UPDATE: This article is almost four years old at the time of this update. I’ve since posted a more up to date version of this article which can be viewed [HERE]
I’m not in school so I never really have the opportunity to salute the flag or say the pledge of allegiance anymore. But when the situation arises, I don’t salute or recite the pledge. No, it’s not because I’m a terrorist. In fact I think if you were to meet me, you’d find I am very patriotic (although our definitions of patriotism might vary drastically). There are a number of reasons why I don’t recite the pledge or salute the flag.
1. While I love the flag and the people of America, I despise the republic for which it stands. I think the republic is dead. Instead we have some bizarre mash up of fascist socialism.
2. I don’t pledge allegiance to anybody. If you believe in God like I do, pledge allegiance to Him. If not, pledge allegiance to yourself and your own liberty. America was founded on the principles of personal liberty and independence, not nationalism. This country was started so we could live our own lives the way we want. We don’t exist for the benefit of anyone but ourselves and our loved ones.
3. The Pledge of Allegiance was written by a man named Francis Bellamy. It was written as a slogan or catch-phrase to boost flag sales. I find it ironic that it was written in order to make money on a capitalist free-market considering Francis Bellamy was a national socialist. Oh yeah. That brings me to my next point.
4. Francis Bellamy was a national socialist. He said himself that one of the purposes of the Pledge was to teach obedience to the state as a virtue. He did not believe in the same ideals that this country was founded on: personal liberty and personal responsibility. (And for those that haven’t made the connection, the shortened version of “national socialist” is “nazi”.)
5. It is a violation of the First Amendment to force people to say it. Now, I’m a Christian but I’m extremely uncomfortable with the government prompting people to recite a pledge that affirms a belief in a god. Why? Because if the government can force my religion down your throat, then they could also force your religion down mine. It’s best for everyone if the government just stays out of it. And hey, whaddya know? We have a First Amendment that theoretically protects us from things like that.
6. I am against the Union. I think we would all be better off if every State seceded. I think the federal government should be dissolved entirely. We don’t benefit from it at all. All it does is take our money and turn it around into new ways to trample on our rights.
Wow, that sounds pretty unpatriotic doesn’t it? I mean how patriotic can one be if they support the complete dissolution of the United States? Well may I remind you what the original patriots did? They didn’t wave the Union jack and sing God save King George. They started a bloody civil war and wrote the very first Constitution of it’s kind in history. Today the government would call them homegrown terrorists. And what why did they violently break away from their country? Was it so that they could wave a new flag and sing new nationalist songs? No. They did it because they wanted to be left alone. They didn’t do it for their country, they did it for themselves. That is patriotic.
wow.
I don’t know what to say. You could not have said it better.
My admiration for you continues to grow for so many reasons!
oh yeah, and I love you.
Wow. I couldn’t disagree more. You think every state should secede? And do what? All form their own government so we have 50 little Americas?? You have the right to secede if you’d like. You can move to some secluded Island and live by yourself, that’s fine. But don’t say we “should” do that. And the accusation of our Founders being ancient terrorists?? What the heck? Terrorists kill people they don’t like b/c their god told them to so they can get to heaven. The diverse groups who left England did so because they were facing religious persecution from the throne. And when they left England, America was still part of England. The King WANTED them there, out of his way. They didn’t secede till the taxation w/o representation came about. They defended themselves and their rights. And, like you, I do believe in God. Very much so; He’s a big part of my life. But that doesn’t mean I’m not going to pledge allegiance to my beloved country. I love my country, I love my flag and whenever I hear the pledge recited I stop what I’m doing and place my hand over my heart.
So, I guess we’re going to have to agree to disagree.
Blessings,
Emily Grace
Haha well first of all I think you misunderstood what I said about the founding fathers and terrorism. I didn’t say that the founding fathers were terrorists, I meant that if they tried to do what they did back then, the current government would call them terrorists and squash their little rebellion. I’d probably be among them because of course they would be right and the government would be wrong.
As far as secession goes, I don’t see why it is such a shocking subject. Many people feel that the United Nations is an unneccessary, inefficient, and far too centralized government. Well then why not the federal government? It’s just another level of control over our lives. If a group of politicians way off on another continent are too distant and too far removed to govern us efficiently, why are a group of politicians way off on the other side of the continent any better? Neither group knows anything about me or my life or the things I find important. In all honesty, I don’t think my State government is doing that great of a job either but let’s take this one step at a time
I know some of my views can be a little strange and I’m sorry if I didn’t explain them clearly enough. Thanks for reading and giving some input. I hope you stick around. Maybe I’ll be able to explain it better in future posts.
-Mike
lol. Yes, your views are strange, but I’ve been accused of the same myself, so at least we have that in common.
