Let’s look at the pledge of allegiance to the United States of America, in the light of reality. In doing this, I am not suggesting that any be disloyal to their country.
The pledge starts out, I pledge allegiance to the flag and to the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands..
By taking the pledge citizens are pledging allegiance to the flag, and the country itself which is second in sequence. The flag is a symbol and an icon that stands for the country regardless of what it was, is, or is becoming . So, the country itself can change for the worse. The republic can lose its democratic principles. Citizens continue to focus on the flag. They may not notice when democratic principles are lost.
Leaders may guide citizens into supporting efforts that are wrong and unconstitutional. Yet, citizens have pledged allegiance to a symbol only, in their minds.. Does that imply citizens should back their country in any and all activities those elected decide the country must engage in? deem citizens too ignorant to be given fundamental information they need to perform their democratic function of managing the very people who deny them information. This is while citizens sit on juries for $10 per day or so deciphering information just as complicated as what they need in order to manage the behaviors of those in office whom they are charged with managing. Is this o.k.?
Going further, One nation under God, This is a country where religion and government are separate. Indivisible, A democratic system cannot function without division. Without it, a country morphs into a totalitarian state. Certainly, this is meant to mean mean literally that the states don’t divide and operate independently as was tried in the Civil War. What is the implication of the cohesiveness being involuntary? Does it imply that the states must become slaves to the federal government? What if the United States as a whole becomes authoritarian and loses its democratic principles, even while insisting that it has not? When a politician promises to unite the country is that really a good thing? How many good things have happened in history after a leader has united a country around him?
With liberty and justice for all. Citizens are asked to embrace censorship which is prohibited in the constitution. We have a class which lives above the law. Is that justice for all? You decide. Do you mind?
In summary, citizens take an oath to be loyal to a symbol first and pay little attention to whether the country still operates as a genuine republic. What if the country changes fundamentally, while the symbol of the country stays the same?
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