Since we are homeschooling once again, my 9 year old daughter and I were invited to be a part of an American Girls book club for young ladies ages 6-9. Not having much else to do socially for her, I decided this would be a great opportunity for her to meet some new friends and get excited about reading new books. So we offered to host two meetings in January. This past Thursday was our first time to host this group. I had assumed the group started the meeting with prayer and believe we should pray, but it surprised me that they typically begin their book club meetings with The Pledge of Allegiance as well. Due to the fact that I wasn't prepared for this and had no flag available, we opted to skip it for now. Ever since then, it's something that I've been mulling over in my head. I hate to shock everyone, but we have not taught our children to devote an allegiance to our American flag! Can they recite The Pledge of Allegiance if asked to, or if they choose to? Yes! Is it a requirement in our home school? No!
Once you get your jaw up off the floor, continue reading, and maybe you'll understand why.
But let me back up to this book club we're in, and the books the girls are reading. The first set of books is about the American Girl, Felicity.
This book is about Felicity Merriman and her family who lived during the time prior to and during the Revolutionary War with America gaining independence from a tyrannical king and government in England. It demonstrates the Merriman family and others being "Patriots" to the new American nation rather than "Loyalists" who still devoted an allegiance to the British crown and rule of law from that government. Because the Merriman's had patriotism to principles of freedom, liberty and resistance to tyranny in hopes of forming a new, independent nation, they were heroes of these cute historical fiction books written for young readers.
As a mother of a very patriotic homeschooling family, I find it highly ironic that we as an American society are conditioning our young children to pledge an allegiance to a flag that represents a government that to many IS tyranny, evil, corruption and a whole other list of negative terms (much of the same list of government intrusions and policies that our the revolutionaries in the late 1700's were fighting against).....and this allegiance has become a symbol of a patriotic American?????
We have chosen to opt out of the government run state institutions where indoctrination happens through this "pledge" and politically correct curricula....so why in our home school would we perpetuate this devotion to government? I'm sure that not many people know about the socialistic history of The Pledge of Allegiance and don't question it when sending their children off to school. (click on the above words in bold for a very interesting read you probably didn't learn in school yourself!)
We, as Americans, have been so conditioned to devote this allegiance that we've not thought to question its origins that very closely resemble Nazi Germany. Does this scare anyone else but me? We have been programmed to believe that if we fly a flag, put our hand on our hearts, repeat the Pledge and sing The Star Spangled Banner every July it must mean we're good Americans. A good man I know calls this "symbolic patriotism".
One young college graduate video blogger feels this way about the pledge of allegiance. (the older I get, the more I agree with her.... but haven't yet been so bold and brave to do what she did in opting out of a public pledge to the flag.)
Another good man, President Ezra Taft Benson once said this,
I happen to love my country and the principles it was founded upon, but I do NOT love our government. There is a difference. As individuals and collectively, we should not feel coerced into pledging our allegiance to said government, or any of it's symbols. I can pledge my allegiance to my God, my family, my country.....but a FLAG?
We've had more discussions in our home with our children about this subject than I can even begin to post about. I love our flag, it is indeed beautiful and could represent so many wonderful things if our government would get back to the basic fundamentals of freedom, liberty and the Constitution.
Unfortunately in our present political climate with our God- Given and Constitutional rights being taken away (especially in our post-9/11 world), I cannot perpetuate with my children a pledge or an allegiance to a flag that represents a near tyrannical government which our Founding Fathers and other revolutionaries fought so valiantly against in the time of Felicity Merriman. She may be a fictional character, but the historical and political system during that time period is the very backbone of our nation.
However, my children have learned and will continue to learn about freedom and liberty through study of America's founding documents, The U.S. Constitution and The Declaration of Independence; through candid discussions about why we feel the way we do about government and politics; or about what our LDS church leaders have said on this topic. (Ezra Taft Benson was widely spoken on these topics in his lifetime both as a government representative and as the prophet of the LDS Church). My children have been and will continue to be politically active in supporting leaders who we have studied and feel will best preserve our freedoms.
Our family has been very politically active and patriotic while using what Constitutional rights we have left (the 1st Amendment, specifically), especially this past election cycle in 2012. In fact, my husband was both a county and state delegate this past year, hoping to make a difference in our local and state government. What could be more American and patriotic than this? Not only have we done "sign waves" on street corners a few times, we've had two occasions this past year to see and hear someone who many consider a modern day revolutionary, and one of the few men in Congress who actually stood up for the Constitution and American's founding principles of liberty his entire career, Dr. Ron Paul (now retired). Yet some would consider us unpatriotic because we've chosen to not instill The Pledge of Allegiance in our family culture. If that's what some choose to think, that's their right, just as it is our right to think differently and choose a different course for our family. Perhaps, instead of pledging allegiance to a flag---a mere piece of cloth----maybe we should instead consider pledging our allegiance to the founding documents of our once great nation.
I hope my friends and family who see this will understand, not judge, and perhaps, start thinking about the content discussed here.
PS
Here are some great websites to consider, especially for my LDS friends. :)
LDS Liberty
Warlike People
