\/i> in this\r\nschool,\" the teacher stressed sternly with an intense glare.<\/b><\/p>\r\n
\"Actually,\" said Amy, very calm and content, \"this school is\r\nwithin the United States and I am not required to say anything.\"<\/b><\/p>\r\n
Amy had done nothing. It was her doing nothing that was in\r\nquestion. Nevertheless, the teacher became angry and took Amy's true and\r\nsincere statement as a challenge to her authority.<\/b><\/p>\r\n
\"Amy, you will stay after school,\" she ordered.<\/b><\/p>\r\n
This incident made Elizabeth feel very torn. On the one hand, Amy\r\nseemed disruptive by not saying the pledge but on the other hand, she had done\r\nnothing - literally. How could one be punished for doing nothing?<\/b><\/p>\r\n
Elizabeth decided to wait in the playground after school. She wanted to\r\ntalk with Amy when Amy got out of detention. She sat on a swing and\r\nrecited the Pledge of Allegiance<\/i>, only this time she took the time to notice\r\nwhat the words were and what they meant. She found the words strange and\r\nit left her with some questions.<\/b><\/p>\r\n
At about 3:30, the side door of the school opened and Amy came walking\r\nout. She turned towards the road and continued walking, not noticing\r\nElizabeth on the swings. Elizabeth ran to catch up to Amy. A few\r\nyards before reaching her, she slowed down and then stopped.<\/b><\/p>\r\n
\"Hi,\" she said. \"I'm Elizabeth. I'm in your\r\nclass.\"<\/b><\/p>\r\n
Amy turned and smiled. \"Hi, Elizabeth. I'm Amy. Did\r\nyou wait here for me to come out of detention?\"<\/b><\/p>\r\n
Elizabeth blushed, \"Well, um, yeah, I was, well I was wondering about,\r\nyou know, the pledge and why you didn't say it.\"<\/b><\/p>\r\n
Amy looked down and then raised her head to Elizabeth and replied, \"I'm\r\nhappy to meet you and everything, but really I don't think it is anyone's\r\nbusiness why I choose not to say the Pledge of Allegiance. It's my own\r\nbusiness and I don't need to explain it to anyone.\"<\/b><\/p>\r\n
\"You don't have to explain it to me,\" said Elizabeth. \"I\r\nwas just hoping you would because I never met anyone before who wouldn't say\r\nit. I don't even really understand the Pledge of Allegiance. I was\r\nhoping that talking with you about it would help me learn something.\"<\/b><\/p>\r\n
The two were silent. They began walking down the street. It was\r\nfall and the leaves were turning gold and red. A dog started following\r\nthem from a distance. No one knew who he belonged to, he just showed up\r\nnow and then and tagged along.<\/b><\/p>\r\n
\"Elizabeth,\" said Amy. \"Do you know what flags are\r\nfor?\"<\/b><\/p>\r\n
\"I haven't really thought about it,\" she answered, \"but I was\r\nreally hoping you'd tell me about the pledge.\"<\/b><\/p>\r\n
\"I am telling you about the pledge. The pledge is a pledge to a\r\nflag and that's where we should start, with the flag.\" Amy became\r\nanimated. She was beginning to enjoy the idea of talking about it. \r\nHer reluctance was not caused by shame, it was caused by her belief that she, as\r\nan individual, has the right to make her own personal decisions without anyone\r\nhaving the right to demand an explanation. In this case, she saw that it\r\nwould benefit Elizabeth. Since there was a reason other than a demand for\r\nan explanation, she didn't mind sharing her thoughts.<\/b><\/p>\r\n
\"Flags are about war,\" she continued. \"Flags are about\r\nblindly rallying to the call of murder. My father blindly rallied to the\r\ncall of murder, behind that very flag, and now he's dead. I won't let them\r\nprogram me in to following like a lemming over the cliff.\"<\/b><\/p>\r\n
She was silent for a time.<\/b><\/p>\r\n
Elizabeth thought about what Amy had said. She had thought she was\r\npledging allegiance to her country, but now that she thought about the words\r\n\"I Pledge Allegiance to the Flag,\" she could see that Amy was right.<\/b><\/p>\r\n
\"What about 'to the Republic for which It Stands',\" asked\r\nElizabeth.<\/b><\/p>\r\n
\"Whose republic?\" replied Amy? Do you vote?<\/b><\/p>\r\n
\"No, I'm too young, but one day I will,\" said Elizabeth.<\/b><\/p>\r\n
\"Let talk about that,\" Amy said with a heated voice. \r\n\"First of all, they are forcing you to pledge allegiance to a republic and\r\nthey don't let you vote. That smacks of slavery. Later you will\r\nvote, but for whom will you vote? Two political parties have a lock on the\r\nelectoral process and both represent the same class - the rich. Are you\r\nrich, Elizabeth?\"<\/b><\/p>\r\n
\"Well, now, I'm not rich, but I'm not poor,\" she replied.<\/b><\/p>\r\n
\"The difference between you and the rich is much bigger than the\r\ndifference between you and the poor, Elizabeth. The rich don't have to\r\nworry about working. The rich have complete access to the legal\r\nsystem. The rich can get away with things that you cannot get away\r\nwith. The rich do not go off and die in wars to protect their republic,\r\nthey send the poor and they send you.\"<\/b><\/p>\r\n
Elizabeth thought about Amy's words. She was right. Her\r\nparents were always worried about their jobs. They were stressed. \r\nThey feared becoming poor but they had no expectation of ever become rich. \r\nAmy was onto something.<\/b><\/p>\r\n