Just don’t ever try running for president, b/c you’re bordering unpatriotic and you’ll probably become Obama II. 
And ya, I’ll stick around. I like hearing what other people believe and I have to say, based on this post, anyway, that you’re very interesting to read.
Later,
Emily Grace
Ick. Obama gives me dry heaves haha.
Speaking of unpopular views, give this one a try if you’ve got a minute…
http://donttreadonmike.wordpress.com/2008/04/21/the-war-on-some-drugs/
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I’m a Christian on strong principals, and unfortunately there is no happy medium, the point is that while it is blasphemy against God to make a pledge to others, there is the small quip at the end of the Pledge of Allegiance- “one nation, under God.” The true problem is the atheist wave to take over this country and use it to promote homosexuality and other depraved beliefs, or non-beliefs, not sure how to phrase that for people who believe in nothing.
The other, is that the Republic, as it was, was designed to use very little power over the states, but more to keep the individual states in-check. The Federalists believed in a small centralized government with a soul purpose of protecting our individual rights and liberties. And now that the socialist left is in complete control, I do not foresee that to last much longer. Moreover, the founding fathers were right-wing extremists that would be considered terrorist by today’s definition. And do not fear, with the federal government and Obama’s push to destroy individual rights and liberties, he would completely negate the Constitution and dissolving the Union, so in that aspect, you should like the guy.
That’s the problem with government in general. Everyone wants to use it as a tool to force their way on everyone else. Atheists use it to promote their agenda and Christians use it to promote theirs. “Well what’s wrong with that?” you ask. “We’re both Christians, you should be on my side.” What’s wrong with that is when Christians try to force their views on the world through the violence of the government, the world hates us and fewer people come to know Christ. It is a very unChrist-like thing to do. He never used government to force people to live like Him. He led by example and so should we. When we give the government the power to legislate on religious matters by passing our laws, we in turn give the atheists the same power. Government is just a tool to reward your friends and punish your enemies.
That last bit about Obama was nonsense. The Constitution is already destroyed and the Union still stands. Politicians on both sides have completely ignored it for decades. Obama is the epitome of centralized government, even more-so that Bush (and that’s saying a lot. Bush was a statist scumbag) and so he is my political enemy, as are all politicians.
As a veteran of this great nation, I pledge my allegiance to the United States of America every day. A portion of my life and many ohters was given for all to have a chance to say what you want. But it is disrespectful not to salute the flag when the pledge is recited. It has nothing to do with my religion. I am a Christian and my life belongs to Christ. I will however fight to the death for my country and every thing that it stands for. That is what I pledge. The previous poster had it right. Our government was not designed to govern us but to govern the states. That is what we need to get back to. Conservatives must unite and take back our country and our rights. We must fight for what is right. We must fight against Republicans and Democrats. We must be Conservatives.
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You make me proud to be an American mother.
Hi There:
I was at my son’s Boy Scout meeting last night. My wife noticed I wasn’t saying the pledge of allegiance , and said, later “what’s up with that?” I said, honey, there are way too many things wrong with it (the “pledge”) and left it at that.
Today I was thinking about it, and googled “why I don’t….etc). This site came up first. I was, and am, shocked that this guy Mike has said, perfectly, in the absolute minimum number of words, what I have been thinking for years.
Thank you Mike whoever you are.
I’m a Vietnam war veteran, and a non-believer, and I don’t think either one of those facts has any relevance to the issue of “pledging allegiance” to the U.S. flag, or any other.
I might however pledge allegiance to the CONCEPT of the “Don’t Tread On Me flag”, which is my favorite
Awesome! Thanks for the kind words Bill! I don’t know why people feel the need to pledge allegiance to a peace of cloth or even the concept of a nation. Pledge allegiance to the idea of liberty for yourself. And as we all know, if you want to be truly free, you have to be willing to let your neighbor be truly free. So I guess we’d be pledging allegiance to Liberty for all! Much more firm and unchanging than pledging allegiance to the nebulous concept of a nation which changes every few years and doesn’t care about us.
Mike, your stances on a great many subjects closely match my own and it is rather scary. However, this one really brings it home, because I believe that this federation would be much better off if the States that compose it would recall that they are Sovereign Entities (the federalists repeated this many times in the Federalist Papers ) and that they owe no fielty to the Federal Government. Of course, how does one go about convincing the brainwashed victims of the public brainwashing system of this fact?
And another question what do you think about the fact that churches don’t speak about politics because doing so would eliminate their ability to claim 503(c) (or is that 501) tax exempt status?
Well as an agorist, I don’t believe in taxes. I think they’re theft. We should all be tax exempt