Problems with Pledge are legitimate
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Editor,
Should a candidate for local public office be criticized for not saying the Pledge of Allegiance? The author of a letter to the editor in the Oct. 26 issue of the Valley Journal thinks so. The issue deserves close inspection, for large issues are at stake.
There are two considerations. Firstly, does the issue have any relevance to the job of county commissioner? Shouldn't the candidate’s positions about the condition and safety of county roads or recycling be of greater concern?
The other consideration is that there are numerous reasons someone might not say the Pledge. Some religions prohibit or discourage it. Some, recalling the McCarthy era, consider it dangerous jingoism. Others simply don't like what it says.
There are other issues. The “under God” phrase was inserted during the 1950s and is inappropriate in a nation with the separation of church and state. “Indivisible' seems incompatible with the Declaration of Independence (When in the course of human events…) As for “with liberty and justice for all,” this is a lofty and important goal, but we've always been far from it.
What is the meaning of pledging allegiance to a flag? As for “to the republic for which it stands,“ does this mean unthinking submission? This country has committed innumerable crimes that were carried out by individuals who didn't sufficiently consider what they were ordered to do. Mark Twain caught the issue squarely, saying: “Each must for himself alone decide what is right and what is wrong, and which course is patriotic and which isn't. You cannot shirk this and be a man. To decide it against your convictions is to be an unqualified and inexcusable traitor, both to yourself and to your country; let men label you as they may. If you alone of all the nation shall decide one way, and that way be the right way according to your convictions of the right, you have done your duty by yourself and by your country — hold up your head. You have nothing to be ashamed of.”
Harold Young
St. Ignatius