Amy continued, \"Look at the President. Are his daughters\r\nfighting in the war? Have you heard of the son or daughter of any wealthy\r\ncorporate man that has died in the war? Have you seen any soldiers living\r\nwell and enjoying the things the rich enjoy? You haven't because they are\r\nnot rich. The republic belongs to the rich and it is paid for with the\r\nblood of the poor. It is not your republic and pledging allegiance to it\r\nis like a slave pledging allegiance to her master or a rape victim pledging\r\nallegiance to her rapist.<\/b><\/p>\r\n
\"Have you ever wondered why they make you repeat that pledge, every\r\nday? When someone takes an oath of office, they do it once. They\r\ndon't do it every day. Pledges are meant to be taken once. When\r\nsomeone has you recite something, over and over, every day of your life,\r\nthey seek to program you. I bet you never thought about the words of the\r\nPledge of Allegiance before, have you?\"<\/b><\/p>\r\n
\"No, I haven't. I say it like it's one long word...\"<\/b><\/p>\r\n
\"Exactly. It is a program, not a pledge. The daily\r\nrecital of that pledge is indoctrination. The Nazis used\r\nindoctrination. The Soviets used indoctrination. Cults use\r\nindoctrination. Do you want to be a robot, Elizabeth?\"<\/b><\/p>\r\n
\"No, I don't want to be a robot,\" she replied.<\/b><\/p>\r\n
\"Then think about what you let them do to you. When the call to\r\ndie for the republic of the rich goes out, do you want to march blindly off like\r\na good little robot to die in the rich man's war or do you want to have the\r\nspine to stand up and say, 'No Way!'\"?<\/b><\/p>\r\n
A twig falling from a tree could have broken the silence, but none\r\nfell. The two walked in silence for twenty minutes. As they passed\r\nan apartment building Amy said, \"This is where I get off. I'll see\r\nyou tomorrow.\"<\/b><\/p>\r\n
Elizabeth continued walking. She reached her housing track and\r\nlooked at the rows of identical houses. Something had changed within\r\nher. She felt a sense of self.<\/b><\/p>\r\n
The next day in class all of the children stood up to say the pledge,\r\nexcept for Elizabeth and Amy. The teacher glared at the two and said,\r\n\"Do we have to go through this again?\"<\/b><\/p>\r\n
\"Yes,\" Elizabeth replied, \"I pledge allegiance to no\r\none.\"<\/b><\/p>\r\n\n","contact":"","link":"","address":"","phone":"","parent_id":0,"mime_type":"text\/html","summary":"I will not die for your republic.","numcomment":6,"fileurl":"\/uploads\/","filesize":null,"article_url":"\/news\/2004\/12\/120159.php"},"attachments":[],"comments":[{"id":120161,"heading":"Beautiful","article":"This piece was written beautifully! I also really admire the fact that you chose two young girls to demonstrate that the revolution of the mind includes both genders and all ages. This is definitely something that my parents, younger sisters, and brother, will be reading. ","author":"xispa","parent_id":120159,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2004-12-11 17:49:15","modified":"2004-12-11 17:49:15","fileurl":""},{"id":120178,"heading":"DeVoy likes writing stories that appeal to young girls","article":"Young girls and young boys are his target audience.\r\n\r\nGrown ups think he is an asshole!!!!!!\r\n\r\n","author":"DeVoy fan","parent_id":120159,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2004-12-12 06:58:44","modified":"2004-12-12 06:58:44","fileurl":""},{"id":140422,"heading":"DeVoy writes for all age groups.","article":"I'm glad he targets us too.","author":"Reader","parent_id":120159,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2005-12-03 04:33:19","modified":"2005-12-03 04:33:19","fileurl":""},{"id":140439,"heading":"What dribble","article":"What a sappy little story.\r\n\r\nChildren? Those two girls sound like they are adult socialists speaking because it's a didactic little adult writing this nonsense.\r\n\r\nHow do you write socialist indoctrination through very bad literature? Brainwash through bad storytelling. YIKES\r\n\r\nHey this site discriminates. The only other language beside English is Spanish. Where is the HIndi, the French, the Mandarin, the Polish, the etc etc\r\n\r\nThis is prejudice! This is racism!","author":"Salute the flag","parent_id":120159,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2005-12-03 07:06:37","modified":"2005-12-03 07:06:37","fileurl":""},{"id":140444,"heading":"Socialists Like Flags","article":"Correction - didactic anarchists.\r\n\r\nSocialists like flags. Anarchists do not.\r\n\r\nMost successful socialist revolutions were really nationalist efforts to expel imperialist colonizers. For example, after Vietnam ejected the French, and then ejected supporters of the USA, they had total communist control. Then the proceeded to get into wars with their neighboring communists in Cambodia and China.\r\n\r\nWhere was the unity between the ideological brotherhood of Marxists? Well... there wasn't any because it was as much, or more, about nationalism and power as about communism.","author":"johnk","parent_id":120159,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2005-12-03 10:23:53","modified":"2005-12-03 10:23:53","fileurl":""},{"id":140446,"heading":"johnk","article":"the vietnamese army went into Champochia to rescue their neighbors from Pol Pot. China intruded into Vietnam. They resisted.","author":"Vet from 'nam","parent_id":120159,"mime_type":"text\/plain","created":"2005-12-03 11:00:41","modified":"2005-12-03 11:00:41","fileurl":""}]}