protest to the pledge
By David DeMatteo

I wrote this in a "protest" format for fun.

Today I would like to perform my duty as a student and as an American by questioning the government and lawmaking authorities, which have higher authority than I. Before presenting the issue, which I would like to be solved, I would like you to know that I am deeply interested and deeply dedicated to equality, politics, and atheism. The issue I wish to present is one that ultimately must be solved at a national scale, however I have not yet obtained the ability to influence people in such a way. However, I think I can make a substantial impact on the policies of the local community and school. So I have come forth with an event that happens every day, which according to the constitution, should not. I trust that you are familiar with the principle of separation of church and state, a fundamental principle when the founding fathers created the United States Constitution. Separation of church and state can be split into 4 basic principles:
1. People can run for office regardless of what religion they believe or if they believe in religion at all.
2. What religion you believe or do not believe should not influence or impact your chance of winning a political office.
3.Public school cannot promote religion in school, promote not believing in religion in school, and therefore the schools must be secular.
4. Public school cannot treat, offer, or in any way treat a certain child in a different way based on what religion they believe or if they believe in a religion at all.
The principle being violated every day is the third, so I must explain in more detail about this principle. The promotion of religion in a school does not necessarily have to be something that is forced upon the students, but merely a certain thing that is said to the students that conveys the school’s views about religion. I am not an absolutist, so of course remarks by the teachers or the occasional “Oh my god” will not be considered to be violating church and state. However, a certain practice that is part of the school’s schedule that may impress a view on religion or a view against religion is definitely violating the principle of separation of church and state. Oddly, every day we are not only hearing a remark about god on the loudspeaker, but we are encouraged to say it. I am talking about the pledge of allegiance, which is a direct promotion of god. The pledge of allegiance may be memorized, but just to refresh it I shall state it. It reads:
“I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under god, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all”.
The words that must be focused on are “under god”. Literally, the term means that our country is under god, and that god is above us. Metaphorically the term under god means that god is watching over our nation and that our country is blessed. Either way, god is supposedly completely existent, which conflicts with atheistic beliefs, and not only is he supposedly existent, but the United States must pay tribute to him! For some reason, people cannot accurately imagine being in the atheist’s “shoes” when they hear this pledge, so I will offer an alternative. Imagine that you were brought up to be an orthodox Jew, had a bar mitzvah, and had a strong belief in Judaism. Yet every day when you go to school imagine having to say “one nation, under Allah”. Allah is the Islam god, and the same way that a Jew would feel when he is encouraged to make a statement contradictory to his religious beliefs at school is the way an atheist will feel when he hears the worlds “under god”; he would feel alien. Some argue that this represents the nation and not the school, yet saying it in school each and every day implies that the school also believes there is a god.
The government puts the pledge into our school because they want the students to be patriotic and adopt the ideals of our nation. Adopting and learning these ideas is essentially education through hard repetition of saying these ideals every day, and if god is one of them you are essentially learning to believe in god! Some argue that I have the choice to sit out, which is a valid argument but easily proven wrong. While I do have the choice to sit out for the pledge, it is embarrassing, looked down upon, and some teachers may urge you to recite the pledge. Even if I did sit out, the school would be promoting a religious activity that contradicts with separation of church and state. Every child is hearing the words under god in the whole building, and repeating them because most students do not have enough will power to try to take a stand. If the pledge of allegiance is supposedly recited as an example of patriotism, then does not reciting it make you not patriotic? If I choose to sit down through the pledge of allegiance then I could be considered non-patriotic. Therefore, not only does the pledge of allegiance contradict secularity, but also insults the American Constitution.
If we are a nation under god then of course only people who are religious should be running for a political office since the nation is under a god, after all the pledge of allegiance represents a perfect American. Now, imagine reversing all of the words in the Pledge of allegiance. So it would go something like this:
“ I pledge allegiance, to the flag of the United States of America, and to the dictatorship for which it stands, a separated nation, under no god, with suppression and tyranny for all.
I certainly do not equate my religious belief of atheism with tyranny and suppression. America does not seem a place welcome to atheists according to what I hear at school every day, but America seems like a religious nation where I can not be a good American if I do not uphold the value of believing in god. The ideals of Freedom, Liberty and Indivisibility are obviously more important than their counterparts, therefore the idea of god is supposedly more valuable then it’s counterpart, not being under god. Also, children attach onto principles they learn at a young age, and the school is essentially attaching the belief of religion to these students.
Another popular argument is that the founding father’s made this pledge, and they deserve to have their words recited every day as a reminder of their greatness. I agree with this, however, the words “under god” were not originally included in the pledge of allegiance; they were added in officially in 1954. Why 1954? Well, in the middle of the twentieth century their was a great deal of thinking about religion, and atheism was on the rise, so religious Republicans decided to pass a law that the words “under god” be a part of the pledge of allegiance. Thankfully, many schools are beginning to abandon the words “under god” as they betray secularity. It is time to take another step in lessening the struggle of being an atheist in the United States, and creating a more friendly environment for atheists who already live in a world where belief is the dominating doctrine. Thankfully, although many good things may seem to be vanishing in our current economic state, the secularity in public education is only increasing.
Many schools have permanently decided to abandon “ under god”. These schools tend to be situated in areas, which are more liberal and democratic. As you probably know, New York in general is one of the most liberal states. Instead of completely terminating the words “ under god”, why not replace the words with an ideal that the United States has always represented. I have thought of a couple, but in my view it would be best to let the student body pick what words we should substitute in. The two that seems most prominent and best fitted in this situation are:
1.“ One nation, under democracy”, and
2. “ One nation, governed by equality”
Thank you for taking your time to read my proposal, and I hope that our school can be one that is a model for others, a school which is determined to provide a environment which is friendly to all students no matter of the race, creed, sexual orientation, gender, intelligence, disabilities, or religious belief of a certain student.